Originally Posted By Lady Starlight I have been watching a show on A&E TV, called Hoarders. It's incredible to me how these people live daily like that. It's amazing to see these people and wonder how the heck did it get THAT bad! Some have NO running water or heat,they have rotting wall's, cieling's and floor's, not to mention the bugs and dead animal's theyhave found in a few of the homes. URP!!! Sometime's when I watch the show I feel so sorry for the people, while other time's I find myself getting angry at them. Each situation is different , but all have a serious hoarding problem/disorder. Some hoarders start out, out of pure laziness, while others just are trying to use logic ,but have lost a sense of reality and get consumed by the disorder. I'm always saying to myself, that I have so much stuff(I joke that it's junk) around my house and garage and I need to clean it out. I need to have a yard sale and donate the stuff that's left over. I am sooooo guilty in reasoning whith myself for hanging on to some of the stuff that I hang on to. It's rediculous really. MY DD whent into the garage and on one of my shelves she found a stack of plastic cake and cookie pan's each complete with lid's that I had washed and stacked out there for future use. She asked me why on earth did I have those, in a joking manner. I said because I might need them for something Like If you (my DD) or me make cookie's and have to take them some place but we don't want to carry any dishes back with us or we don't have to worry about weather the dish comes back with us or not,because it's a throw away. She rolled her eye's and laughed. I laughed too, because I have so many of them(about 10) and it made me think of MY mom, who saves stuff like that too, once in a while ,and she's a completet neat freak about her house! LOL! I have other stuff that I have hung on to over the year's as well due to just not being ready to let go of it just yet. NOW, having watched quite a few Hoarders episodes, I got myself out in the garage over the weekend and CLEANED it out BIG TIME!!! Now I'm in the process of goingthrough allmy closet's and drawers and any place else I can think of to clean stuff out that I just don't really need OR use anymore. Watching that show has really made it easy for me to do this. I could never imagine myself getting into that situation, but I can very easily see how trying to use logic consumes some people into that situation. Ok now.. is anyone else guilty of doing this? LOL!
Originally Posted By Labuda Well, I have hoarding tendencies. Luckily, I did a purge before moving in 2004 and then purged some more when getting divorced. I'm actually thinking I need to purge some more now - just clothes, though. Other than clothes I'm down to very little in the realm of material possessions - I've gotten rid of MOST of my books except for Anne Rice, Dean Koontz, and Vonnegut. The rest I can get from libraries or my brother/landlord has them on his bookshelves if I want to re-read them - like Douglas Adams, Philip K. Dick, Heinlein, and Orson Scott Card. In the realm of music, having an ipod ROCKS - I have the hundred or cd physical CDs I have mp3d and on my ipod, and the rest I buy off amazon or itunes mp3s. Erasure is the only artist for whom I will ALWAYS buy the CD at this point. As for DVDs, I let the ex have most of them in the divorce, and I've got maybe 50. I plan to get rid of most of those, though, I think. Only keep the stuff that REALLY matters, like Xanadu and Valley Girl. hehe
Originally Posted By Sara Tonin I got started watching Hoarders in connection with Intervention and then for a while the series about the obsessive/compulsive disorder people. Just watching Hoarders will make you look for closet to clean...we've all gotten sick or busy and let things go for awhile here and there, but these people only have paths through their crap. It's really strange, because the camera guy walks into the house and the first thought that goes through my head is 'crazy'. Because no one who is mentally healthy could stand it. I kind of get how the single people might let it go, because nobody is around to go, "Seriously?". But some of these people have a spouse or a child living in the same place, so you would think somebody would have intervened before it got to this point....it's sad and scary at the same time.
Originally Posted By 999HAUNTS Trust me...their stuff to them is not crap and there is NO WAY you can possibly intervene. Hoarders will not let you because they are afraid that you will toss something important. I know someone who is going through this with a relative and it's not pleasant. We can all sit there and judge a hoarder but they can't help it. It's a disease that needs to be gingerly handled or it can backfire.
Originally Posted By Lady Starlight YES! It IS crazy! Especially when you see TWO people in the same house. you'd think none of themw ould be sane and do somehting aboutit BEFOR it get's to that point, and I hurt so awfully bad for the children involved in that. It's horrid. When I have a hard time tossing something out, I always think to that show, and it makes me toss out what ever I'm thinking of tossing out right away without a problem. LOL
Originally Posted By Lady Starlight <-- is NOT letting go of her re-usable plastic cookie/cake containers! I may need those! ;-)
Originally Posted By Lady Starlight << We can all sit there and judge a hoarder but they can't help it.>> It's still mind boggling. As I said, some start off by pure laziness, while other's are trying to use logic and become overwhelmed. I can see how that happends. You can reason to yourself on why you would need to keep something "just in case" or "that cost good money".. That is a natural thing, and you're right it is a disorder and need's to be handled gently. It's still interesting to watch and it makes me aware of how I think when I need to get rid of stuff aorund my house/garage. Oh and ST, I have OCD. It's not fun, but I'm aware that I have it and make fun of my self when I catch myself doing certian things or obsessing in public.My family teases me about it in a helpful way and I use humor to handle it wich work's for me. It's hard to deal with and I try to hide it for the most part and do pretty well with public places,but it's still a disorder and can be frustrating.
Originally Posted By LadyKluck I'll trade you some of your cookie containers for empty egg crates LadyStarlight!
Originally Posted By LadyKluck We had a case up here a few years ago of a lady who hoarded animals. She had been arrested for hoarding dogs (well was arrested for animal abuse not because of the hoarding) & because we didn't have any animal cruelty laws around here at the time, all they did was take the dogs away & told her not to do it anymore. Well she went home & started hoarding horses & ponies. It was awful what condition these poor animals were in by the time the police went to her place after several neighbors called. Not only did she have horses, but sheep & chickens too. We helped with the rescue & it was just heartbreaking. The sad thing was this woman had NO CLUE that what she was doing was wrong at all. She thought of herself as a Dr Doolittle type that was "saving" these animals.
Originally Posted By Sara Tonin OMG LS! I have a little bit of OCD myself. A friend here at work makes fun of me, because when I come back from picking up lunch or go to the gift shop I have to stop and sort my money...it all MUST be in ascending order, face forward and for cheesus sake top up. I slso have to count stairs and I must push the walk/don't walk button in threes....I think of them as just little quirks, but others think I'm just a tiny bit crazy.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I have some up-close-and-personal experience with the illness of hoarding with a loved one. It is a frustrating, heart-breaking, confounding disorder. Which, by the way, is a form of OCD. In our case, this person was once a very, I'd say almost ULTRA neat housekeeper. Everything was organized and in its place at all times. There was no clutter, nothing unkempt, dishes were done immediately and put away. In other words, the last person you'd expect would ever wind up in a hoarding situation. I can't make it through more than a few minute of the show because it brings it all back, and it's still too fresh and raw for me. The show is good in that it reveals that this disorder is out there, and more common than one might think. I can tell you that attempting to reason with a person who has hoarding disorder is not very effective. It's also an incredibly helpless feeling to know that even if you were able to get rid of it all, in short order, "stuff" would begin to accumulate again. Amid the clutter were many books about organizing, many plastic containers and organizers, so you know that there it weighed on this person's mind. But the sense of overwhelm is usually unbearable. It really isn't laziness. It is really a kind of mental/emotional disorder. After attempting various interventions, it is often fruitless to try until the point when the person themself (like most illnesses/addictions/disorders) is ready themselves to do what it takes to make a change. I know this thread was started in Play Pen, not usually the place to discuss serious matters, so I apologize if I got all heavy when that isn't what the aim of this thread was. But having dealt with this for real, it just isn't a joking matter to me.
Originally Posted By Lady Starlight FWIW if you go back and read my first post you will see it wasnt meant to be serious. Hoarders has helped me to carry through on cleaning things out when I dont get off my butt and just go do it.
Originally Posted By Lady Starlight I truly hope that this thread doesnt get all serious like other posts have turned ugly and people start bashing people in here. I have OCD and have been diagnosed by a Doctor. I use humor and it help's ME. I don't degrade anyone else who has it or how they handle it or any other disorder out there. I do however refuse to go through life all serious or jump on others just because they handle thier situations differently than I do. I completely respect everyones own feelings on the matter and will respect your intput as I hope you can respect mine. sometimes it's just so hard to ceonvey feelings through a post. My sincerest apologies to anyone Ihave offended over this thread.
Originally Posted By mele I love "Hoarders". It's an amazing thing to see. I think I am more lazy than anything else. I want to get rid of most of the stuff. All of my stuff is junk but I don't think most of the things are treasures.
Originally Posted By Lady Starlight I tend to hang on to stuff because I'm always thinking to myself "that might be worth something someday" OR " I/someone else might need that just in case one of these day's" That's usually my logic. sometimes it win's and sometimes it loses. This weekend I tossed alot of stuff that I will never use or havcent used in year's . I saved soem stuff for my DD for when she get's older and it may come in handy for her then.
Originally Posted By disneylandfan8 My kids are gonna hate me someday when they have to go thru all my stuff. Sure, they'll find a lot of their childhood art, cards, photos, etc. And they'll also find items that belonged to my grandparents, very few items from my dad and DS can go thru his father's things and keep what he wants. Then there's all the Beany Babies. Oh my! Hopefully, all my Disney relics, er, goodies will go to someone who will appreciate them. Then there are all the books... *sigh* I REALLY need to have LS come over and spend some time with me in MY garage. But it's either too hot, too cold, too pretty to be in the garage...
Originally Posted By disneylandfan8 I must say one thing. Everytime we moved my DH would be beside himself about moving all my stuff. But I learned that the garage was where he had all his stuff. When he passed and DS and I moved, it took DAYS to go thru all the cabinets, drawers, more cabinets, etc. and I couldn't believe what he had. He was one who couldn't throw away anything 'cause he might have needed it later. There were things in there I didn't know what they were! LOL And he said I had a lot of stuff. HA!
