I watched Hoarders for the first time last night!

[Nestof3]

At first, I honestly felt like I was going to suffocate. When it was all over, I tidied several things, purged a few things and cleaned the toilet.

 

How does this show affect you?

[love2read]

I've seen it on netflix and wanted to give it a try, but I was afraid it would give me the willies. Would you watch it again?

[Lawana]

Unfortunately, I have seen this type of living. And on both my and dh's side are persons who hoard, if not to the extent shown on the show. Fortunately, I don't have the hoarding tendency, but I can always use a reminder to declutter.

[Baseball mom]

I have never watched the whole program. I have seen parts of the show about 2-3 times.

 

It makes me do about the same as you. I want to toss things and clean.

 

:001_huh: Maybe I should watch this daily.

[justamouse]

I clean things way into the night. *looks around* I think maybe I should watch a show or two.

[Nestof3]

Yes, I think I'll watch one on Netflix tonight. I was browsing their instant views last night and remembered hearing about it on the forum.

 

And, hey, it might make me clean something every night. :lol:

 

I have to wonder about the authenticity of it all, though. And yes, my Dad's aunt has some of these tendencies.

 

I've seen it on netflix and wanted to give it a try, but I was afraid it would give me the willies. Would you watch it again?

[Sophia]

:bigear:

I've never heard of it. It's on Netflix?

I'm gonna pin down dh to watch it. I cannot believe the stuff that man holds on to.

[Nestof3]

I'm nothing near like what I've seen on this show. I do have TONS of rubber and clear stamps, lots of scrapbooking stuff and lots of books. But, I am extremely organized despite living in a tiny house. Honestly, if we lived in an average-sized house, it wouldn't look like so much stuff. :lol:

 

My FIL keeps tons of things he'll never use. His wife tries to get rid of it (like tin cans, old chicken coops, etc) but he won't let her. We are going to have a ton of stuff to trash one day. :tongue_smilie:

 

Unfortunately, I have seen this type of living. And on both my and dh's side are persons who hoard, if not to the extent shown on the show. Fortunately, I don't have the hoarding tendency, but I can always use a reminder to declutter.

[DarlaS]

At first, I honestly felt like I was going to suffocate. When it was all over, I tidied several things, purged a few things and cleaned the toilet.

 

How does this show affect you?

 

We don't have cable or satellite TV right now, but just seeing pics online from this show makes me want to be a minimalist.

[Guest mrsjamiesouth]

It fascinates me and I always wonder if they are going to have a yard sale that I could maybe shop at. :tongue_smilie:

 

I am not a hoarder at all, I don't even have any baby clothes left from dd2. If we are not using it, it's gone.

[DianeW88]

Within the first five minutes of watching it, I start cleaning the room I'm in. Fifteen minutes into the show and I've moved on to other nearby rooms. By the time it's over, I've dusted, vacuumed and de-cluttered every room on my main floor. Not to mention throwing in a load of laundry and cleaning the bathroom during the commercials. As a result, I watch it quite frequently. :D

[yslek]

Yes, I think I'll watch one on Netflix tonight. I was browsing their instant views last night and remembered hearing about it on the forum.

 

And, hey, it might make me clean something every night. :lol:

 

I have to wonder about the authenticity of it all, though. And yes, my Dad's aunt has some of these tendencies.

 

I don't. When I watch it, I secretly imagine it's my MIL who is getting help for her hoarding problem. I've also learned, though, that this is a disorder far beyond what I imagined and despair more than ever of being able to help her. :(

[OnTheBrink]

It makes me want to clean, too!

 

The one with the 70+ dead cats made me ill, though.

[ThatCyndiGirl]

I watch it on my laptop while I clean.

[Paz]

It makes me wish that a professional organizer would arrive at my house. I would be very cooperative and would throw out anything they asked. I am not a collector or hoarder but I have trouble organizing the stuff I do have.

[k2bdeutmeyer]

It makes me wish that a professional organizer would arrive at my house. I would be very cooperative and would throw out anything they asked. I am not a collector or hoarder but I have trouble organizing the stuff I do have.

 

:iagree:

[Miss Sherry]

I do sometimes have a hard time getting rid of some of my books. I have several book cases. I seem to just fall in love with them whether or not I'll ever use them again. I think part of that is that I love the memories of having used or read them to my children. But I do tend to keep more than I should even if I haven't used them.

I have sold quite a few items even though I would really rather be able to keep ALL of my homeschool books if space were not an issue. They take up soooo much space. It's also nice to get a few bucks for them to use on something we actually need, rather than a book we don't really need.

[sarawatsonim]

We watch it purposely because it freaks us out and makes us purge things. Last time I watched it I pulled everything out of my crawl space and went through and pitched, donated and reorganized the stuff I kept. I use this show as my motivational tool.

[Nestof3]

That's funny. It makes me want to BE the professional organizer. Growing up, I had friends say that I should be one for a living. I've always found organizing to be a fun hobby, LOL.

 

It makes me wish that a professional organizer would arrive at my house. I would be very cooperative and would throw out anything they asked. I am not a collector or hoarder but I have trouble organizing the stuff I do have.

[Audrey]

At first, I honestly felt like I was going to suffocate. When it was all over, I tidied several things, purged a few things and cleaned the toilet.

 

How does this show affect you?

 

 

It gives me bad flashbacks to a roommate I had in college. She was a lovely, sweet girl, but was a terrible hoarder and had poor hygiene all around. It was a very difficult situation. I can't watch those kinds of shows without thinking of that. Not a place I want to revisit IYKWIM.

[Critter]

My MIL died a year ago and in the last year we logged over 450 hours of work cleaning out her house. Eight commercial dumpsters, and dozens of pickup loads to the dump, and a year later we were able to put the house on the market as a fixer-upper and sell it. We literally used scoop shovels in parts of the basement. They kept everything; we even found old razor blades among the scraps of paper, broken glass, and general filth. Do I sound bitter? I will never do this to my children.

[Luckymama]

My MIL died a year ago and in the last year we logged over 450 hours of work cleaning out her house. Eight commercial dumpsters, and dozens of pickup loads to the dump, and a year later we were able to put the house on the market as a fixer-upper and sell it. We literally used scoop shovels in parts of the basement. They kept everything; we even found old razor blades among the scraps of paper, broken glass, and general filth. Do I sound bitter? I will never do this to my children.

 

 

Dh and I only partially joke that we'll just raze my inlaws' house :glare: I am so not looking forward to cleaning out their house. I'm very sorry for what you had to do :grouphug:

[Closeacademy]

I use that show as a cleaning motivator. When I am feeling like not doing my chores but I know I need to do it, I turn on an episode and the next thing I know, I am cleaning and decluttering. It really helped me get rid of a bunch of stuff we don't need.

 

Some of the shows are better than others. There is the one on A&E which gives them just a couple of days to clean-up and can sometimes be rather gross. The one on the learning channel digs more into the reasons behind hoarding. And now Animal planet has one on animal hoarders.

 

:001_smile:

[ChristusG]

Honestly, it freaks me out. I don't see how people can live like that. I cannot stand clutter.

[KidsHappen]

I have never seen the show but my mother was a hoarder so I have seen enough of it to last me a lifetime. I had one child that had a tendency towards hoarding but after dealing with the mess my mother left behind, she came home cleaned, decluttered and organized her life and it has stuck for almost three years now. She was honestly so traumatized that she made a major personality change because of it.

[Snowfall]

It makes me worry for my sister. Her house is nasty and she keeps so much JUNK. She has 3 young children and I think that is the only thing that keeps her hoarding tendencies in check. I believe that she will become a full-blown hoarder once they are grown...possibly before then.

[anneofalamo]

I watched an episode on line. My children had very bad hoarder tendencies. Having come out of the foster system, hoarding is common. I wanted to root it out. I have yelled, pleaded, disciplined, coaxed and yes even bribed in the past to encouraged them to declutter.

ONE, one episode.

Two months later, still doing their rooms! It was a total freaky thing to watch with them.

[elegantlion]

We have hoarders in my family. It's hard to watch, but it makes me get rid of stuff. I've been in environments, not quite as bad as the show, but people just don't see the clutter anymore. Entire rooms of their house have disappeared but they don't see the stuff.

 

Those organizers have the patience of a saint. They can pick up what is obviously trash and watch the person agonize for five minutes about what to do with it. My dh will walk through while I'm watching and say "Just get a dumpster", but he doesn't see the real horror in these peoples' eyes.

 

It pains me to see that people are so broken that they cling to stuff and shut out the people. I've been amazed that many of them, or their families, can pinpoint at exact event that made them start hoarding.

[Chris in VA]

I've only seen the first season on Netflix, but I hope they add more.

What struck me was that this show seems pretty darn real for a reality show--there are very few that have happy endings. I was all set to watch something where a person has major trouble and it's all solved by the end of the show, but that didn't happen in most of them. It made me realize I was being a bit, IDK--something unpleasant--because I was using them for entertainment instead of being compassionate and seeing it as a real mental disorder.

I like those escapist type shows on the Home and Garden channel, where they redo a room or try to sell a house--but Hoarders is totally different.

My heart really goes out to them. I have a df who is somewhat like that--she attaches meaning to so much of her stuff that it becomes hard to let go. Now I feel I understand her better.

[southcarolinamom]

My son and I have watched several episodes - it's fascinating from a psychological perspective (he's really enjoying psychology this year!) We like to know the "why" did the hoarder start hoarding ...what happened in his or her life to bring about this kind of addiction, etc.

 

It can also be painful to watch. I usually tell myself "I will not become a clutterer, I will not pass down clutter to my children," etc. after an episode.

[MamaT]

Honestly, it freaks me out. I don't see how people can live like that. I cannot stand clutter.

 

:iagree:That show gives me real anxiety. There was one episode about a woman who hoarded food! I honestly gagged watching that one.

[AHASRADA]

I love the show; don't think I've missed an episode since it began on TLC. Dh thinks it's sick, and can't imagine how I can stand to watch. Personally, it doesn't motivate me to the extent that it does the other posters, in that I don't immediately jump up and start cleaning and purging. What it does is make me feel better about my own clutter, ie: it's not hopeless, look at the mountains of junk they managed to dig out from under, so surely I can get a handle on a few rogue books, jackets and toys! Fortunately, no one in my family hoards, we don't keep trash or junk, but all of us (except maybe dd) tend to keep our possessions for a very long time, and they eventually become too much and need to be purged. Ds is particularly sentimental and doesn't like to part with his stuff. As I type, he is watching Tarzan on VHS, the first mainstream video he ever received...at age 4! (he's 14!) I said, "We still have that?" His response: "Where would it go?" Yes, indeed. :tongue_smilie:

 

I, too, have considered the possibility of being a professional organizer. Most people tell me I am the most organized person they know, and am very good at the theoretical/procedural aspect...especially with other people's stuff ;). Somehow, in my own home, I can't help but see the whole picture, feel overwhelmed, not know where to begin, and therefore lack the motivation to do so. Watching hoarders reminds me that my little piles are certainly not insurmountable and encourages me to take small steps toward decluttering.

 

BTW, preparing to welcome a new baby into our home (including all the baby equipment) and the accompanying nesting instinct, has been the best decluttering motivator ever (watching hoarders is probably an easier way to get motivated, though). :lol:

[love2read]

Growing up my best friend's parents were hoarders. There was a thin path from the front door to the kitchen and each room. Surrounding the path were piles of newspaper, magazines, boxes of junk. It was horrible. Her little sisters bed was covered almost to the pillow with piles of papers, so we cleaned it one day (thinking that her mother just didn't like to clean) and put everything in trash cans. When the mom got home she freaked, put everything back and ground my friend for a month. DF tells me the house is even worse now. Very sad indeed. My friends house is immaculate.

[5forMe]

I watch it, I find it fascinating, and it motivates me to declutter. I do sometimes feel like a voyeur watching the travesty that is their life. My DH does not understand the fascination and thinks it is depressing and a nonproductive use of time. I disagree, some of those images stick in my mind and have motivated me to get organized and stay that way.

 

I hate episodes where the people have pets that urinate and defecate on all the clutter and piles of animal wastes everywhere. That to me is beyond disgusting....and the bugs, roaches, etc. BLECH!

 

Many of the really disgusting ones, have no running water, or heat, because it has been shut off. One woman had no sink in her kitchen because it was clogged and she never bothered to unclog it. So she kept buying new coffee pots when the dirty ones would get magots in it.... REALLY? The money she spent on that, she could've gotten her drain unclogged.

 

I also think there is a fine line between people who have a true illness and those who are plain lazy and too busy blaming family members for not "helping them clean up" when they live alone and have 20 bazillion cats. I saw two episodes like that. Both women were mean older ladies who seemed a bit uncaring and spent the entire show sitting on a porch or outside in chair while the team cleaned up. They didn't even really care about many items coming out of the home, just wanted someone to come and clean it up. To me, that is laziness, not an "obsessive compulsive hoarder".

 

Confessions of an animal hoarder on Animal Planet. Just gross, because again, they have all these "pets" and the animal waste is everywhere. Who can live like that? Yuck!

[Chelle in MO]

And now Animal planet has one on animal hoarders.

 

:001_smile:

 

Sooo...is this show about ANIMALS who hoard things or PEOPLE who hoard animals? ;)

[sagira]

Just put it on my Netflix Instant queue. My FIL is somewhat of a hoarder, but not that extreme. My house is very messy, but I'm not a hoarder. I just can't get a hold of cleaning or worse, decluttering. What is that show about messy houses again? Dh and I are both messy, and we find it an uphill battle to clean. We'll spend hours cleaning one weekend and it still doesn't look much better afterwards.

[PiCO]

At first, I honestly felt like I was going to suffocate. When it was all over, I tidied several things, purged a few things and cleaned the toilet.

 

How does this show affect you?

 

I watched it on my computer while I was cleaning and purging a (very) small office. It was quite effective- really helped me make the choice to throw more stuff away.

 

I'm not a hoarder, but it is difficult for me to get rid of some stuff. I come from a long line of pack rats.

[Carrie12345]

I record it every week and watch it the next day.

 

I'm not a hoarder in the clinical sense. There are very few things I'm emotionally attached to, and I have no interest in compulsive shopping (or even regular shopping, lol!) And you can walk through the majority of my house just fine. My loft is the glaring exception.

 

Unfortunately, I do struggle with organization, which is terrible with 6 people

(soon to be 7) in <1200sf., particularly with very limited closet and wall space. I use the show as a way of recognizing the path I *could* go down if I don't keep up with the general clutter. It is a path that one of our family members is currently headed down.

 

I usually tackle at least one area during or after each episode.

[Perry]

I have yelled, pleaded, disciplined, coaxed and yes even bribed in the past to encouraged them to declutter.

ONE, one episode.

Two months later, still doing their rooms! It was a total freaky thing to watch with them.

What a great idea. I've never seen the show, although I've seen hoarders IRL.

 

I have one child who is a pack rat and profoundly disorganized. I think we'll be watching this show together.

[Dad 4 Boys]

Sooo...is this show about ANIMALS who hoard things or PEOPLE who hoard animals? ;)

 

That's funny, I don't care who you are.

[mommaduck]

At first, I honestly felt like I was going to suffocate. When it was all over, I tidied several things, purged a few things and cleaned the toilet.

 

How does this show affect you?

That is how those shows affect me. I start an inta-clean and purge on the house. I like watching Clean House...good sense of humour there.

[hsmom]

My mil (who has since past) was a hoarder to an extent. She was not dirty by any means like the ones on the show. Her stuff was not stacked to the point of a path or anything. All of it had homes, but it was every where. Not one free area on any shelf or wall, she just collected everything. He favorite place to go to was the Salvation Army. She had so much stuff when we had to clean out her home. He closet had more clothes in it than Carry on Sex in the City. The attic was full of boxes of stuff. There were pictures all over the walls, no space between. Enough blankets to keep a 30 families warm.

 

I believe most of her problem was she really did have a horrible time in life. Abused by all her husbands/boyfriends. Some of her children even were abusing her. All but one of her children continued to be in and out of prison their whole lives, till this day actually. So, she had her stuff. It could not hurt her, did not yell at her, and made her feel good to see it and have it. It is sad.

 

A lot of hoarders have bigger problems inside then the hoarding itself. So, it makes me sad when I watch that show. It does motivate me.

 

Now after reading this thread I think my 2 boys need to watch the show also!

[kamom]

.

 

I believe most of her problem was she really did have a horrible time in life. Abused by all her husbands/boyfriends. Some of her children even were abusing her. All but one of her children continued to be in and out of prison their whole lives, till this day actually. So, she had her stuff. It could not hurt her, did not yell at her, and made her feel good to see it and have it. It is sad.

 

A lot of hoarders have bigger problems inside then the hoarding itself. So, it makes me sad when I watch that show. It does motivate me.

 

 

 

I find this very interesting. We have a good friend who is a hoarder and she has the most hurtful life of anyone I know personally. I never knew there could be a connection there.

[kathkath]

I hoard fabric and books. Is that a disease??

[hsmom]

I find this very interesting. We have a good friend who is a hoarder and she has the most hurtful life of anyone I know personally. I never knew there could be a connection there.

 

See objects cannot hurt you, they are yours and can make some people really feel secure. When everything else in your life has been so bad and uncertain. So, yes there really is a connection for some people.

[Remudamom]

Makes me want to go through dh's stuff. He couldn't really be considered a hoarder, but he is compared to me. I leave his desk and his bedside table alone.

 

His machine barn makes me crazy, it really is a mess.

[Violet Crown]

I recently spoke with a couple in New Mexico who had been helping a hoarding neighbor deal with his house. Part of the roof had fallen in, giving weather free entry; and he had been robbed several times.

 

What made it especially hard was that he had once made and marketed traditional New Mexican jewelry. There were precious and semi-precious stones scattered everywhere throughout his house (thus the robberies). He had hidden them in various places over the years. So you couldn't just pick up a box of waterlogged papers, rotting junk, etc. and pitch it; everything had to be carefully sifted.

[shanvan]

I find this very interesting. We have a good friend who is a hoarder and she has the most hurtful life of anyone I know personally. I never knew there could be a connection there.

 

My mother has this problem (though not to the extent of the people on the show) and I've helped my brothers clean out her apartment 3 time in the past year. The show upsets me b/c it hits too close to home.

 

Shannon

[Krista in LA]

I watched the whole season that's on Netflix and I cried during each episode. My mom is a hoarder and my dad is an enabler. There is literally two paths from the front door - one to the bedroom and one to the kitchen with stuff piled shoulder high on either side. I am grateful that they don't have the food and trash problems like so many on the show. Their dishes are clean and put away. The episode that got me the most was when the organizer asked about whether they would rather have their dining room table covered with stuff, or cleaned off and having their family over for dinner and the dd told the mother that she better choose her family not her stuff. That is exactly how I feel. The last time I was at their house while we were on a trip, I couldn't even go in to do my laundry and we had to stay at a hotel.

 

My dad seems to think there might be some hope now as they have had to make several trips to clean out my deceased grandmother's house and my mom is realizing that it's all just stuff. We will see, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Mejane]

I've never seen the show, but I remember as a social worker making a home visit to an elderly woman who had boxes stacked to the ceiling. There was a path of boxes through the house to her chair in the living room (where she slept), and into the kitchen. The rest of the house was inaccessible. That was twenty years ago, and it still gives me the willies.