This Hoarding: Buried Alive is fascinating and scary at the same time.

[Drunken Irishman]

I so feel for those who hoard. It has to be hell. I feel even worse for their loved ones. How do you deal with that?

[SeattleGirl]

1. I'm watching it too. Wow, I thought Hoarders was bad, but !

holy shiite!

Hoarding: Buried Alive is unbelievable!

I feel bad for those who hoard too. To answer your question, though, I honestly don't know how I would deal with it if one of my loved ones was a hoarder.

I cannot blame the family members who refuse to come to the hoarders' houses any more.

[NYC_SKP]

2. I have to think most family members would have tried to help.

But the shows give the impression, often, that the kids and others just don't care.

It's scary.

I can relate, a little.

Nothing ever like these people, but I've been a packrat and I've purged.

And I miss the time in my life that everything I owned fit in the back of a long-bed F-250.

[SeattleGirl]

3. I don't think that it's a case of the kids not caring. I think it is

rather that the kids just get overwhelmed with a parent's hoarding, and at some point, they throw up their hands and just give up.

I can relate a little bit too, in that I have a basement full of 17 years of "well, I'll just store it in the basement until I figure out what to do with it" crap. But at the end of the month, 1-800-Got-Junk? is coming out to haul it away. When I decide it's time to get rid of stuff, I can be absolutely ruthless.

[NYC_SKP]

4. It's a great feeling when you get in the right mood.

I have a shop, other buildings, and a very small house.

Just years of crap had been piling up.

Finally got to go through every nook and cranny, every closet and drawer and box.

I made many many junk runs and trips to Goodwill.

Now just have to keep up the maintenance!

[SeattleGirl]

6. Oh I know what you mean!

I don't know about you, but eventually too much accumulated stuff starts bugging the hell out of me. Best to get rid of it.

[Skittles]

17. that's what separates us from the true hoarders

I have a little bit of packrat in me too - I think it came from growing up as a GI brat, moving all the time and having to constantly get rid of stuff whether I wanted to or not. But that decision we make when we get disgusted and go on a cleaning binge - for whatever reason, a real hoarder is simply unable to do it.....and it destroys their lives. It is so sad.

[SeattleGirl]

20. Agreed.

Watching the pain these people go through in trying to get themselves to let go of things gives ME pain.

[vadawg]

18. problem is the hoarders cant get rid of it, they dont see the feces and dirty food

or damp clothes, or papers, or whatever, i hate doing these evictions as youknow there is something wrong with them and it takes forever to clear the house out and you never know what you will find...

[Arugula Latte]

27. I love, love, LOVE dropping off a load of stuff at Goodwill or some charity.

It is 20 times more satisfying than buying something. The feeling of lightness and freedom when you unload "things" is sorely underrated.

[NYC_SKP]

38. THAT is a FACT! Very little in our popular media demonstrates the joy and freedom of giving...

It's all about "getting" "buying" "collecting", and then we realize our possessions own us.

I can find things, I have empty drawers, and someone out there who really wanted one has an aquarium, an elliptic machine (barely used), etc.

And its funny to go by yard sales to see CRAP for SALE!

Shit you couldn't give to me, but that people just won't give away, they want their money back out of it.

(Due respect to those who sell because they are strapped for cash)

:donut:

[Drunken Irishman]

5. I think most Americans have a basement full of junk. :P

[SeattleGirl]

7. I know. And if they don't have a basement, the crap piles up in

the garage.

I'll be more than happy to have the crap hauled out of here!

[Drunken Irishman]

8. I agree...

I was just down in the basement and it's bad. I mean, I've seen worse...but yikes.

That's where I put all the Halloween and XMAS decorations. :P

[SeattleGirl]

9. My Christmas decoration storage area is the ONLY place in

the basement that is in good order. Geez, maybe I should consider everything there a Christmas decoration.....I might manage to put it in order that way! :rofl:

[Drunken Irishman]

10. I can kind of relate to these hoarders.

Because it's easy to let things get out of control. I mean, I have a hard time throwing away magazines. I have magazines from the early 00s I don't want to part with because I think maybe I can use them down the road.

That isn't normal, right?

[SeattleGirl]

11. Probably not.

I'm guilty of the same thing. :blush:

[blue_roses_lib]

13. It's just a different way of looking at them

A website I frequent had the idea of taking those magazines and a pair of scissors and clipping the articles, photos, ides, recipes, etc that you want and making an "idea binder" with them. Also, be brutally honest... if you have magazines that are 10 years old that you "may" use, and you haven't looked at them in two years, chuck'em. Do not flip through them one last time. If you haven't looked at them in two years for ideas, you probably won't do it in the next 6 months, and let them go. That mentality has totally helped me with my 10 years of craft magazines and cooking magazines. Must have put 60 lbs of those in the recycling.

[msanthrope]

34. I kept craft and cooking mags, too, 'til I realized that I could

get an online subscription....it helped!

[Arugula Latte]

31. One thing that has helped me with that type of issue is the Internet.

It used to be you'd clip articles or keep magazines "for future reference." Now, I just tell myself "Eh, I'll look it up on Teh Internets if I need the info."

[LynneSin]

35. When I moved, it was so hard to part with all my magazines

I mean I kept thinking "But what if it's got a great article in I want to read someday down the line".

One day I just tossed all of them away. And I told my cleaners to pitch any magazine older than 3 months (or if they want to read it - go for it).

BTW how bad it was - my upstairs hallway was lined with piles of magazine. Not as bad as what you see on Hoarders but enough that probably could qualify me a guest spot.

:scared:

[NYC_SKP]

39. Average homes have doubled in size, larger closets and garages, all to store more shit.

Often, three car garages with no room for a car!

I had a home built in 1907 that had a one car garage and modest closets.

The 1910 census had, gee, I think 10 people living there.

It was one bathroom, three bedrooms, two story, big home, but people simply owned less.

Less clothes, no electronics.

Simpler lives.

:donut:

[Drunken Irishman]

40. This house I live in is pretty small.

Two bedrooms and a finished basement.

It's nice, though and in a nicer, older neighborhood.

Then you see those massive McMansions out in the burbs and they make me want to vomit. So ugly, dry and boring.

[msanthrope]

33. I agree. The kids seem overwhelmed and have left to save themselves.

I can't blame them. It would take an army of mental health workers to help some of these people.

[Captain Hilts]

24. It's a control issue. Folks that do it become paranoid. My mother did. nt

[blue_roses_lib]

12. I was watching it too..

while making a packing list for vacation of all things. It made me think of what do I really need to pack, and what is just extra stuff to take with me...

It was one of the specialists that brought it together nicely for me. "we have to start him/her on a new way of looking at possessions... as just posessions, and not as having any emotional significance." That's a warning sign for me. I'm a pack rat, and have just gotten baaaad about clutter, even though my mind tells me that 15-20 mins a day keeps it down. Then, it overwhelms me, and some of the stuff has emotions attached to it, etc.... Anyway, this show and "hoarders" which I saw on A&E and spurred a winter vacation ruthless purge of my bedroom spooked me enough that I've started setting a timer each evening, 30 mins of straight de clutter, and on my days off, I get in 1-2 hrs each day working on the bad areas of my apartment.. closets, etc..


I can understand where the other family members are coming from also. it's hard on everyone.

[SeattleGirl]

14. Wow, good for you!

That's good practice. My closet used to be a big mess, but a number of years ago, I decided to do a purge of it every 6 months, and it's been neat and organized ever since.

[vadawg]

15. dude hoarders are the worst thing imaginable when you get a call to a house

dosent matter what they hoard there are always hygiene issues, and usually dead animals, no idea why they keep their dead pets :shrug:

[Skittles]

16. I think this problem is more common than is known

and I absolutely admire these hoarders who are willing to bring their problem to light

[SeattleGirl]

19. I agree with both your points.

The only part of my house that even comes close to resembling the hoarder's houses is my basement, which will be cleared out in about a week, but man oh man, I just could NOT imagine allowing a camera crew to come in and film it! :blush: :blush: :blush:

[Skittles]

21. what surprises me

is I always thought people who lived in filth were comfortable with it - that it just did not bother them, that they didn't KNOW it was pitiful and digusting - but it is apparent that they ARE aware and that it causes them a great deal of pain :cry:

[SeattleGirl]

22. I know.

And I think that is something that they have going for them, even though for a lot of them, the road out is going to be long and difficult.

[Captain Hilts]

25. Yes. Among the elderly. Often those whose spouses have died. nt

[Arugula Latte]

28. This problem wasn't possible for most of the world's population until

about the mid 20th century. The proliferation of cheap, factory-made crap has thrown us for a loop. A natural instinct, honed over millenia, to stash things away in times of plenty to protect against times of dearth has gotten out of control in modern times for probably tens of thousands of people.

[msanthrope]

36. Long, long time ago I was an assistant rental manager at a major

development--hundreds of units, thousands and thousands of people.

It wasn't uncommon. We would have cleanouts that were just disgusting.

[carlyhippy]

23. I watched that last night, holy cow, the guy had several feet of stuff on the floor

they were nearly hitting their heads on the ceiling, and he said he had high ceilings. He couldn't even get up his stairs because there was so much stuff. I cannot even begin to imagine living like that. I am a tosser, so will never have that syndrome.

[Arugula Latte]

29. I never would have pegged that guy as a hoarder had I met him in real life.

He gives off an image of having it all together.

His girlfriend was shocked speechless.

[LynzM]

26. Eventually, you have to give up on it.

My mom is a hoarder/non-cleaner. We cleaned the house out for her several times over the course of 10 or 15 years... it always goes back. I eventually had to just say "I cannot fix this, nor is it my responsibility." Lately, she is starting to make some small steps in the right direction, which is nice to see.

[Captain Hilts]

30. My mother still washed dishes and did laundry. So cleanliness wasn't an issue.

Broken appliances and junk mail were her problem.

[LynzM]

42. That's good :)

My mom got to a point where I don't think she ever threw a single thing away or washed more than 1 dish and 1 utensil. She didn't clean up after the cats. It was awful. We stopped letting our daughter visit for a while. I had hopes, when she moved, that she'd change (new environment, etc.), but when I saw her moving things like empty cardboard paper-towel tubes and broken hangers, I pretty much had to give up on that hope. :(

[dembotoz]

32. I have fallen for a hoader

yeh i know
RED FLAG
RED FLAG

The relationship has been going painfully slow

We do not live together so the problem is not in my face at all times.

I know it is there and at some time i will have to deal with it.

Just can not turn my back on the best thing that has ever happened to me....

[Manifestor_of_Light]

37. My mom was a hoarder and it did not bother her in the least.

I tried to clean out a room by walking on TOP of the junk, and tossing it out a window. She woke up came outside, and started screeching at me and cussing like she was possessed.

Turned out that she was dissociating and was in a different personality. I didn't figure this out until later.

I couldn't throw anything away--had to wait until she died. She absolutely did not have a problem with her junk.

I've given away carloads of stuff and sent a 40 foot gooseneck trailer full of furniture and stuff to an auction house.

And I'm still not through.

[Soylent Brice]

41. my MIL belonged on that show. alas,

she lost her job and moved back in with her elderly parents who are also hoarders and belong on the show.

irony.

it is a huge burden, mentally and physically on the family. my garage is crammed with all her belongings because she refuses to let anything go. shits piled up to the ceiling in my 2 car garage. she goes ballistic at the mention of us getting rid of anything, even just the garbage. my wife an i have been secretly going through it anyways.

it's absolute hell and beyond repulsive.