Did anyone watch

[nikkiARNGwife]

the show about hoarding on A&E last night?? I think I sat with my mouth wide open in shock the entire hour. I don't know how anyone can live like that. It just fascinated me and made me kind of nauseated at the same time lol.

[DawnMarch]

I didn't see it, but I have seen some other shows about hoarding. It's so sad, and amazing how difficult it is for people to overcome.

[Chels85]

oh man i saw the commerical for it a while back... i missed it

[tuneskids]

I will admit I hoard ... but no where near as bad as that! I do go through my stuff and declutter and downsize often ... but it's amazing how quickly things accumulate.
And no, I am not one that goes out looking for stuff and figuring out how I could use it ... mine is mainly papers, kids school stuff, books, etc.

My mom though, does a have a room that you can't walk into. And my dad & stepmom ... they are the ones that search second hand/thrift shops and think they could use something ... and then it sits there forever and nothing ever gets done with it. You can't walk in their basement without having to walk around mountains of crap, their bedrooms/hallways/bathroom/kitchen are getting just as bad. Definitely not a kid friendly house (thankfully, my mom only has the one room, so it's not hard to keep the kids out of the stuff, but my dad's house ... ugh). Needless to say, I have issues being in my parents houses. Des can't stand it. But at least I come by it honestly. lol

[Rae's World]

ok, so I sooo wanted to watch it and I am sad I missed it. SO I went to the web site and am watching it now. All I have to say is that older gal is in such denial!!!!!!!! Come on!!! saving food until it rots on the floor and then even leaving it!! I know this is a disorder, but it is hard to see that some one chooses to live that way!

I was totally sad over the little boy crying over his play house. Poor kid!!!

I have had several friend who live like this. It is hard because we take the weekend to help them clean and weeks later it is back to that mess again. It is just really, really sad.

A&E Hoarders Link

[Jennilyn]

I missed it! But it's on Saturday so I'll watch it then and I made a timer to tape all the other ones. Usually big time hoarders have OCD. They have an attachment to every little thing...a guy on Obsessed couldn't throw away his dead mother's old pills because they reminded him of her. I can't imagine living like that! I mean, I'm no neat freak, but I can definitely see my floor!

[sczos911]

Oh! I'll have to DVR it on Saturday.

Clean House has horders on all the time. I think the messiest house for 2009 had a horder as the winner. It was horrible. All her stuff to sell filled 1/2 a warehouse/store that was empty (It looked like an old Steve & Barry's). Seriously - she had issues. And was in MAJOR denial.

[DawnMarch]

I wish there would be more follow-up on shows like this because as Rae said, often people just go back to the same thing. They really need serious treatment for the underlying disorder. The shows I've seen -- like the one on Oprah, and that movie that was called, um, I think My Mother's Garden or something like that, you see the clean-up but you never really see what happens several years down the road and whether the person is able to overcome the disorder and what it takes to do that.

[nikkiARNGwife]

Yes that second lady just needs serious help. I was literally gagging over the stuff in her refridgerator.

[jannylynn]

Hoarding is so sad. I have a relative that has this problem and it is apart of his OCD. It's really not that they are choosing to live that way. It's honestly that they can't do it another way because it messes with their security. To them throwing something away has consequences that we can normally rationalize. We might think for a moment, "I need to keep that because..." But then we start thinking that we can live without it, so out it goes. He can't talk himself out of the reasons for not throwing away the papers. Meds have been helpful for him but he is also going through therapy where he has to retrain his mind. He has assured many family members that coming in and cleaning up won't help because he has to take the steps himself. It's sad.

[Serendipity]

I was raised by hoarders. It's *extremely* hard for me to get rid of things. I was taught that "we might need it someday." But every few months I get the strength to declutter and get rid of *junk*. I wish I were better about it but I'm nothing like my mother or my grandmother. I can at least have people over to my house.

[Voodoo_Bryn]

The lawyer I used to petsit for had this problem, it was... horrific. There were just paths through stacks and stacks of boxes in his apartment, I couldn't believe it. I felt terrible for his pets. (He was a reptile collector) It really freaked me out, I've never seen anything like it.

My MIL has a hoarding problem as well. It drives my FIL insane. For Christmas, we're sending them on a weekend trip and me and DH's brothers are going to organize and repair things in the house for them. (they need doors, all of them, they're disgusting, they have holes in them from when my DH and his brothers were jerk teenagers)

[emmasmommy]

I didn't watch this one but I seriously LOVE A&E. Intervention and Obsessed are my two favorite shows I think.

[junebug]

i missed it but i'm sure it will be on again. i admit i'm not the greatest housekeeper, but my house isn't near as bad as that! its sad that people have such a hard time with this.

[Susan Bartolini]

OMG..I just went to that link and watched those people....and I was totally freaked out. I just went on an hour long cleaning jag through my house. I HATE clutter and every once it awhile my house gets cluttered with toys and stuff. I love to purge and just did that. I feel better now.

Susan

[iJenny]

I saw it Nikki! So sad and totally totally gross! The fact that the people who helped her clean her home had to wear biohazard suits and masks is a testament to the filth she was living in. And it was obvious that she was a very unhealthy (both physically and mentally) woman who desperately needed help, but didn't necessarily want it.

Very sad.

[iJenny]

Does anyone here ever watch Obsessed on A&E? Its about OCD sufferers and their treatment/therapy. There was an episode a few weeks ago about a woman who's tramautic loss of her father in a car accident sent her spiraling into OCD. And what freaked me out the most was that, as a part of her disorder, she wore DAILY the bloody torn clothes that her father died in. Heartbreaking and yet totally freaky too.

[emmasmommy]

I saw that one Jenny. Those people on there just make me so sad...

My husband always says, "ok, I'm going to go off myself, " when I sit down to watch them.

[nikkiARNGwife]

yes I'm addicted to obsessed and intervention..it's so sad the things that people have to deal with and those shows sure make my every day little problems seem like nothing for sure.

[jessica31876]

my sister and her ex-boyfriend were like that. He has kept every bill he ever got. He does not throw away anything really. My MIL is kinda like that where she doesnt throw stuff away and collects all kinds of random crap (literally some of it is actually broken and not working).