Hoarding
Hoarding is something that most people will not or cannot understand. However confusing this might be to the majority of us it is a very serious problem.
The house above is one such case. A 67 year old man dies in his home in East Dallas and it took the police two days to actually find the body under the trash. It was reported that there was a wall of trash all in the house around ten foot tall.
The workers could not find another way in forcing them to cut a hole in the roof to search for the body, which took them two days to complete.
The neighbors that reporters talk to relayed they had no idea this way taking place in the home.
In case you have trouble understanding what hoarding is...
This is what the International (OCD) Foundation has listed as symptoms:
What is compulsive hoarding?
Compulsive hoarding includes ALL three of the following:
- A person collects and keeps a lot of items, even things that appear useless or of little value to most people and,
- These items clutter the living spaces and keep the person from using their rooms as they were intended, and
- These items cause distress or problems in day to day activities
Horading Signs
Refusing to let people into the home to make repairs
If you see these symptoms in someone you know try to get them help. Susan
Comments
Hi Sandy,
Yes, I could not believe it either and yes it was very sad. I've seen places of hoarding pictures before but I think this is the worse one.
This is so sad! It is hard to believe that it could reach those proportions. Thanks for sharing, Susan.
Hi Angela,
You're very welcome for the story and yes it's true it might help people discover they do know one too with the warning signs and the attention of this story.
I wondered if maybe I was since I have trouble throwing things away and cleaning out but... as it turns out I'm just lazy lol.
It was a very heart touching story and it's very sad but I thought maybe i might help to share it in case someone does know a person or persons that have the warning signs.
Hi Merle,
No, they can't it's a disorder or sickness maybe even both. I think it's probabley more wide spread than most people would even think. It's so sad and the man's neighbors said that he was so sweet and would give people the shirt off his back. They were so afraid that he would now only be remembered from this story.
Honestly, I think that once again he will be giving to others because this has had world wide coverage and there might be others saved or at least helped due to his story.
Hi Terri,
Thanks and yes it is apparently a disorder that's akin to OCD somehow. It is a very serious problem although many times not even known because the hoarder won't let anyone come in their home due to the stuff they have in there they don't let others see.
One think I didn't know was that this effects millions of people. :(
Great information on hoarding Susan. Thanks for sharing the signs that you could be a hoarder as well. Liked and Shared.
Thank you for sharing this information Susan, this goes on the UK as well. Terrible but some people can't help it.
Is hoarding a disorder? This is great information Susan and it seems this could be a serious problem for people who do this.