Have you ever seen "Hoarders"? Because I was still away from home and don't understand how to work Tivo, I ended up watching it for the first time last night and I still feel itchy and awful.
I'd read a little bit about hoarding and I've even been known to call Steven a hoarder when I'm mad (he has 2 black and white enlargers and boxes of paper work from the 90's in the garage, for example) but I had no idea that some people were that bad. (sorry Steven.)
Those poor people. And their poor pets. (oh, their pets.)
As much as I couldn't look away, I wish I'd never seen it. It was just too sad.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to clean the entire house.
19 comments:
my mom can't watch it because she thinks it's disgusting. i think it's pretty interesting, but sad too.
It is sad. It's a scary show and feel bad for these people that can't stop hoarding.
we all have a hidden hoardy corner or draw i think, but real hoarding is altogether something different; a form of addiction/illness and you are right to say that it is sad. it must be awful to be bogged down with all this not required detritus of life. still it ain't always easy to get rid and each time i bite the bullet i can guarantee that within a week i wish i hadn't as i needed it for this or that! aargh...
OK OK OK. Abigail - the other night while patiently waiting for S to come to bed turned the TV on, and started watching it- from the beginning. I almost died. I felt nauseous the whole entire time, for real. I'm guessing you saw the same one I did- the woman who had over 3 years of cat feces in one room? Filled with furs and skulls from past dead cats who died in her house. And TELL ME YOU SAW THE COMMERCIAL FOR the man with the RATS. THOUSANDS OF RATS. I had to change the channel. I fell asleep 20 min before it ended and when S got in bed later woke me up and said " really, hoarders before bed?"
And no joke, had nightmares the whole night about them. I vowed that morning to never watch it again. Never again.
Frightening I tell you, so frightening.
Whew, ok rant over. I'm so glad you posted this because I needed to do that ever since I saw it.
so weird you posted this.... i read an article the other day about how hoarding is actually a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. some people actually have to rent out a new space just to hold their stuff. i wish this show would help those people actually seek help, instead of exposing their problem to the world. or maybe they do help? i've never seen it.
made me want to clean my house too! and immediately throw things away!!!! haha.
I had nightmares too. The dead cats. DEAD CATS!! The worst part is that poor woman loved her cats, you could see it in her face. She loved them and she let them die and rot in piles of cat shit. How broken does a person have to be to do that?
I also keep wondering is if hoarding is a new phenomenon. Did people hoard 100 years ago? 50 years ago? Is this a symptom of our contemporary consumerist culture, or have people always suffered this way? OCD is nothing new, so maybe they have.
I just hope that as more people become aware of it, more people will get help before they get to the point where they are literally poisoning themselves.
That really was one of the scariest shows I've ever seen. How could people do that to themselves? Their families? And yes, their pets! The poor things. My guess is this is a modern phenomenal...some psychologist somewhere must have done a study/history of it.
And I went and cleaned afterward too.
I have a sick obsession with that show. My grandfather (who was a freaking psychiatrist) was a hoarder. Like the people in the show kind of hoarder. It's weird to me how someone so smart does something like that. We went through 1/4 of his home last year, and found the WEIRDEST stuff in there. It's hard to believe people can live like that.
I'm yet to see the show for fear I might go on an all week cleaning spree. Just the thought of it makes me feel dirty.
I feel really sorry for the cats. There are a ton of episodes were the find them dead cats everywhere.
It makes me really sad because you can't enjoy your home and you have to live in all that and it's just a unhealthy mind set.
I'm never watching it! I just can't!
I watched a few episodes before D officially banned me from ever seeing it again. I would get totally freaked out and then go on a massive cleaning spree and throw out tons of stuff after each show. I'm much better off NOT seeing it, ever.
Oh God, I had the worst reaction to Hoarders. Itchy, anxious, and having nightmares for weeks after! John and I keep a spotless house, and we're still scrubbing the floors every day in fear!
We have a similar programme here called How Clean Is Your House, and the people on there are always chronic hoarders who, on top of that, never ever clean. It's horrific. It used to be hoarder (but a cleaner) until I was about 25, and that programme made me do a serious de-clutter! Now I am a de-cluttering maniac!!
One of my new year's resolutions is to *stop* watching Hoarders! (also: to start commenting on my favorite blogs.)
Hoarding is definitely not a new phenomenon. Probably some of the most famous hoarders are the Collyer brothers of New York http://bit.ly/g2TiJe who were victorian hoarders who died with 130 tons of stuff!
There is an older couple in my neighborhood who have the most amazing mid-century house with a zillion dollar view, and their house is literally packed with stuff. I don't understand (literally) how they manage to live there. And they're nice, friendly people. So sad.
I'm so happy you commented, and to know about the Collyer brothers (although happy is probably the wrong word for that.)
I'm oddly comforted that hoarding is not new and love the opportunity to find out more about them, even though I'm totally creeped out.
That show makes me so sad. Some people really hold onto way too much unnecessary things. I stopped watching it after one lady thought her one of a billion cats ran away but was really buried under her mess. :(
I really think you should make a new post so we don't see a picture of scariness anymore. Perhaps a friendly photo of Gus and Ollie will bring us right back to normal.
:)
I've got family that are hoarders with homes like that image. I must be the family defect because I'm the exact opposite. My anal retentiveness makes it nearly impossible for any clutter to stick around, no matter how minute. With opposing tendencies, we end up driving each other mad.
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