topic Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh! in Community Chat

Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

gazelle77 — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 20:17:24 GMT

I can understand collecting "stuff" and it gets out of control.....but, to throw food and garbage on the floor and walking on that, then getting rats and roaches everywhere....I do not understand THAT. Why not just dump the garbage?

Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

Shorty2U — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 20:24:40 GMT

It is disgusting. I watched the show a few times but couldn't keep watching.

I tried to understand, as I watched people cry when having to get rid of their junk. I understand it can be some sort of mental illness. But I couldn't take the filth.

PS) My husband is not a hoarder, but he collects lots of stuff. BUT it is stored in closets or in the unfinished 1/3 of the basement in boxes. (thankfully!). I just wish he would get rid of more. I get rid of my clothing and stuff a few times a year. (except for pictures and sentimental things).

Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

151949 — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 20:33:26 GMT

I always say my DH is a latent hoarder but at least he is not dirty. He has a lot of junky stuff that drives me nuts but it is nothing like they show on these hoarder shows. I think that because his Mom always seemed to have a lot of clutter around her house that he gets a feeling of security from having his clutter around him.We have agreed to disagree about his piles of papers and "" stuff"" - he keeps it in the garage and his den and I can keep the rest of the house clean and tidy. Now that we have a cleaning lady every 2 weeks he does tidy up and put away a lot in the den the day before she comes to clean. She and I are slowly bringing him over to our way of thinking.

Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

sophiamarie — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 20:33:38 GMT

Leaving food and garbage lying around, IMO, is not hoarding. Those are filthy slobs.

It's one thing to keep things and never want to throw them away - and another thing when you just don't clean up. There are hoarders and there are people who live in pig stys.

I am the complete opposite of a hoarder. My husband calls me a "minimalist"..... It's so much easier to dust that way.

Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

Mistic — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 20:34:27 GMT

Most all of those shows are REALLY bad. Some worse than others. Like you said....Food & Garbage all over the place. Mice, rats, roaches, the black mold.....I've seen workers that have to go outside and lose their lunch. The smell must be beyond bad!

Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

151949 — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 20:36:27 GMT

I believe with all my heart that those poor people on those TV shows need to be committed to mental health facilities and treated for this condition with intense therapy BEFORE the houses are cleaned up. This puts some of them on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It seems cruel to me to make them do this before treating the illness that has made it this way in the first place.

Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

gazelle77 — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 20:40:34 GMT

The good side effect of watching these shows is that it makes me start cleaning and getting rid of stuff!

Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

DowntonAbbey — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 20:40:50 GMT

My thoughts. Many people buy and stock up even Joan Rivers said one time she stocks up on things and does not want to run out and look at the Spellings how they buy buy buy ........but when they leave trash and food out and have mice and bugs and filth then they must have a bad mental problem that goes way deep. To be somewhat unorganized is ok but to wade in filth waist high is really bad.........how can they stand the smell of the rotten food? Why not toss out the trash? I wonder what the mental illness would be called? What caused it? Fear of loosing?

Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

DowntonAbbey — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 20:41:26 GMT

On 11/3/2014 gazelle77 said: The good side effect of watching these shows is that it makes me start cleaning and getting rid of stuff!

So true the first time I saw a show I started cleaning my walls washing them.......

Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

Catitude — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 20:42:35 GMT

On 11/3/2014 sophiamarie said:
Leaving food and garbage lying around, IMO, is not hoarding. Those are filthy slobs.

It's one thing to keep things and never want to throw them away - and another thing when you just don't clean up. There are hoarders and there are people who live in pig stys.

I am the complete opposite of a hoarder. My husband calls me a "minimalist"..... It's so much easier to dust that way.

I agree.

Some of the hoarders are enabled by their family members who allow themselves to live in squalor.

Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

Cranberries — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 20:44:42 GMT

I too do not understand hoarding, well the dirty aspect of it. Trash all over, expired food in the refrigerator, dog/cat pee/poop all over, mice, bugs. ICK. I feel bad that people live that way but I do think they share most of the blame with hoarding. Your house doesn't just magically dirty and out of order.

Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

littleblueparakeet2 — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 20:45:43 GMT

gazelle77: was the episode you saw the one with the black widow spiders and 200+ syringes that were strewn throughout the house? I think the homeowner's name was Sherry and she blamed her 2 kids for not taking out the trash.

Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

chickenbutt — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 20:47:54 GMT

I agree that there seems to be two different concepts here - There are hoarders who are into accumulating and keeping everything, perhaps because of some sort of past trauma or desire to feel in control. Then there are the ones who just seem to not want to clean anything or wash the dishes, etc.

I've seen both on those shows over the years. The ones who are just lazy are the ones with mounds of dirty dishes and filth everywhere. I don't think one can call them hoarders. I've seen how they act about it and it's just that they prefer to sit in filth to doing anything about it. Then they get to the point that it doesn't even bother them anymore and are only mildly, if at all, embarrassed when the troops arrive to 'fix' it and them.

Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

MomOf4 — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 20:51:57 GMT

Have you ever noticed how many boxes from QVC are throughout some of the hoarder's homes?

Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

littleblueparakeet2 — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 20:56:06 GMT

On 11/3/2014 MomOf4 said:
Have you ever noticed how many boxes from QVC are throughout some of the hoarder's homes?

Yes, and one of the hoarders admitted that she received her items from the Q, but never got around to opening them.

Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

151949 — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 22:23:11 GMT

On 11/3/2014 MomOf4 said:
Have you ever noticed how many boxes from QVC are throughout some of the hoarder's homes?

And for some reason you think that is QVCs fault?

Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

gazelle77 — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 22:28:38 GMT

On 11/3/2014 littleblueparakeet2 said:
gazelle77: was the episode you saw the one with the black widow spiders and 200+ syringes that were strewn throughout the house? I think the homeowner's name was Sherry and she blamed her 2 kids for not taking out the trash.

Yes. SO many roaches! And the fridge filled with food, not working for years....the stench. OMG!

Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

RedTop — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 22:41:19 GMT

After watching the hoarding shows for years, I have come to the conclusion that hoarders even have an attachment to their garbage. Anything they have handled belongs to them, and they cannot bear to see it thrown away. I keep reminding myself that hoarding is a mental illness; in some episodes that is more obvious than in other episodes. The one thing that annoys me with the cleanup, is when the hoarder loses her purse, teeth, jewelry, in the hoard, and the crew has to search what has already been thrown into the truck for those important items. If I agreed to let my stuff be sorted and tossed, I think I would be responsible enough to make sure I grabbed my most essential things first to make sure they didn't get lost, but apparently most hoarders don't think of it.

Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

PalmSpringsTransplant — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 22:42:59 GMT

My sister is a hoarder and I was both drawn to and repelled by these shows at the same time. She stuffed a 1 BR apartment so much that you needed to be a mountain goat to get around. The shower/bath had become unusable and she took "birdbaths" in the kitchen sink.

Worst part is that I co-owned this with her and became responsible for the mess. $60,000 to clean up. Black mold, mouse skeletons, unimaginable dirt.

She's out and doesn't speak to me anymore. Blames me for her becoming a hoarder.

When I watch the shows, and I'm drawn to them to try to understand, I always get p/o'd by the indulgent treatment given to the hoarders by the shrinks and organizers, etc. Many of these hoarders -and I speak from experience - wrecked major havoc on their families- and are then coddled and allowed to examine every matchbox.

Re: Hoarder show on TLC ...watching....ugh!

kittymomNC — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 22:55:43 GMT

I've watched these shows from time to time, and I don't understand how anyone can watch these people and not KNOW that there has to be mental illness involved in all of these situations, and especially where animal hoarding is involved. I simply do not believe that pure laziness or being a "slob" could cause a human being to live in some of these conditions.

And I agree with HH that they need to be treated for the mental illness before they are forced into having to go through these "clean-up" days. Maybe that's just not possible in a lot of cases, but it seems particularly harsh to make an obviously mentally ill person have to go through that.