The article says older people are more likely to become hoarders and that seems plausible. The older you become, the more 'stuff' you tend to have accumulated. Older people often buy knicknacks from shopping channels, mail offers or magazines, which can get out of hand when they become senile and can't handle their finances.

My elderly aunt bought a houseful of merchandise by mail that she didn't need, couldn't use and really couldn't afford. Our elderly relatives may need help resisting the phone salesmen and junk mail offers they are bombarded with.

Perhaps hoarding is a result of our 'hunter/gatherer' instincts run amok. In our materialistic culture, it's hard to resist the urge to acquire new things.

Totally agree. Hoarding and OCD are control related, or a perceived lack of control baed in fear. The elderly often cling to some comfort behaviors that make them feel both more in control of their life, as well as more involved with and insulated from a world that no longer respects or even sees them. Suspect some forms of collecting or its extreme of hoarding is also more prevalent in women, as a reactive behavior, since historically women have not owned their own homes, possessions, etc... until Baby Boomer females began rising into middle mgmt. and started their own businesses. Until then, about 40 -50% of women were in the workplace, just not in positions of authority or with decent pay and had tenuous existences unless wealthy. Legally, the husband owned everything, even their children, so hoarding in a wildly consumeristic post-war culture is almost to be expected, esp. if one has been on the outer edges of too little or too much. (The "it's never enough" mindset.)

The Depression Era folks have passed along some strong values to kids and grandkids, but some also tended to save every broken ball point pen or scrap of paper, passing the behaviors along. I know my mom, who was a terrible cook and hated even being in the kitchen, saved bookshelves full of cookbooks and a boxful of recipe clippings. If she ever actually used any of them, I'd be shocked. But her widowed mom and siblings lost their home and then nearly starved during the Depression, and it gave her comfort to collect all that cooking stuff later in her entire adult life, as well as collecting a couple of nice sets of china and cookware - also unused. After she died, we threw out the yellowed boxes of magazine recipes. But I inherited the rest, have it in my home now and use the china and cookware, etc... When her mother was elderly, she still had no home of her own and came to live with us. I remember all the little crap she saved - safety pins and buttons to 40-year-old clothing long gone, saying that it might be useful one day. Whereas, men will often take disadvantaged childhoods or emotional trauma and plow their energies into commerce, money hoarding. We used to joke that my dad still had the first nickel he ever made, since he grew up of modest means and took 3 jobs to put himself through college. Neither of my parents were hoarders but they were shaped by large social/political/economic events in their early lives. I wonder if the current crop of kids who are currently homeless or daily struggle with their parents' joblessness/financial situation/fears won't later become a gen of hoarders.

Older people are more likely to have this problem because they're more likely to have occurred a severe sense of mourning over someone who has died.

It has been my experience that the vast majority of people who have this problem are in mourning. NO ONE has ever died from crying. It doesn't happen over night.

Shop-a-holic is not the same thing as mourning.

.

I like what Hugh Hefner hoards.

People wouldn't hoard cats if the original owners would have gotten them spayed and neutered.

Here's a solution: Try moving to a new house or apartment every year! Packing, moving, and unpacking all your stuff is a real motivation to get rid of it!

They must carry their own boxes up house stairs or apt. with stairs. It may take a few moves for the hard-core hoarders, but eventually, they'll want to lighten their loads.

I've downsized from a three-bedroom house with garage to a one-bedroom apartment with no garage with two apartment moves in between. I've been consigning and donating stuff for the last three years and I still have too many clothes, so I have a little more work to do.

It felt great to get rid of stuff I didn't need. Thinking of all of the people who could really use made it a lot easier to part with my possessions.

How much paperwork does a person need to keep? Five years of IRS forms, but beyond that, receipts? statements?

The main source of paper comes, unwanted, in the mail every day. Most of it is easy to trash (although some needs to be shredded, and must be put aside for a day when one has time to do that). But some is semi-important, but what does one do when it all builds up? A couple weeks' worth of mail can be huge. Every paper that comes into the house must be read or skimmed, and that is far too much trash for us or the environment, even if recycled. No, I don't want those store coupons or mail offers; please do not send them, because I won't look.

It is much easier to give away clothing that no longer fits a child, or toys they no longer play with.

Jonathan Swift hints in "Gulliver's Travels" that hoarders were around in his time, and was an expected (and unwanted by society in general) by-product of aging in his account about the Struldbrugs.

I&I, unfortunately it doesn't work that way.

I told a lady I know I wouldn't help her move, but I did drop by while she had other friends packing (she managed to stay "busy" enough not to help). The person packing the kitchen found packages of food that expired three years earlier and started putting them in a trash bag. The lady told her "oh, don't do that; I'll take care of that when I get to the new place."

It took the movers eight hours to haul out the contents of a two bedroom apartment.

It's been three and a half years; she's moved three times that I know of. I feel certain those items that expired in 2006 are still packed in boxes somewhere.

mike, your comment reminds me of a close family member. she has moved many times over the years, and each move is like an excavation. she also tends to be conveniently "busy" when friends/family come to help pack. it seems like embarrassment/shame to me, but i'm not an expert, by any means.

HAHA HAHA HAAA! That's a good one!

Well, it would certainly cut down on the population - they'd probably kill each other. ;)

That's so unfair to the neat freaks. They'd kill each other!

I am a hoarder. It took me years to admit it because I don't hoard the things usually associated with hoarding. Most of the things I accumulated I believed I was stocking up so I could have enough "inventory" to allow me to have an income when I retired. Now I have thousands of dollars in crafting and sewing items.

I have been helped by a medication to break the cycle of buying. But it's very hard to give up my accumulated items because to me they have a value...potential income. I do have trouble getting rid of books and magazines (which are mostly science magazines) because they have information I become afraid of losing. But I have gotten through most of the books and given a lot to the local library. And I'm working on the magazine thing.

One thing I don't think is realized is the hoarding IS the flip side of the neat-freak, that is, I was a neat-freak before I was a hoarder. But the demands of my life (work, family, etc.) left me so tired and stressed I could no longer do what I thought needed to be done. I reached a point when I gave up trying, figuring there would come a time when I could organize things. That didn't happen.

Now I'm over whelmed because a family member who thought he was helping me took a lot of the stuff and just stacked it willy-nilly in a room of my house. I now look at that pile and just want to cry. I don't know where anything is and it's overwhelming to think of going through it. But I haven't totally given up...yet.

I hope my comments will help you understand this issue is more complicated and emotionally tied than some commentors appreciate. If you have a hoarder in your family I can suggest you to do what my son started doing. He would ask me if I would go through a box of items. He'd bring that box to me and I would go through it. Then he'd ask if I could go through one more box. Before long I would have gone through a number of boxes. On my side, I made a rule that I would try to get rid of half of the items. Often it ended up that I got rid of more than half. It's a long, slow process, but it can be done.

I'm working on a plan of attack for that pile I spoke about. There's hope, I believe.

Labella, I read your comment with a lot of empathy. I too have the craft income, garage full of saleable items, shelves filled with everything from pine cones to broken clocks. Have you considered asking the local Comm on Aging for some assistance? There is hope. We will clear out some space for ourselves to actually do the crafts we intend to do. I think energy levels and level of emotional health are quite important. I also think my clutter(I call it that to stay sane) is due to having been shamed horribly as a child for having crap stuff under my bed, Dad even made a movie to show our relatives. I am a rebel, so maybe I'm done with that. I wish the best for you.

A great way to get rid of stuff is to consign it. You don't get much money, but it's better than nothing.

And it's also been known for decades that experiences shaped by external environmental circumstances will also shape one's neurological state.

Eugene, were you a therapist or a psychiatrist?

I agree with you. Lee Shuer is the poster boy for a non-profit, though he has not benefited psychologically directly from them. He is compensated for his so called life story with employment.

He runs a recovery department there and does very little, but promote himself and the company.

The place is mostly a scam with no real results. People with extreme difficulties are cared for to the tune of 10 million dollars a year and above.

The business allows mental health stigma to exist within its walls and covers for those who put the best face on for the company.

It is a crime that many people are taken advantage of and get worse instead of receiving the care they deserve. The company relies on the extremely gray areas of what effective psychology is to make a profit for their board (I know it's supposed to be a non-profit).

Never has so little been done for so much of a cost to the tax payer.

Have you ever met a true hoarder? I have one in my family and it is a horrible thing to see. She has OCD to the point that she can hardly function and is not anything close to a normal person. She doesn't think or act like any person I've ever met. She obsesses over ridiculous things and thinks that every 'collectible' is worth a million dollars. You cannot reason with her. And if you throw away all her stuff she freaks out violently and then heads to the nearest Goodwill to resupply. It is a mental defect. No one would choose to live like that if they could help it.

Someone couldn't be bothered to read the article, but jumped in anyway.

READ THE ARTICLE!!!!! I dare you read the article, because when you do, you'll find that the embittered nonsense you spout is a lie.

if it bothers you that bad why watch the show. maybe you should do some soul searching of your self and find out why your so angry about something that does not effect you

Nate Martin, I felt that way too when I first started watching that show. There seems to be two distinctly different types, those who just need, as you say, a kick in the behind to clean out the house, and others who clearly need psychiatric help - who should not be living on their own. So I'm not entirely sure you're not right at least some of the time. There are such things as laziness and sloppiness.

I can't stand to watch the show because it scares me. I'm not a hoarder, but it still hits too close to home.

When I'm trying to clean out the overstuffed basement or garage or closet - I find I have difficulty parting with things I haven't seen or touched in years. Each item creates a decision - "could I ever use this" "could this be recycled" "should I give to Goodwill?" "I might be able to use this" "should I just throw it away?". It's like the organizational part of my brain starts fighting with the frugal side, creating an annoying conflict of "keep or toss" (and toss how?)

In my second line of work I seem to run into a fair number of hoarders, some high functioning, others not so much. I really feel for the families of hoarders. Often the rubber meets the road when elderly hoarders pass away or need extended care.

I once visited a hoarder house where a 30 foot dumpster sat in the front yard. It was partially full and yet the house was cluttered to the ceiling and barely passable in most of the living areas. I commented on the dumpster and the very bewildered and upset adult children said that this was the second dumpster. The first one they filled from the basement which was still very cluttered. Very unfortunate. Anyone that thinks that true hoarding isn't a mental dysfunction hasn't seen the effects of or met true hoarders. This isn't simply a "housekeeping" issue.

WinWin, I think that's where some of us fall, not hoarders, but in the middle. It is really time consuming to selectively go through papers and things you have collected throughout the years. There is a huge difference though, where some people hoard garbage... most of us do not fall under that category thankfully.

@rmb22 - my father married a hoarder, unknowingly, or more likely thinking he could change her. My father and her were high school sweethearts and after my mother died she came after my father faster than you could say "did your wife pass away"? So because she was not my family by blood, I have to say she was the most disgusting person I've ever had the displeasure of knowing. It wasn't just her hoarding, it was her volatile personality, her screeching if one of us tried to enter our childhood home, her laying claim to my mother's personal belongings - at least those that we didn't manage to sneak out of the house before she moved in. And for that she punished my father by going out and purchasing replacement items. The home was so completely jammed up with stuff that when her 42 year old son dropped dead in their kitchen in the middle of the night - God rest his soul - they didn't find his body for 12 hours!! And even then they had already been in and out of the kitchen several times before she practically tripped over his body and found him. Hard to believe - but a true story.

She drove my father into financial ruin; he became so depressed that he stopped taking care of his diabetes (his own children were not allowed over to his house to visit) and after several mini strokes he ended up in the hospital and it was determined he could never again return home because of the condition of the home. He spent 2 years in a rehabilitation center where he willed himself to death. The home was put into foreclosure and all of the possessions in the home were put out on the front lawn, at which point nothing could stop her from letting us come over and pick through items, searching for anything that she had not flat out stolen and taken to her new apartment - and she took plenty that did not belong to her. I could go on and on, but in the end, she left a terrible impression of a hoarder on us - right down to the house smelling so bad from cat feces and urine that entering the home became virtually impossible.

I can't imagine that anyone would choose to be the way she was.

I think a lot of it is tied to depression. But I don't blame people who don't want to live with them. I know I couldn't no matter how mean it sounds to say that. They need medicine to help lift the depression some.

you are an idiot. How dare you be so cavalier and righteous? You think these people LIKE to be surrounded by garbage and trash??? That they can just throw it all away is the solution that only simple uneducated people such as yourself would come up with. When you have some knowledge (and perhaps the experience) of a psycholigical disorder,then come back and make some intelligent comments. Until then,I suggest you STFU.

Well Nate, by the time I got to the end of the replies to you, I thought , why bother? But AL said it...you're an idiot. But that's mean I suppose because peoplewho are so intolerantof others are actually emotionally challenged themselves. They have aneed to control, are probably angry with their own life, and incapable of compassion. I bet there's a fly in your soup one day.

Sounds like Nate has an anger-management problem and could use some xanax.

Yeah, some would. And more than that.

Tick, tick, tick....

And what about plastic bags!!!!!

I know someone (eye doctor, and a very wealthy one) from New York he collected plastic bags ( not as a hobby) and plastic cups from yogurt. He had (has) not a single glass.!!!!!!

wow, antisocial scary nutjob much?

That's who I think of when I see what is being thrown away.

And there's a fine line, isn't there, between "Picker" and "Hoarder"?

When do you stop being a picker (that actually makes very good money off your finds), and become a hoarder...when you run out of the space in your storeroom? When there's a slump in the 'second-hand' market? When your adult kid says so? When you hang on to that first pizza box or empty milk carton?

What about places like antique shops or some thrift shops and second-hand stores; would they be considered "hoarders" too, or simply "well-inventoried"?

Maybe my question is really with the DSM...will all these things be taken into consideration when formulating the criteria for 'Hoarding Personality'? Or will it simply be a question of which pharmaceutical company gives the biggest kick-back?

Diane #14- American Pickers have encountered hoarders- they won't sell!

Well,as one hoards with the pure intention of hoarding and with no desire to ever sell,throw out or give away any of their stuff-and the other picks with a specific intent,and usually also the desire to sell from their inventory...I really don't think you could call antique stores and such hoarders.

Hoarders has a strong emotional attachment to the stuff they hold on to, they even remember the reason why they got the item in the first place (every single one of them). In the show "American Pickers", they actually buy from borderline hoarders to full-blown text book ones. They even said the most difficult people to buy from are the ones who are 'sentimentally attached' to the item.

I agree, just let the whole thing go up in smoke.It may not fix their problems, but at least the expense of hauling away all that crap is mostly solved As many times as I've seen the program Hoarders...and have read articles like this one, I can't really sympathise with any person suffering from hoarding....especially the ones that let feces (human or animal) pile up to the point of illness or disease. JMO...hoarders are just plain selfish and lazy.Nothing a good bulldozer couldn't accomplish.Sorry for the "unpopular" point of view,but I suspect there's a few people out there that share this opinion.

you would think different if you lived next door

Think of it as sympathizing with a person who is so mentally ill that they do not realize their home is full of feces. That is extremely disturbing and worth compassion. It's not a matter of selfish and lazy--that's really an oversimplification. When someone is in danger in their own house, it's a different level of problem.

SET FIRE??? Well that's ignorant..and dangerous. Maybe you should read "Under a Flaming Sky" before you start making stupid remarks about burning homes. Or look at what Hurc. Sandy did.

Advocating arson in a public forum? If that isn't an inflammatory comment, then nothing is. Fire tends to spread, and if there is a lot of stuff, a whole neighborhood could be burned down at the same time.

They didn't mean to

Lisa, I realize they didn't mean to, but that is small consolation to the guy cleaning up the mess. The irony is that this is a small town and the local dump is four miles away and free. A good example is their old clothes dryer that finally died. Rather than drag it out the back door, load it in the truck, and take it to the dump, they drug it downstairs and "stored" it. They also never made the slightest effort to maintain their property. I remember when we moved there 50 years ago when I was six or seven. It was a beautiful place with nice lawns and many trees. As the trees died, my dad pulled them out with the tractor to the brush pile, but did not plant a single tree in 50 years. The broken garage door was damaged 40 years ago and never fixed. These things are typical of the situation. I am not really angry with them as such, mainly exasperated. I'm just glad that I apparently didn't inherit their mental illness.

Mr. Anthrope: I can sympathize with your frustration. When my 90 year-old aunt died, she left piles of stuff that needed to be taken to the dump, such as bags full of receipts dating back to the 1940's, stacks of cottage cheese containers, boxes of scraps of fabric, etc. The reason was that she had experienced extreme poverty as a young wife and mother, and that seemed to stick in her mind so that she couldn't throw away anything that might one day be useful.

Mr Anthrope, I understand your feelings because I cleaned up after three semi-hoarders and had some of the same resentments you have. Thank goodness none of them were as bad as on TV but I did have to go through every box, sack and stack of papers one by one, just in case. In one sack full of roach droppings and grocery receipts I found a rose gold wedding ring. In one corner stack of papers I found the deed to the house. In one box I found a complete set of silverware. It was a chore but someone had to do it and I knew best that everything had to be painstakingly searched before discarding. It's 20 years past now and time has healed the resentment and I am so glad that in some small way my efforts honored their memory. You too will someday be proud of your efforts. So stand tall, I am proud of you for facing the task and just doing it.

Gayle19, I appreciate your message of support. I must admit, however, that as this progresses, I have become much less selective about what I throw out and how much effort I put into going through every item. A person needs to gauge what his time is worth vs. the chance of accidentally throwing out something valuable. I did find $2000 worth of tax refund checks in a shoebox and the envelopes hadn't even been opened. I was going through the folks' safe deposit boxes, and found $130K worth of US Savings Bonds that they didn't even remember they had. So your point is well taken. Before it's over, I'll have to go through about 30 shopping bags of old receipts, cancelled checks, etc. Why they never bought a file cabinet is beyond me. Time to call a shredding truck.

Mr. Anthrope

Even though you were left with the monumental task of having to clean up the mess your parents left you with, there may be an underlying issue or reason for their behavior that you may never know.

Be grateful that they are still alive and love them unconditionally.

Good-luck.

Given the responses/replies to my original post, it obviously struck a chord with a few people. I want to thank all of you for your replies. The understanding and compassion you have shown is a bit overwhelming. You all know how harsh, sarcastic, and condescending people can be on these comment boards. It is encouraging to find people out there that understand my challenges and feelings in this situation. Again, thank you. I will press on, and I will prevail........ ;>)

Mr. Antelope: You didn't get the usual "harsh, sarcastic, and condescending" comments because as you said it: "I am not really angry with them as such, mainly exasperated."

Though faced with a monumental task and the distance and time involved, you chose (yes, you made a conscious decision) to, in a way, honor your parents by not just hiring day laborers to just haul off everything uncaringly.

I think Gayle19 said it best, having gone through similar experiences 20 years ago - time has healed her resentment, and she can look back now and feel proud that she did the right thing, as difficult as it was at the time.

Everybody supports you in this current "character-building" experience because you didn't just take the easy way out.

Mr Anthrope - I'm right there with you. My mother was a long-time hoarder. Every single room stuffed to the brim. Every closet. Every drawer. Just a little tiny path from room to room. I think she was always embarrassed when she came to my house, because I'm not that way. She wouldn't let me in her house for 17 years. When she was finally diagnosed with Alzheimers, my father decided it was enough, and allowed me in the house. It has been a very difficult situation. My father still lives there, and he had gotten into my mother's habits, but he truly wants to change.

After she died, my husband and I said, "enough." We began cleaning. It literally took us 3 months just to clean out the master bedroom, master bedroom closet, and the master bathroom. 3. MONTHS. My father didn't even have a place to sleep, except for a little tiny space on the bed!! My sister was furious with me, and accused me of being disrespectful to my mother's memory by throwing things away, but yet wouldn't come and help. My brother won't help either - unless I get really pissed at him. It's just my husband and me. My father just is too overwhelmed. He helps, but I think he's just too "stuck" to make any progress.

In the kitchen, I finally got through some huge piles and got to the floor. Haven't seen that floor in a long time! There was an ancient can of Dinty Moore stew that had long since rusted through, and the contents were stuck to the floor. Literally, we had to take a hammer to get it unstuck from the floor.

It will take us years to go through every room. We have found a bunch of money. We have found important papers in the bottom of bags of trash that were never thrown away. We have found expensive jewelry. Paintings worth a lot of money. I found my father's wings from when he first became a pilot - in the bottom of a bag of junk. We are forced to go through every book, every piece of paper, every bag. Everything. It is mind numbing. And yes, I am angry. In my heart I knew it would come to this. And it has.

But, there is a good part. The good part is, my father is keeping the master bedroom and master bathroom clean. Every time I am there, the bed is made, and the bathroom is clean. We make sure he has clean sheets and towels all the time, and he is really happy about it. He says it's his hotel room. I cannot imagine how hard it has been for him to endure something like that. He was too overwhelmed to truly understand his situation.

Cate: You are to be commended for helping; it is a difficult job for one family member and spouse to undertake but you are showing that you love your dad (and mother) by doing it, whereas I'm not so sure about your brother and sis. It caused me to think of this:

Friends of ours do estate sales. Quite often, it is at the request of family members that "just don't want to be bothered" because of all the junk.

I have noticed that the true hoarders, the ones that have multiples of many different items, sometimes new but 30-40 years old, piled floor to ceiling, and every nick-nack ever conceived by the mind of man, are the ones whose families are the least caring and were the least available for the hoarder. One poor lady had xmas and birthday gifts wrapped, going back to the 60's (by the paper and contents), from "Mom" and "Grandma", that had never been received. It broke your heart to see it. It was obvious that the "stuff" was waiting there for someone that never came. It's impossible to not draw comparisons to the lack of caring and this insulation of hoarding.

All I can say is that a little love goes a long way with people like this. I don't think ridicule or loathing helps one bit. If YOU are overwhelmed by it, just imagine for a minute how overwhelmed THEY might be by it, and then, try to help, not by telling, but by doing, as Cate & her husband have done.

This article raised the idea of hoarding as a response to trauma or loss.

Our daughter never resolved her issues of having been adopted. She has allowed her unresolved identity issues to eat her up from the inside out. We adopted her as an infant, and loved her. Loved her then, love her now. As she grew up, her anger became more focused on me, and I understand that I was the one who represented the mother she didn't want. It has been really lonely. She is all I ever wanted...

The hoarding was epidemic. When we discovered soiled underwear,feminine products, human waste, rotten food...and family jewelry...and she would never let us help her. Periodically I would haul out her room, using a metal garden rake.

These times were inevitably followed by her raging.

Whenever she did throw something away, it was indiscriminate. Mixed in with real trash was often something of real value.

I was one of those things of real value. So were her children. They are safe with us now, and moving forward with healing.

If you are a hoarder, please get help. Please want help. Your family misses the amazing human being under all that stuff.

@32years a bride: Your post brought tears to my eyes and made me realize how blessed I am. I have 5 children, the youngest I was fortunate to be able to adopt when he was 5 days old. He has grown to be a wonderful young man who continues to love me as much as I love him. Your daughter obviously has severe psychological problems, none of which are your fault. Keep giving her children all that care and love you have been bestowing on them. You are a very kind and understanding person! Keep the faith.

We've really opened the floodgates on this subject, haven't we? It's oddly comforting to know that so many people have gone through the same things. I had to laugh, Cate, when I read your comment the can of Dinty Moore stew stuck to the floor. When I went down to the basement at my folks' house to investigate the stored food, I didn't find one item on the shelves that wasn't at least ten years old. Several cans had bulged and burst from age, leaving a huge mess. Even upstairs in the kitchen cupboards, the only things that weren't long expired were two cans of Campbell's soup. There were 12-15 empty cereal boxes on the top of the refrigerator. Back downstairs, I found at least six large bottle of bubble bath, 25 cans of spray paint, 20 cans of bug killer and repellant, two pickup loads of fake flower arrangements, two more pickup loads of old blankets, half of which were old electric blankets that had given out. Every drawer in a couple of old dressers was full of sheets, pillow cases, etc. An old wardrobe is packed with every outfit we and others have bought for my mother over the last 25 years, many of them never worn. There were about 40 paint cans, some full, but most with almost nothing in them. On a more disturbing note, my father was in the house for 8-9 months after my mother went in the nursing home. He has a urinary catheter after several failed prostate surgeries. On my initial trip to clean out the house, I was nearly knocked over by the stench when I walked in the house. I found seven or eight large plastic boxes filled with urine-soaked adult diapers, which were the first thing to be taken outside. There was human waste on the walls of the bathroom.

Back outside were other issues. My dad had been a farmer who never threw away a single nut, bolt, piece of scrap iron, or anything else. In addition to the three junk vehicles I sold for scrap, I also hand-pitched over 3000 lbs. of nuts, bolts, and various other scrap iron and metal waste into a metal-recycling dumpster that had been set there for that purpose. I hauled off an old freezer, an old refrigerator, an old water heater, and two old swamp coolers. I still have two old washing machines and an old clothes dryer left in basement of the house. Even after having a farm sale when my dad retired 20 years ago, there is still an old tractor, several old farm implements, three old fuel tanks, and other assorted junk out where the farm equipment was parked.

As I said in a previous post, much has been done, but there is much left to do. I have one brother who would help me, but he is disabled and can't do much physically, so it is up to me. I just keep chipping away at it. Just hope I can get it done before I end up in a nursing home....... ;>)

God Bless You, Mr. Anthrope! Your task is daunting and most people would simply throw up their hands and hire someone to do the work you are doing. You are to be commended for your tenacity in seeing this horrific job through to the end. I applaud your efforts.

Mr. Anthrope

And where do you live ,sir? I mean, where is the house you want to sell???

I ´m looking for one, to buy.

Mr Anthrope,

My condolences on your loss and the mess. I commented on an above post that seemed to believe that misbehavior and laziness lies beneath hoarding. In my line of work, I've seen those family faces confronted by mountains of mess left by a hoarding relative. I feel for you and others in this situation.

You are somewhat fortunate that there are items of value in the hoard. I've been to homes where the hoard consisted mostly of mildewed papers, old clothes (not in a good vintage clothes sort of way) and as someone else mentioned stacks of old margarine containers, jars, foil and broken rusted junk. Terrible for families left to sort that kind of thing out.

I suggest that you find an ethical organizing professional to help you sort through the stuff. Often professionals have contacts in the community that can help with antique items and things of value that can be sold to help further with affording help to clear out the estate. You do not want to spend your life sorting other people's stuff. Get someone to help you. Best of luck to you.

Alexandra, I live in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. My parents house is in the middle of nowhere in southwest Kansas, where I doubt too many people want to live.

Mr. Anthrope.......love the name..

My father was one to hoard things that were on sale. Paper towels, batteries, toilet paper, notebook paper, etc. Though he did have dozens and dozens of baby food jars full of nuts and bolts - I realize it could have been much worse. Mom was not to throw things out and it got much worse as her mental abilities declined. Luckily most of those paper-type items could be used up over time. But my husband's parents were another story. While not hoarders per se, they loved to go to auctions and estate sales and left behind gobs of stuff. Some junk, some not. He's an only child and we had to sort through it in a hurry because the condo had to be vacated within a month. I vowed I would not do that to my children..... as I look at all the stuff in our basement from our parents.......Hope I can get it all out of the house while I'm still able.

@n.n.paddywhack - I have to question your assertion. The one friend I know who has a hoarder parent would be completely justified and have my support if she ever finally decided to give up on her mom. It might sound horrible, and it is, but her mom was flat out mentally abusive when she was growing up (I was there and witnessed some of it). It took years of counseling and support of friends to get to the point of her being able to visit her parents without developing an ulcer and other problems from the stress (just thinking about visiting her would trigger health problems and still causes anxiety). Her mom can come across ok for a couple of hours on a good day, but anytime longer spent with her and you will know that she is not remotely mentally competent (and wasn't even before the hoarding started) and her dad has to have his own issues for putting up with it.

Mr. Anthrope,

listen to this music,please. And the beautiful picture is Wyoming.

You sound like a kind and decent person I would love to be with. EVEN nowhere. If like the music

talk to me: gluda@hotmail.com

Mr Anthrope, this is for you

Mr Anthrope,

sorry cann´t post the link . Go to youtube music and write down: SOMEWHERE IN TIME SOUNDTRACK

press on BLUE picture with a very peacefull lonsom house. People say it´s Wyoming.

isis-2: If you acquire another 50 cats, you might qualify for that label.

That's why there's a legal limit on that, and neighbors are obligated to report numerous cats.

If you were my neighbor and I knew you had over the legal limit, I would call the police. There is NO excuse for people having more animals than they are legally allowed. There are reasons for that limit. It's not healthy for humans, and it is certainly not a good situation for the animals, either.

It's interesting that most of the obvious hoarders that get visited on American Pickers are men. Trailer after trailer of stuff. Row after row of junk cars. The Picker guys go through and take maybe 6 to 10 items out of everything (at least that's all we see) and go on their merry way. Meanwhile, the guys probably turn around and buy more stuff.

Well, we only have three cats.

And we take good care of them, we are not over the legal limit either.

It's a good thing you aren't my neighbor, you'd probably hate me. I have about three cats, we feed an alley cat that comes by, and I crank up my music at concert levels at times. My cats and I listen to Epica :)

I have known people with very neat houses (and no odor) that keep several pets, and others that have homes that are hard to breathe in with just one pet.

However, there are some towns that set the legal limit on pets so low that it is almost impossible: only one or two? We have had three cats (now down to one), and we always cared for them. Many people do not check town ordinances before moving into a home; it's a good idea to know that your town requires you to mulch every year and does not allow you to hang your clothes out to dry. Moderation is always best.

The only thing you can do for them is pray...I am not trying to be insensitive...just honest. I lived with a hoarder...I could write a book...they really do NOT think like you or I...they simply do NOT see what you or I see. I do not know the answer...do not know if they can be helped, unless or until they fully appreciate they have a problem and want help. After building a beautiful new home, it was condemned after only 20 years because after I moved out, my husband's hoarding became so bad, the fire marshal came and condemned it. Broke my heart to see that, and yet, he still did not get it...just had all the trash and junk picked up and put in storage.

Hoarders think the world is out to get them.

I have known a few hoarders. They were very nice people. They were very intelligent. I never knew a hoarder that was otherwise.

Of course they think the world is out to get them. All they experience is people wanting to come and throw their stuff away.

Most of us would feel that way, only on a smaller scale. Most of these disorders are normal tendencies that have gone way out of proportion.

Kelly Walters...you are a selfish person

The only hoarder I have known is a nasty piece of work, but that is too small of a sample size for me to agree or disagree.

Now days you go to a flea market and pay a fee and most of the time you sit around all day and you don't sell anything. Its like i tell people at flea markets people want brand new items dirt cheep.

We generally do pretty well at the flea. If nothing else we get rid of the extras and deal with the junk one box at a time. Once it gets to be a shed load, it makes it much harder to manage. It's difficult dealing with people who want something for nothing. People can't afford new these days either.

Dr. Kriebel. I believe truly that you should not be licensed in any state. You and your colleagues at Valley Medical don't even check the patients medical history before you prescribe meds.

Though the General Practice is great, the psych dept. is the worst.

Dave Welch,

Please refrain from representing me as someone I am not!!

True. These people have psychological issues . OBSESSIVE-compulsive disorder.

Yes, Sunlitensmiles, you just hit on part of the hoarding problem for some, it is shopping, and acquiring, to feel better. You mentioned when "it was a bad day at work" you would shop and acquire something to lighten your mood. I believe that is how it starts for many people. Good for you that you made use of your acquisitions in retirement!

I have a problm with shopping. I also have other addictions. I dont hoard things to the ceiling. I give stuff away. I can understand the shopping and collecting to an extent. i dont understand the filth, or keeping things like used pizza boxes or laundry soap jugs. At what point will the person realize that they have a real problem. I have a family member that has been evicted 3 times because of these types of behaviors. I saw on the news recently that a person had calle 911 and that person died because the EMTS could not get in the house because all the entrances were blocked. Once a year in january i go through drawers and closets and throw things out. If i havent thought about it or missed it I toss it. I know this wont work for a hoarder because of thier high level of anxiety, but i feel like it may keep me from becoming one.

Shopping to make yourself feel better doesn't necessarily translate into being a hoarder,though it could be interpreted that way.Hoarding is truly at it's worst when it is everyday items that enter the home-food containers and boxes,junk mail,newspapers,bags,trash,clothing and household items that no longer work-yet,these items never leave-even when they are no longer useful,clean or in working order.

Actually using the fabric for charity is not an illness, but beneficial to all. Many people who make crafts have the problem that they see a good item and buy it, only to have no place to put it. But if you make things with those items, then there is a purpose for them. Sometimes people who are crafters share their fabric and other items with others who are also crafters, for specific projects. I've known knitters who share yarn, and people who give fabric away to charity auctions. Just don't keep an ugly piece of fabric and then give it to a daughter-in-law that won't know what to do with it.