TV and Movies

[cindyNC]

I remember seeing this episode.  Couldn't decide if this was the worst or the one w/the couple that had raw sewage running down the hallway and had to exit the front door and enter the back door to get to the kitchen.....later duing the clean-up they found the body of their cat that had been missing. 

My BF's father was a hoarder. His wife kept it contained to the basement. When he went in the hospital for knee surgery, she had my BF get a dumpster and clean out most of the basement. His father was FURIOUS when he returned home and refused to allow my BF back in the basement. When he passed away, they had to get another dumpster to clean out the basement again. 

[libbyannE]

I cannot watch that show. I tried a couple of years ago but was sickened by what I saw. Clearly, such hoarders have mental issues, so I should feel compassion, but I admit that all I felt was disgust toward people who don’t even bother to toss the trash. Yecch.

[beach-mom]

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@Havarti wrote:

Way back when the show first started years ago they featured much milder levels of hoarding.  I enjoyed watching then, the sorting, decision making process, the reorganization, the place getting spruced up and back in order and the joy of the people seeing the home they loved restored to a usable condition.  I could actually relate to a much lesser degree as I suffer from TMS (too much stuff).  I am not to the level of the people on the shows, but can relate to how quickly a little too much can become way too much.  Now, the situations are so extreme I just can't look at them, can't relate to them, can't imagine living in those environments.  

One thing I was always amazed about was the fact that the counselors always seemed to try to be tuned in to the sensitivities of the hoarder while still moving them toward the goal.  The hoarders nearly always seem to view their possessions as their treasures and have such a hard time parting with them. Then, the counselors have the "Junk" haulers arrive and they start pitching those treasure in the "Junk" truck.  It must be heartbreaking to have things you love treated this way and perhaps even humiliating to have the "Junk" truck parked all day in your driveway being filled with the contents of your home.  It seems to lack sensitivity to the hoarder who clearly already has mental and possibly physical issues.  You would think these "Junk" companies would have a truck they could send to sensitive situations (including seniors moving to downsize to a care center) that did not leave the resident feeling like their life's belongings are headed to the dump (even if they are).  JMHO

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@Havarti - You said this so well!  I've never seen Hoarders, but I would have liked it at the beginning too. As I've said in other posts, I don't trust reality shows any longer. I think they have evolved to see how much shock value they can give us - for ratings of course! There used to be a show on, Clean House with Niecy Nash. I enjoyed watching that and would DVR it. I do remember once though that they visited the family that won the yearly "Clean House" contest a year after the family's house was originally on the show, and they were not happy with the results! The family had kept the house OK for the most part, but there were huge Rubbermaid storage tubs piled high in the basement!

When I think of hoarding I think of Grey Gardens in the Hamptons, the house of Big and Little Edie, Jackie Kennedy's aunt and cousin. It's an interesting story, and I agree only a lot of sadness and tragic life circumstances can impact people this way. 

[sissel]

my daughter called me had horders on with all the bugs had to change channels it was too much.These people need help so happy I never live this life. Understand these people have problems. 

[CANDLEQUEEN]

I watched two episodes a long time ago, and I just couldn't watch anymore, it made me sick to my stomach and I couldn't get the pictures out of my head...I just can't stomach this type of show..On the one episode that I did see, a woman had a dead cat under all the rubbish in her living room, that did it for me!

[software]

My DDs great grandmother was an adult during the Depression.

She hoarded food.    She had food on the stove 24/7, something on each burner.

Her HOUSE was her pantry.    It looked like a grocery store.    Otherwise she was very clean.   As far as I know, the family let her be.  They checked on her but they didn't interfere with her food hoarding.

Her son, my DDs grandfather hoarded as well but not food.   He saved everything.  He probably had every milk jug that ever came into the house in the previous decade.  But it was all outside.   It was in a shed and when it got full he built another shed.   He got worse the older he got.    I didn't visit often but when I did, I was shocked, it wasn't just milk jugs, it was everything but no garbage.   His home was pristine.   He lived on 10 acres in a rural area so there was no danger of him being outed by authorities.   When he passed, it all went in a dumpster.

I'm not a hoarder or saver but I am a clutter-er.   But I'm obsessive about trash.   I carry out a bag almost every day.  More on the days I de-clutter.

[Veridoc]

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@SeaMaiden wrote:

Does anyone else watching a hoarding show start to clean the house? I do!

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Can go either way for me. I either clean or look around and say, nah I'm good. I like things neat and orderly so this show gives me the willys. It's kind of like a train wreck, can't stop looking at it.

[IMW]

@SeaMaiden , me too. I am a cleaning nut. After each episode I look for things to get rid of.

[suziebee1]

Years ago, there was a show with two English ladies on it who did this.  I think it was called How Clean is your House, or something like that.  I really enjoyed that one.  The best Hoarders episode by far was the lady who lived in the mansion Hillside in North Carolina.  I think her name was Sandra Cowart and she had a huge mansion filled to the brim with trash.   It was unbelievable.  She lost the home to foreclosure and the new family in there has totally refurbished and fixed up the house to its former glory, and live in it with their daughters.  It was so nice to see it transformed back to a useful, positive energy home.

[chickenbutt]

I watched one of the episodes that they aired yesterday and it had this woman who was infuriating.   She just sat her big butt in that recliner with trash all around her and blamed the whole thing on her two kids.   She whined about her 'illnesses' to the point that it was maddening because I would have to think that if she were doing that badly, it doesn't help to drink a gallon of Pepsi a day and eat all that junk.    /rant