Hoarders get mired in clutter, unhealthy living environments

Disorder often keeps sufferers from seeing danger of habits

BY JESSICA BLISS

It had been years since either child slept in his own bed. There was no space for them. The boys' room was so crammed with stuff that the bunk bed on the back wall was barely reachable. The bed itself was buried underneath myriad miscellaneous items such as linens, stuffed animals, clothes and backpacks.

But this wasn't a case of messy adolescents. It was a mother's hoarding disorder that left the bedroom — and the rest of the house — in a state of squalor. Only when Child Protective Services took the boys — Louis, 14, and Sam, 11 — away for 24 hours did their mom, Deborah, realize the severity of her problem.

The 49-year-old Tennessean, whose story was featured on the Jan. 4 episode of A&E's Hoarders, went public, using the show to receive the help of a therapist and organizing expert in an effort to keep her family together. The show does not disclose last names.

"I am tired of being ashamed," Deborah said in the January episode. "I am tired of being a prisoner to my home. It affects everything in my life.".." More

The Wrong Stuff

A terrifying show about compulsive hoarders.

By Troy Patterson
Honey, I swear to start cleaning the den this weekend, the bulging bibliomaniacal den where a cotton-blend rabbit burrows in the James Baldwin section, where a backup alarm clock has wedged itself between Balzac and Zola, where I cannot even find Gogol's Dead Souls to quote a relevant passage about the old miser Plyushkin and his troves of trash. I swear to clean the den. Up by the ceiling, between the spare printer and the complete run of Men's Vogue, the señorita on the cover of the Alfredito Plays Mambo LP will end her obstinate cha-cha-cha with Vanessa Lorenzo, the cover girl of the March 2003 issue of Glamour. No longer will a stack of summer hats shade a precariously stationary tower of stationery boxes. Hoarders (A&E, Mondays at 10 p.m. ET) has scared me straight.
Compulsive hoarding is the excessive collection of items, objects, things, stuff, and, quite literally, sentimental junk. On each installment of Hoarders, A&E profiles two people suffering from the disorder, and the channel does so in a way consistent with its gravelly voice. Throughout A&E's transformation from a network airing footage of the cellist Pablo Casals to one scheduling performances by the bounty hunter Dog, it has kept up its interest in noir tales and investigative narratives. Hoarders announces its link to that tradition with a bit of text appearing on-screen near the top of each episode. Rendered in a central-booking typeface, it reads, "More than 3 million people are compulsive hoarders. These are two of their stories." The hoarders stand accused of violating standards of personal hygiene and public health, the laws of the fire marshal and the feng shui master. Having hit bottom, they may be faced with eviction or losing custody of their children. Their homes are crime scenes, and the evidence is everywhere..." More

A & E Show: Hoarders

Hoarders Premieres Nov 30th on A & E

Season Two line-up:

Augustine

14 years ago Jason was removed from his mother Augustine's home by Child Protective Services because of her hoarding. She was never able to clean up enough to have him return. Now, as an adult living on the other side of the country, he is filled with shame and resentment, but unable to turn his back on her. Her hoarding has become so severe that she has lived without water, gas, heat or appliances for the last four years--bathing only once a week at her sister's house. Complaints from neighbors have instigated a court ordered clean-up and she is now facing fines and the threat of jail time. We follow Jason as he tries one last time to rescue his mother from the filth he escaped from years ago.

Judi and Gail

When rescue workers were called to Judi's home they found her stuck in massive amounts of clutter and were forced to remove her through the kitchen window. The city condemned her home and she was placed in a rehabilitation facility. But time is running out. Medicare will stop paying in two weeks and Judi has nowhere to go. Gail once lived the disciplined life of a ballerina; but now her house is so full of possessions that the floors are sinking, the gas line is bent and the water pipes are broken. Goats have eaten through the siding to the back bedroom and chickens, dogs, and cats can be seen roaming among the piles of clutter in the house. Gail must clean up enough to make repairs before winter.

Chris and Dale

After the death of her newborn son, Chris filled the void by surrounding herself with possessions. Attention Deficit Disorder makes it impossible for her to focus long enough to clean up. She's now at risk of losing custody of her daughters who are still living in the house. Dale is at risk of eviction from his city subsidized housing because his apartment is filled with "found objects" that he hopes to one day turn into works of art. After he repeatedly failed to meet deadlines for cleaning, the court began the process to stop his housing subsidy. He won't be eligible for another three years and has no other place to go.

Hoarders Season 2: Now casting

Hoarders on A&E is casting its second season of the groundbreaking documentary television series that sheds much needed light on this complicated and underreported condition. Each hour long episode will follow two individuals who suffer from this mental illness thru a crisis situation that is directly caused by their hoarding.

We will provide free services for the hoarder, such as a mental health support, professional organizers, and professional cleanup and/or junk removal services. Each case will be considered on an individual basis, and services will be tailored to fit individual needs. Our professionals like Dr. Tolin all have experience treating this population and are appropriately trained and credentialed.

We are looking for individuals willing to spend 3-5 days sharing their stories on camera.

We understand that compulsive hoarding is an extremely emotional and difficult disorder, and it is our hope that by sharing the personal stories of our guests it will help others realize they are not alone. We will also share the right way for families and friends to approach a hoarder to, hopefully, avoid dangerous living environments.

What we are looking for:

1. Individuals willing to tell their story.

2. Individuals motivated to change by a ticking clock, or crisis caused by hoarding that needs to be addressed immediately.

3. We need to show how the hoarding has impacted friends and/or loved ones.

These individuals will need to appear on camera and share their side of the story.

Whatever your crisis, whatever your story, we are interested in listening.

If you or someone you know is a compulsive hoarder please go to our website to learn more information and to apply:http://www.aetv.com/hoarders/