I’ve always said that somebody elses misery is not my entertainment. but, Man, I’ve been hooked on this show since I started netflixing it. I justify it to myself because these people are being “helped” but, holy shit, I can’t believe what I’m seeing. this shit is unreal. I’m 16 episodes in and I can’t stop watching. I don’t leer at car wrecks, I don’t watch street fights (unless it’s that chubster beating the shit out of his bully, but then that wasn’t really a fight!!)… but man this is a guilty pleasure.
I really feel gratified at the end of the episodes when I see how clean everything has become. I’m no where near a neat freak but certainly not a slob either …
I was thinking that, I wonder if some of these people think they are gonna convert those that come to clean, which is why they agree to go on the show. Ya know, like, how hoarders see everything they have has “treasures,” I wonder if they think that they are gonna have others come in and be envious of their “treasures.”
The worst one I’ve seen so far was the start of season 2 where this lady had 8,000 pounds of garbage (actual garbage) including 2 decomposed cats removed from her house!! these cats were completely decomposed except for some the fur and the bones!!! how do you live in a house that had two rotting cats? and not smell it? be oblivious to it? Holy shit shocking!
I hate myself for liking this show!
Late,
grmpysmrf
Recently, we had two houses catch fire where the people happened to be hoarders. Needless to say, the houses burned to the ground because the firefighters could not get in to put the fires out.
They do need help. I don’t think it is junk envy that motivates them. I think it is more emotional attachment/meaning or collecting that prohibits them from parting with it.
If she loved her cats, she would have issues parting with them. She just didn’t go about it the right way by having them preserved properly - frozen until cremation, freeze-dried, buried, etc.
We eventually become desensitized to smells that we smell all the time. That is why some women put on too much perfume/men put on too much cologne and you can smell it a mile away or the scent lingers in a small space like the elevator or the restroom.
That show is scary as shit to me because hoarding runs in my family. When I was a kid, I’d go over to my grandma’s and in one bedroom she had thirty years of Field & Stream magazines and a ton of old newspapers. She would shop for groceries like she had to feed a family of four, but it was just her and grandpa there- and then when you’d show up, she’d say she didn’t have anything to feed you (although she had a room-sized pantry full of shit in the basement) and make you go to the grocery store with her. It got so bad after grandpa died that you couldn’t walk in the basement. The freezer went out once and we went over there and cleaned out bags and bags and bags of food. Expired canned goods, ffs.
My mom and dad have a LOT of shit in their house too (mostly my mom’s stuff), but they keep it tidy and they have proper storage for everything. I got into circuit bending a few years back, and now I have boxes and boxes and big old tubs full of electronic kids toys gathering dust. And then I kinda got a bit compulsive picking up crazy old thrift store vinyl, telling myself I’d sample it for music or the podcast, so now I have this huge collection that I’m not really LISTENING to… So the potential is there, thankfully I have a live-in gf who forces me to keep a lid on it somewhat. Seems to me all the really bad hoarders are alone and lonely.
So, yeah, I don’t watch that show 'cause it’s sad.
I don’t think it is junk envy that motivates them. I think it is more emotional attachment/meaning or collecting that prohibits them from parting with it.
I meant having others envy their junk which is why they agree to do the show. Kind of a showing off type thing. And I don’t think all of them are like that just some. Some people are truly embarrassed.
If she loved her cats, she would have issues parting with them. She just didn’t go about it the right way by having them preserved properly - frozen until cremation, freeze-dried, buried, etc.
Get ready to be sick…
She didn’t own cats she owned no animals.
Her son was taken from her when he was 14 he’s now 28. He has moved to seattle but came back to help clean. He hasn’t seen her at anytime in those 14 years. He said before he was taken he had to sleep with the fan on because if he didn’t he could hear the roaches crawling through the garbage and it would keep him up. He said also woke up in the middle of the night sometimes with roaches crawling on him.
I was reading some updates online about her. Her son said as soon as the cleaning trucks left the driveway she started hoarding again. Sad sad sad.
I’ve learned that not even a handful of people have succeeded. Nearly all have gone back to hoarding. I may have to stop watching. Too depressing.
Late,
grmpysmrf
There’s also “Animal Hoarders” which can get pretty gross too. The show really is bleak as all Hell. I’m fascinated and watch it, but I feel kind of sick and dirty at the end and just bummed out.
I never saw any figures on the success rate for these peoples’ recovery, but that would probably just sadden me more.
[reply]I don’t think it is junk envy that motivates them. I think it is more emotional attachment/meaning or collecting that prohibits them from parting with it.
I meant having others envy their junk which is why they agree to do the show. Kind of a showing off type thing. And I don’t think all of them are like that just some. Some people are truly embarrassed.[/reply][/reply]
I think someone who loved them made them agree to do the show under duress, by ultimatum, or they had picoseconds of sanity (which is the most unlikely).
Ever see the show Clean House? Same thing. They do a followup about a year later to see if the people have kept up the house or not. Some do and many do not. Some of them are so bad they have black mold (toxic) growing on the walls.
There’s also “Animal Hoarders” which can get pretty gross too. The show really is bleak as all Hell. I’m fascinated and watch it, but I feel kind of sick and dirty at the end and just bummed out.
I never saw any figures on the success rate for these peoples’ recovery, but that would probably just sadden me more.
yeah, the wife makes me skip the animal hoarders.
certainly dirty. You feel like you need a shower after watching and certainly don’t eat anything while you’re watching it.
Since I’ve learned many people go right back to hoarding i don’t know if i can keep watching this, it’s too depressing. At the end of the episodes it’s hopefull when you see the cleaned houses but It’s sad finding out it’s not real.
Late,
grmpysmrf
Sometimes I get really pissed off at their families too. You know the ones. The ones that pretty much just belittle or antagonize the person that they are supposedly trying to help.
So what do you all hoard (or will admit to hoarding): compact discs, vinyl, concert t-shirts, used dental floss, watches, cars, books, hotel soap, toilet paper, artificial legs, etc.?
I will admit to having a few compact discs, a few concert t-shirts, space-related items, photos/travel stuff, shoes, books, and one bad yuppie habit of animal figurines. Every so often, one takes over some living space - but it eventually gets put where it belongs. There is pretty much nothing inside my car besides an umbrella and a sunshade - no clutter, no food, etc.
I have nice collections of books, photos, fridge magnets, squeeze toys, stickers, pins, and patches at work. Most of all - I hoard work email! I find myself in “email jail” frequently.
I don’t hoard, I’m just terribly disorganized and junk collects, especially in drawers and such. It’s mostly the papers that pile up because I’m afraid to throw away stacks of what “might” be important files or bills or something. I’m too lazy to actually sift through them.
As for actual stuff, I have no emotional attachment. When I moved from my last place I grabbed my guitars and a couple pairs of pants and shirts and told my wife that everything else can be thrown away. I don’t like having stuff.
I can live for three weeks with everything that fits in a suitcase. Why do I need so much crap when I get home? If some crew with a dumpster came to clean my place I’d buy them all beers and tip them $20 a piece when they were done.
Yeah it makes you stop and think about some of the shit you hang on to for whatever reason. As far as what do I hoard? I don’t think I hoard at all. Am I a bit messy? Sure but so is anyone. I have a point where I get fed up and just clean.
I don’t think I hoard anything. Do I collect? Sure. But I think the difference between collecting and hoarding is when collecting over takes your life and your space. When I built my shelves it took me about 8 hours to sort and place the cds. I think, had I not that kind of attention and the cds just stayed piled up indefinitely with no hope of ever being cleaned up and we had to walk around them, then yeah, but since they are displayed, they are not messy and therefore I don’t consider it hoarding.
Late,
grmpysmrf
Hoarders know where all their stuff is/it is organized in their mind. [:P]
All my collected stuff is organized and put in its own space too (dresser drawer full of concert t-shirts, media cabinet full of cds, etc.). Don’t get the wrong idea: The stuff has not yet taken over the sofas, floor space, kitchen, bathroom, etc.
Moving places is a very good time to lighten the accumulation.
I sought out an update episode on netflix. Of the 5 people they profiled only 2 really went back. She was a food hoarder. But her home was still clean the other lady didn’t continue to hoard but her house was messy as hell but that was because she went through and emptied all of the boxes back into her house. So all of this shit I’ve been reading on the internet was just straight hyperbole. Man the internet is fucking bullshit!
Late,
grmpysmrf
There was some discussion about this on NPR today (I was swapping cds… yes no ipod in the car) and it seems that the hoarders have a higher level of ADHD.
The mentioned collectors not suffering this same issue. A key difference was wanting to display the collection, vs just hiding/being embarrassed about the stuff.
[reply]you as you always do, sound like cunt faced pussy, you really watch that? is that before of after your “wife” puts the strap on to you.
what a waste of perfectly good skin and air![laugh]
What a waste of perfectly good public education! Learn how to make a sentence properly before you try to type.
Way to add anything to any conversation, ever. Go suck a dick.[/reply]
It’s just sad isn’t it? There is no public education left in him, he smoked that shit away years ago.
He really should spend some time over at 4chan and learn how to troll properly. He’s not creative or even funny for Christ’s sakes. Well, he’s kinda funny but not for the reason he thinks.
Late,
grmpysmrf
I married a hoarder. He has the shit all listed in his mind where/what/when etc. So far, it’s been confined to one room, but get back to me in 20 years.