bella
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Post by bella on Mar 11, 2012 14:46:16 GMT -5
Didn't see if this one was mentioned before. Anyone watch it?? I can see the reason for the doomsday preppers, tho I don't think it's something I could do.
But......what do you thnk motivates people to hoard just 'stuff'?? I've knows some who have done this in various degrees; and most lived alone. Think they are compensating for something they are missing?? Companionship, maybe?? Bad childhoods?
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Post by catgrass on Mar 12, 2012 14:56:54 GMT -5
I don't necessarily watch that on purpose, but I did see one this weekend. I can't imagine living like that-My mother was somewhat of a hoarder, or maybe just plain lazy. When she died I threw away TONS of cooking/sewing magazines-and my Dad's polyester clothes that were still hanging in the closet from when he left home some 35 years before. None of us liked to visit her house-it always smelled bad and was filthy. I'm not the best housekeeper, and I find myself keeping things I really don't need, but might someday, then I'll get rid of it! Those hoarders are extremes- I can't believe the places aren't overrun with rodents and roaches and bed bugs-Yuk!
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bella
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Post by bella on Mar 12, 2012 15:10:19 GMT -5
We don't watch it on purpose, either, just caught it when nothing else was on. Hubby is very organized, and we couldn't believe how anyone could live in that disaster. Daughter said she saw one show where there were roaches IN the refrigerator; omg. My Mom wasn't super clean, either, but thinking of the place we grew up in, I can kinda see why she probably thought it was pretty hopeless. She never had a home of her own, and I am so thankful that I have that, and so much more that many of the previous generations did not. My brother hoarded things to an extent; he would say if he couldn't use it, maybe someone else could. About drove me up a tree to clean his place, and rarely could get rid of anything. I figured he grew up during the depression and didn't have much, so felt like he shouldn't throw too much away. He even had a drawer full of those little ketchup etc, packets from fast food places. Those I tossed since I knew they were rancid. Yuk.
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Post by marielouise on Mar 12, 2012 23:25:55 GMT -5
I have watched a couple of those shows but like the rest of you can't stand to see or think about living like that.. Really and truly I think that its something that gets started with the thought that someone else might need it but eventually the stuff takes over and the person doesn't know where to start tossing or how to start getting rid of crap... I have a ex sis in law , that her house is filled with boxes of stuff, she doesn't know whats in there and can't or won't go though the boxes. There are just small narrow walk ways here and there in her house. Or thats what it was last time I was in there. My nieces tell me its even worse now ... her present hubby is worse than she is about """saving"" stuff. I may not be the best house keeper but it has to be clean and neat and fresh smelling . We get busy with things and suddenly I realize I haven't dusted for a couple weeks --- then I go on a cleaning spree and Jim leaves the premises. Mom was the worlds worse at saving stuff--- had a gallon jar sitting on her kitchen counter stuffed full of those bread twisties. Her response was always well """ I might need one. """ DUH for what? at one time you couldn't have fit another one in iff you stuck yer foot in there and stomped em all down. But when I was a kid--everything had to be spic and span!! Now she never fussed about having people in and things being out of order---our house was where all the kids gathered , but messes were to be cleaned and not left. She worked once all of us were in school so yep we did chores .. And mercy you ain't cleaned a house unless you were there when we moved ... Didn't matter what the new house looked like or who had lived there before . Before any of our ""stuff""",,, other than our brooms and mops and such cleaning supplies went in house was scrubbed from top to bottom. Anything in the house not nailed down went out . It was either tossed or scrubbed before it came back in IF it came back in... Once we had it scrubbed including walls and base boards and windows --if it was in there we scrubbed it,,,, out we went and Mom set off bug bombs, meanwhile we started on cleaning the yard --starting at the house and working all the way to what ever fence lines. Once she made us cross the fence and pick up all the rusty cans and bottles and junk other people had tossed out there cause it could be seen from the house....
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Post by w8n4dave on Mar 15, 2012 10:59:43 GMT -5
I have a hard time watching that specially if it is animals ... OMG I always thought I was a on the verge of a hoarder but I end out cleaning and getting rid of stuff sooner or later ... So yes I have a very hard time watching that specially because some of them hoard garbage like they don't throw anything away .. open packages food and stuff ... very unsafe and horrible .. Sometimes mice are infested and rats ... there is nothing someone want from a pile of garbage.. I think it is a mental illness alot of the times or how you were raised .... I do hate to throw stuff away but I say if I havn't used it or couldn't get someone to use it for a while then it gets pitched ...................
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Post by zinniagirl on Mar 17, 2012 8:27:16 GMT -5
My brother was a hoarder, but we didn't know it til he died. He lived in SC, we in PA. He would come home for a visit every few years and call Mom a couple of times a year. When we hadn't heard from him for awhile, hubby and I went to see if he was okay. He wouldn't let us in the house, said he was busy--he was actually on his way to try to save his house from foreclosure, but we didn't know that either (he was succesful, had the money but just didn't pay the mortgage. He was up to date on all other bills, so I don't know why he didn't pay mortgage). Dad died, he came home for funeral and then again 6 months later. A few years later, Mom got a call from the police, then coroner that he died. It was up to me and hubby to sort things out. The coroner's office had warned us it was one of the worst places she had ever seen. We did not expect what we found. The only clear space in the house was the swing of the front door to get it open. We then had to climb up on 3 feet of stuff. Even the stairs were covered, just not 3 feet worth. We hired someone to help us clean out the house. There was very little salvageable. While we didn't have his diagnosis, based on other family members, I would guess he was schizophrenic. But schizophrenics can hold it together for short times--the length of times we saw him. Mom (a schizophrenic) was either in denial or covering for him. When he came home for the funeral, I told her I was concerned because he had a lot of the mannerisms of another brother who is schizophrenic. Her reply was "of course he has a lot of the same actions, they are brothers".
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bella
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Post by bella on Mar 17, 2012 15:15:28 GMT -5
Sorry you had to go through all that, zinniagirl. We used to know an elderly gent who started out with a small place where he collected and sold antiques. It didn't take too many years, and he had three sheds filled with assorted 'stuff', along with his house and about an acre of land. The sheds were filled to the ceiling on all sides, with a path through the middle. I'm sure there were some genuine antiques worth money in there, but who could find them with so much to look through. He even had very old magazines there, which deteriorated with the cold and summer humidity. I went through there once, and after seeing rats, decided it wasn't worth it. With my own brother, it was discouraging cleaning for him, because you knew when you were done, he would just start collecting things again.
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Post by zinniagirl on Mar 17, 2012 15:22:36 GMT -5
I was surprised with my brother's place. In the whole mess, I saw only one rat and that was definitely enough!
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Post by catgrass on Mar 19, 2012 12:13:59 GMT -5
Wow, how sad. My boss's daughter is not a hoarder, just plain lazy. A few years ago, he and his other daughter actually "broke into" her house when she wasn't there and it was horrific! Dirty food containers everywhere. The bathtub stopped up and filled with kitty litter-A blank spot in front of each bed and 2 chairs. They got a court order to take her son away (he was about 11-12) at the time-and then the landlord got permission from the health and fire department to burn the trailer down. It was beyond awful! We later learned that everytime it got real bad where she was living-she'd just move. People like that must have something wrong in their brain-so sad!
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Post by zinniagirl on Mar 19, 2012 15:18:46 GMT -5
I really think there is a lot of undiagnosed and/or untreated severe mental illness in many of these hoarding cases. It is so sad. They cannot help what they are doing--just aren't wired right.
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bella
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Post by bella on Mar 19, 2012 17:37:20 GMT -5
I agree. Possibly bad childhoods, too?? Of course, we can't blame parents for everything, but when someone is missing something, they can compensate with 'things' - at least they can have control over those 'things', if that makes sense.
I had a friend who was diagnosed with ocd; she shopped whenever she could, and couldn't stop buying things she didn't need, plus couldn't bring herself to toss anything out. She had piles of brand new clothes just sitting around. I felt her childhood had something to do with all this; what she had gone through was horrible.
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Post by w8n4dave on Mar 20, 2012 22:55:27 GMT -5
My brother was a hoarder, but we didn't know it til he died. He lived in SC, we in PA. He would come home for a visit every few years and call Mom a couple of times a year. When we hadn't heard from him for awhile, hubby and I went to see if he was okay. He wouldn't let us in the house, said he was busy--he was actually on his way to try to save his house from foreclosure, but we didn't know that either (he was succesful, had the money but just didn't pay the mortgage. He was up to date on all other bills, so I don't know why he didn't pay mortgage). Dad died, he came home for funeral and then again 6 months later. A few years later, Mom got a call from the police, then coroner that he died. It was up to me and hubby to sort things out. The coroner's office had warned us it was one of the worst places she had ever seen. We did not expect what we found. The only clear space in the house was the swing of the front door to get it open. We then had to climb up on 3 feet of stuff. Even the stairs were covered, just not 3 feet worth. We hired someone to help us clean out the house. There was very little salvageable. While we didn't have his diagnosis, based on other family members, I would guess he was schizophrenic. But schizophrenics can hold it together for short times--the length of times we saw him. Mom (a schizophrenic) was either in denial or covering for him. When he came home for the funeral, I told her I was concerned because he had a lot of the mannerisms of another brother who is schizophrenic. Her reply was "of course he has a lot of the same actions, they are brothers". Wow!! that is a sad yet amazing story .. So very sorry for your loss .. Who knows what causes such things ... there can be 6 sisters raised in the same house and 1 will be a hoarder .So it does make one wonder .. I always thought If I don't keep cleaning I would be a hoarder also .. I went to my sisters who lives in Ca. her one room was almost exactly like my one room .. amazing ...I am not a hoarder but I hoard my crafts in one room I live in Michigan ...
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