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Las Vegas Review-Journal
At least 15 truckloads of items were hauled from Kenneth Epstein's home on Oct. 5, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Reality TV has brought national attention to hoarding, and now a recent change in the influential psychiatric diagnosis guide may actually bring help for millions of Americans suffering from the isolating condition.
Hoarding – a psychological condition that can result in homes crammed floor to ceiling with papers, junk mail, books, clothing and other “valuables”-- has been associated with obsessive-compulsive behavior, although experts have long held that the two disorders aren’t necessarily connected.
In the revised, fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), "hoarding disorder" becomes a separate diagnosis, characterized by a "persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, regardless of their actual value."
The revised diagnosis should “result in more people having access to treatment," says Randy Frost, a professor of psychology at Smith College who specializes in hoarding issues. "Right now, there are very few clinicians who know how to treat it. Once it shows up in DSM, there will be much more pressure on clinicians to train in how to treat this problem."
Hoarding isn’t just a messy garage or packed closet. According to the APA, it's defined by its harmful effects -- emotional, physical, social, financial and even legal -- both on the hoarder and the hoarder's family members.
Hoarding is “a disorder that involves the living areas of the home being so cluttered they can't be used for their intended purpose,” says Frost, co-author of Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things.
Set to publish in May, the DSM is a guide doctors use to diagnose mental disorders. DSM codes are also used for insurance reimbursements and certain research grants.
Rachel Kramer Bussel, a 37-year-old writer and editor from Brooklyn, says she's long had hoarding tendencies, although she only recently came clean about them in an essay on Salon.com, a difficult step considering the stigma surrounding the disorder.
"I think people's only reference point is reality TV," says Bussel, who hasn't sought treatment but has worked with a personal organizer. "They think all hoarders are literally crazy cat ladies or people who don't function in the rest of society."
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Rachel Kramer Bussel carries two large bag stuffed with belongings that give her comfort.
Bussel hoards books, clothing and other items at home; she also carries around at least two large bags stuffed with belongings she says give her "comfort". She says she hopes the new classification will help others become more accepting of the often-misunderstood disorder.
The most common reaction to a hoarding confession is, "'Just get rid of everything. Get a dumpster and throw it all out and then you won't be a hoarder,'" Bussel says.
In fact, recent research finds abnormal brain activity in people with hoarding disorder.
There’s no hard evidence that hoarding is increasing, although certain societal factors -- such as the abundance of junk mail, our materialistic mindset, and an aging population (getting older increases the chance that a person will experience trauma or loss that contributes to hoarding) -- may translate into more hoarders, says David Kutz, an Albuquerque clinical psychologist specializing in hoarding and OCD.
At least 4 million people in the U.S. would meet full criteria for hoarding, according to Kutz. Other data suggests between 2.5 to 6 percent of the U.S. adult population, or up to a 15 million people, may have hoarding disorder, says Frost, who conducted the first-ever study of hoarding in the U.S. in 1993. “That’s a whopping number," Frost says.
Many hoarders don't recognize the problem. About “90 percent are sent by family members or a city counsel or the local sheriff,” says Kutz, who has appeared on A&E’s “Hoarders” three times.
While experts and hoarders alike say they believe the new DSM classification will help hoarders get better treatment, Frost stresses there is no "magic pill."
"We don't know yet whether there are medications that might be useful for this," he says. "But that's one of the things that will happen now that it's in the DSM. There will be an interest in researching this."
Until then, hoarders can get help overcoming their urge to acquire and save through cognitive behavior therapy and/or peer support groups, a form of treatment that greatly helped Lee Shuer, a 37-year-old mental health worker from Northampton, Mass.
"My mindset has completely changed," says Shuer, who began facilitating hoarding peer support groups after his hoarding habit went into "remission.” "I'm at the point where I can go to places where I used to acquire things - tag sales and thrift shops - and not buy anything. I can come across things that used to make my heart race but they don't turn me on any more. The thrill for excess is gone."
For more on hoarding:
OCFoundation.org's Hoarding Center
More health news from NBCNews.com:
Hoarding horror-100 cats found in freezer
'Asperger's disorder' being dropped from psychiatrists' diagnostic guide
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Am I a hoarder? I sell things on ebay, lots of things...Whenever I sell something and it sells fast, I go out an buy a lot of that item thinking I can sell them fast, sometimes I am correct I do sale lots of the item, but sometimes they don't sell , that is when the problem gets out of hand, I put these items in the Garage, they build up, so much that the whole garage was so crowd that I could not get my cars in anymore, plus my living room and my TV room all the couches and every space in the lower floor except the kitchen and the bath room is loaded with stuff I get from second hand places, I do try to sell them and some of it does sell, but lots of this stuff just keeps building up...I gave given hundreds of items to charity and I have thrown hundreds of items away, but I still buy items I think will sale, and they do, BUT not at the rate that I buy them, does this make me a hoarder? I got a storage bings full of this stuff, and I would need at least two more to store all this stuff, I also get a dumpster once in a while to get rid of a lot of this stuff BUT I keep buying and buying and buying, all with the idea that I can sell it all anything I wish on ebay, I have put lots of it up for .99 cents just to get rid of it, but somehow I feel I am throwing money away when I do that, if I pay 9.00 dollars for and item and later sell it on ebay for .99 cents it feel dumb. BUT I have sold these items starting at .99 cents and seen them go for up to 60 to 70 dollars after starting out at .99 cents...Do you guys think I am a hoarder? Let me know I am not sure, i buy to sell and I do but not to the point where I could retire and start a business doing nothing but ebay, I think of it more as a hobby.
Sorry to tell you Boss, but I think you are a hoarder. I am pretty sure you already knew the answer. I wish you luck and hope you get it under control.
I do watch that show Hoarders and what strikes me is the constant theme from them is how valuable all that junk is and they cant get rid of it because thats being wasteful. I know older people who went thru the Great Depression have a hard time throwing anything away but thats understandable to me. Present day hoarders really are crazy.
Boss Black foot, I have to agree with Delgena. There is no doubt in my mind that you are a hoarder. I think you need to learn to be very selective about what you buy and intend to resell on Ebay. I don't know how old you are, but you may be putting your retirement at risk if you are losing money on your purchases, and unless you keep records, you don't know if you are losing money or not. You don't want to end up eating catfood by candle light when you retire because you are broke and haven't been able to control yourself. I think you should start by cleaning out your garage so you can put your cars in there. That is, after all, what garages are for, and it would be a good start on controlling your apparently compulsive/obsessive behavior.
You don't sound like a hoarder to me, you're just making poor business decisions that in your case leads to a pile-up. Get a handle on that and I'm sure your house will clear out soon.
Delgana and Anthrope, I disagree with you both, quite strongly.
Boss, I don't think you're a hoarder, for several reasons. One, you recognize that the clutter is a problem. Two, you buy the items with the intention of flipping them and are willing to let them go-- sometimes for profit, sometimes for loss, sometimes to charity.
A real hoarder cannot let go of their items. Literally just can't. I have been in the home of a full-out hoarder... not "an old person who survived the depression" or someone who is messy. We were there to help, but a real hoarder doesn't want the kind of help most people offer. We threw away a stack of chocolate bars because they had mouse chewmarks all over them, through the wrapper into the chocolate. She pulled them back out of the trash bag.
Someone who keeps cans past their expiration because they have read they last longer, boils the contents before eating and throws away anything questionable is not a hoarder... someone who pulls mouse-chewed chocolate out of trash can IS. Someone who has knicknacks everywhere is not a hoarder. Someone whose couch might be somewhere under that big stack of stuff under the window where you can't open the curtains because they are tangled in the (ribcage high, I kid you not) pile *IS*.
Boss, keep working on purging, and as long as you don't find yourself keeping used cardboard cups piles everywhere (unless you're using them for potting seedlings, it's springtime, and it only lasts a few days, in which case, again NOT a hoarder...) then don't worry too much.
As PPs have said, a lot of this is Pharma looking to sell more pills, the networks looking to sell entertainment, and, face it, if you never save anything for fear of being a hoarder, you'll always have to buy-as-you-go (which is retail's stake in all this.)
If the clutter doesn't negatively affect you, don't worry. If it does, purge it... If you find you CAN'T purge it... THAT'S when you should talk to a professional.
BossBlackfoot: Just think of what you could be doing with the amount of time that you spend acquiring, selling, acquiring, etc. You could sail a boat,go fishing, visit with relatives, spend time with your kids, earn another degree, paint your house, etc. Think of what a nice spacious house, garage you would have if all of that space storing your acquisitions was empty.
JustJane36, in my opinion, you are doing Boss Black foot no favors by essentially telling him he has no problem. When someone's garage is so full of stuff they can't get a car in it, that is a problem. When he says by his own admission the lower floor of his house is packed with stuff, there is a problem. You can tell he himself knows he has a problem. Call it hoarding or anything else, but if there is anyone else sharing the house, all this stuff is a problem for them too, not to mention an incredible waste of money. The value of things is of little consequence if they can't be readily located and sold. And finally, in a later post he says he is approaching 70. Who gets to deal with all this when he is gone? You guessed it. It will either be his children or anyone else left in the family who has to settle his estate. He should do everyone concerned a big favor and not buy ANYTHING until all this other stuff is sold, given away, or otherwise disposed of.
That is what I HAVE TO DO! I know that and I will, my only hope is to sell on ebay at .99 cent, close my eyes and hope I will get some of my money back, some guy just said I was crazy to sell without a reserve? Listen up, I do not want to die and leave all this stuff to people who will gave it away! SO I am going to sell it or give it to Charity I am giving my self a year to get it done, Mr. Anthrope is right! Starting this Sunday I am going to start selling a .99 cent no reserve Period! Any one who likes skating should check out my sells I list 100s of skates dalily.
maybe your a different type of hoarder. You dont seem to have the anxiety associated with getting rid of your stuff since you have no problem selling it. Theres alot of you guys out there. My ex husband was kinda like that. He got a kick out of buying something for almost nothing and trading it or selling it. It was like a hobby or something. He knew a lot of people who did the same thing. They all had lots of stuff piled up everywhere. Most of them knew what they had and where it was too. The hoarder on the tv show however will hoard things that have no value whatsover and their homes are often filthy. Thier homes are unlivable and the stuff they hoard has been laying around sometimes for a decade or more. You may be a differnt type.
Boss, I think you have a combination of things going on. One is a tendency to hoard, because you have filled your space with things you "intend" to sell. Another is gambling addiction. Instead of gambling with cash, you are gambling with goods. You buy stuff you are going to sell and make a profit on, only then it stops working out that way. But you continue to think that if you just keep doing it, things will change. So you end up basically broke with stuff piled all over.
The first thing I'd suggest is, stop buying stuff. Enough is enough. Concentrate on selling what you have, and if it's not selling, donate it to a charity that can use it. I like your 1-year goal, but see if you can't make it sooner than that.
I want to know if there is a "psychological disorder" for the opposite of hoarding....I am on the other side of this extreme. I have an aversion to clutter or any item that has no purpose. My children have deemed me the "throw-it-away-mom". I have thrown countless things that are looked for a few days later that may or may not have been important. I pretty much have bare walls because pictures look cluttery..Don't get me started on knick knacks, as far as I'm concerned the only good knick knack is in the trash. So I'm wondering if I'm in some category.
Delgena, I can identify with you to a point. I grew up in a cluttered household and swore I would never live like that. As a result, my house is very orderly and uncluttered, probably leaning toward spartan to some people. I do, however, have a few pictures on the walls...... ;>) There are also a few decorative items around, but not many. I, like you, enjoy being able to walk through my house without stepping around things, like being able to actually put my cars in the garage, etc. I think the key to everything is moderation and balance. I'm not comfortable with extremes in either direction.
I'm glad someone else is like me...I do have a few small things of some importance to me, but I have a specific glass corner cabinet, that only doo-dads go in. I two have a couple wall hangings, but only 3 or 4. I think I knew I had a problem with tidiness when I made my husband pull up every bit of carpet in the house and lay hard wood floors. The carpet made me crazy because the vaccuum lines never stayed and you could see the most beaten paths in it. Uniformity is key in looking uncluttered. At least in my mind.
Sounds like you have a touch of OCD, Delgena, but who knows? I do think being concerned about vacuum lines in carpet is a bit over the top. However, you aren't putting anyone in danger! I like a clutter-free house, too, although it rarely gets that way. We're living life, and sometimes things just get cluttered. The thing is not to let them stay that way.
My mom was a "throw it away mom," but only with other people's stuff, which was kind of nervy of her.
There is no doubt that a hoarder has a mental disorder yet what about the neighbor who has to contend with the smell and mess that comes with this person? Kind of like a fat airline passenger overfilling their seat into yours except this isnt for a few hrs.
So Hoarding is now a recognized disorder but Asperger's isn't? That's just not right.
I like Aspergers with hollandiase sauce over them!
Asperger's is now part of the autistic spectrum, and IMO that's where it should be.
Is there a disorder name for the reverse of hoarding? My dad always joked that my mother would "throw away your underwear if you didn't have it on." Nope, she didn't save anything.
Mimimalism!It isn't a mental disorder,it way of life.I'm like that and my wife should be institutionlized for hoarding! It's alway a party in this house!
Minimalist, OK! I'm like that too. Not being as extreme as my mother with throwing away, but I "reverse" shop; when one thing comes into the house at least one other thing has to go! The husband however, is a little more of a collector. It's always a bit of a struggle to make that balance.
It's the just plain old PIGS (Possessions I Gots Syndrome)!
I hoard as a "comforting tool." I've lost most of my family & simply cannot bear to throw their items away but I know that I must to get well. Living in the past has prevented me from living in the now. Yes...it's painful to sort thru their things but I know that when I FINALLY get rid of them, I can concentrate on what I need. It's a daily battle but well worth it to have "peace of mind" & a "clutter-free" house!
DRMOHAWK, I'm sorry for your loss. You have realized that holding on to stuff won't bring back what you really miss, and that's a big step. Keep sorting! And congratulations on your progress.
Nowadays many people have to pay to throw things away. One can't just "take it to the dump" anymore. Items must be sorted if they are recyclable, many towns are adopting the "pay-per-bag" system, and other items have a fee attached when one wants to dispose of them (ie. electronics, mattresses and scrap lumber). To be honest, I have a large box in my basement of broken small appliances-which I can't afford to dispose of because I am underemployed. Another thing that causes this-almost every item has a "one-year guarantee, and then when it breaks down, you either can't get it repaired, or it's cheaper to get a new item.
We don't have that problem in LA.We have the Mexican Home Shopping Club! Put to the curb and they will fight to get anything into their little Datsun pickup trucks.They are like sharks on a dead carcuss!
CURB ALERT! This is funny stuff. At least the items are being used (hopefully). The things some people throw away; the husband found a barely used leather biker jacket lately. Hanger and all.
I have to laugh. Truly - one person's junk is another person's treasure. I took an old dinette set to Goodwill that had been in my basement, and was used as a game table for a long while. It was awful ugly, and it needed to go. 70's dinette, to the max! My husband and I left Goodwill to do some other errand, and as we were driving back by Goodwill, some guy was walking down the street with one of the dinette chairs balanced on his head. I truly had a good laugh!!
My would take over this rather large house if I let here.She has been given two rooms in the hiuse and they looklike one of those houses on "Hoarders".The rest of the house has a minimalist tone.Nice expensive furniture and good pictures as wall covering but no excessive accourtrements! It's a war to keep junk from entering the remaining portion of the house.She will begin by putting a pile of sometihng in a room.If it sit there for more than three hours,I remove it to one of her caves.Everyday,the war goes on
Perfect co-dependent relationship! If you feel like you're in a rut, do some role-playing and swap behaviors!
My mother was a hoarder. It made her life painful and difficult. She had a genius level IQ and volunteered to help people both organized and individuals. She wasn't lazy she just couldn't cope. When she died my dad, sister, and I had to deal with the mess. We donated a moving van full of stuff to charity, because she never saved that stuff for herself she wanted to be able to help someone if they needed it.
lets us not forget the people who sufferered through the depression they are also hoarders but since most are in their 80s and 90s lets change the desciption children of these people are also adversely affected by their compulsions i know both of my parents are dpression children my father has hundreds of bent nails to straighten and reuse bits of string little pieces of wood metal pipes and dozens of other things our back yard kinda looks like sanford and son old doors window glass removed from frames so lets give it a politically correct name and not even think about the origins
I am glad that many people seem to be skeptical about this story. The DSM 5 people are just trying to promote their businesses through this so-called "bible of psychiatry". Most of the mental disorders in the world can be attributed to trauma or organic roots. The "society" would have you believe it is so complicated you need them to figure out how to fix folks.
If they really wanted to fix people they would stop creating diagnoses out of thin air and face trauma and organically based diseases head on.
But they lack the motivation or courage to do so.
Fixing people sounds a little mechanical. The behavior of amassing unused stuff doesn't seem to be something that would be caused by any organic condition, or any physical trauma, or even the mental trauma of having been very frightened by something. Nor does it sound like something they should assign to brain chemistry and start manufacturing some pill for. Seems to me more like people escaping into an excessive version of a normal human activity. Escaping from their instinctual drive to engage in prohibited behavior (sexual/aggressive), and repeatedly engaging in something useless and eventually burdensome, because it is safer in any given moment than the dangerous, prohibited, more powerfully desired behavior. Similar to overeating.
Doug, it's more than that. Most hoarders have experienced a big loss of some sort--a child, a spouse, a close family member--and that's when things began to get out of hand.
To reduce it all to sex and aggression is really old-school these days. The field has moved beyond those views.
The idea of hoarding money is benign; thats like saying if you have a savings account you have a mental disorder. Dont knock on people who have more money than you, they were simply more driven to be successful than yourself. But steering back to the topic at hand, hoarding is most definitly its own diagnosis from OCD. i know a few peopple with ranging degrees of it, and thier houses arent floor to ceiling with everything theyve ever touched. That being said it may be just as difficult to treat though concidering it seems to follow a similar ( but opposite) set of traits.
Howard Hughes once the richest man in the world, was also one of the greatest inventers in history. He bought a movie studio so that his wife could be an actress. Hughes aircraft was one of the best producers of aircraft for the military and commercial applications. He was also certifiable and had he not lived as a recluse he probably would have been committed to a mental institution.
Over his life he gave approximately80 million to charities, almost always annonimously.
I have purged all my cowboy boots, all my shoes, all kids skates, all shirts and Coats, all toys, all Pictures I use to sell Bikes I had a garage full of them, I gave them all away to Charity ,all my cars, I use to own vintage Fords, like Thunderbirds, Crown Victoria, and other 1950 cars, I gave them to MAKE A WISH charity, I am down to roller skates and Bomber Jackets and Motorcycle Jackets, I use to buy ANYTHING that was a roller Skate... Now I only buy top name , Vintage old school stuff top of the line that sell for no less than 99.00 to 500.00 dollars, my Motor Jackets are all leather old School Jackets, the Bomber Jackets are all Leather top quality stuff, I sell Leather Roller skates Boots By Hyde, Oberhamber, Riedell, these items do sale BUT not as fast as I would wish, I pay for all my trips with the money I get from selling these items, I have been thinking that I should go into US Coins, Mexican Coins, Gold and Silver and Indian Jewelry, that way I would not have so much stuff laying around my house...as I am thinking if I should die no one would want these skates, and Jackets and they would give them away without know the worth of these items, that is what really scares me, I try to let my family know that these things I have are expensive, they are happy to spent the money when I give it to them but they still want me to get rid of the stuff...I know I will have to soon I give myself a year to do it , I want to travel a little and see America before I pass on, I am very near 70 years of age and I have lots of time to do nothing but think about how to get rid of all this stuff without giving it away... thanks to you guys for your suggestions, I think I know I will have to put them up for .99 cents on ebay close my eyes and hope they will sell for what they are worth...This is the only way I can sell them fast, if they do not sell, I will give them away to charity, I have to stop buying, I just am so use to doing this, when I see a deal I buy, BUT for every three things I sell, I have 6 that didn't, I am a power seller and I do sell top of the line items, I do get discounts and stuff from ebay, BUT I just have to follow through with a plan NOT to buy anymore stuff, there use to be a time when I sold hundreds of items a month, but the economy is so bad these days, very few people can afford my skates, I am starting to understand this and I MUST change what I sell and how I sell in order to reduce my inventory down to just what is in Storage, I am going to start this Sunday to sell at .99 cents on ebay and just close my eyes and whatever it brings I will put away in the bank and use the funds for seeing America before I leave this world, I have no choice, I never really think of myself as a hoarder, all I always was buying and selling, I keep very little of this stuff really, I think maybe in my own way I overpriced some of my items knowing that they will not sell? Or I will no accept offers...or I will not post them for .99 cents on ebay because I have no control over what they will sell for...oh well and so it goes so it goes ...to hoarded or not to hoarded that is the question!
If you are a power seller with over a 1000 sales,then you are a businessman.I am a power seller with a thousand sales and contend i'm doing it for the money.Quit trying to dillude yourself or the public into believing you are going to put something worth thousands or hundreds on the market for $.99 WITHOUT A RESERVE!
i said i "used" to sell that much, i guess i said too much or you didn't read that i am not selling anything near that now, i said money is tight and people are not buying like they use too, i said i felt i might be more of a hoarder than a seller, you don't have to sell that much to be a power seller anyway, what are you talking about? I also said I want to reduce my stuff because it is not selling and I wanted to STOP buying , when people STOP buying it is time to change or end up with all this stuff sitting here making me look like a hoarder That's what I said, you are not listening young man, listen before you talk!
You're right, Boss--time to STOP buying.
So they found yet another way to drug people.
Can't help but agree with you. Some have legitimate mental health issues, but seems that many - oh so many - are hiding behind psychiatry to avoid having to overcome simple old-fashioned issues like laziness. I keep using that word, but at what point do we stop giving pills for things that could be solved with backbones and virtues. Its like all the kids these days with discipline problems who are being 'helped' with drugs. Pharmaceutical companies are rejoicing that we have yet another mental disease.
Obama is a power hoarder then, and a tax obsessive compulsive, he needs to be put in a home.
it's pretty amazing how an article on Hoarding turns into Rich bashing. Obama has destroyed this country both physically and mentally. Never has America been so divided and jealous of other peoples things than now, it's not pretty. It used to be in America where people would admire the successful for their hardwork and wealth. Now we hate the successful and expect them to give their money to us for doing nothing. Seventy percent of all Wealthy Americans started from scratch and made it on their own. What makes you think they should support you? America will never be successful and wealthy until we change back to emulating the rich instead of the dregs of society. Who we look up to and admire is who we will most likely become. Why are we looking up to pigs like pro athletes, the Occupiers, gang bangers and bums? Did they ever help or hire anyone. NO!!
Looks like you've got a little hate going on yourself. Why don't you just go buy some happiness?
It the jealousness that bothers me! I have lived a long time and never have i seen such vitriol over one group as we have today with those who have nothing and those who do.I bought the house I grew up in in 1979 for $2000.I can assure you it was no palacial abode.I did well in life.I retire early,helped my kids,live nicely and ask nothing of no one.To know half the people reading this will hate or are jealous of me,is sometimes too much.The only thing anyone every gave me was a bad time.I worked my ass off for everything I own.Nothing.I worked from 11pm to 7 am at a 7-11 store in an area where two similar clerks at 7-11 stores,both less than a mile from me, were shotgunned to death while I worked that shift.I worked all the way through college,post graduate school and specialized college work after that.I didn't complain when I had 200 hours of college and someone offered me a job paying $10 per hour.I took it,worked hard and left when I had used them,not the other way around.KIds today want to start out at a mid managers level position making six figures with their english lit degree.It is not going to happen.You can hate all you want but you will never have anything bcause i'm certian,even your parents won't leave you anything.All of you loser out there are going to wake up one day ,45 to 50 years old, and find out you are a loser and will always be a loser and will never have anything until you learn the world does not revolve around your lazy asses.
Idiotic wealth comments, no relation to hoarding! LMAO
I hope this diagnosis is not worthy of a Government Disability check like so many other phoney ones that is costing us billions in taxes.
Thank you for bringing that up.
Don't worry in one year there will be another 5 million on disability from this so called mental disorder.It's is not a mental disorder,it just happens.My wife isn't mentally distrubed,she likes to shop and bring it home.There is an oversupply of mental health providers so everyone has to come up with a diagonosis or they won't have any patients.The worst are the killers who immediately after getting caught and sentenced to death suddenly have had a disturbing childhood.I had a disturbing childhood,very disturbing but never once did I ever consider killing anyone including myself.Most of this bunk is spit out just as an excuse to avoid responsibility for things people have done to others.When I was a kid,the only people that were insane,you knew mmediately when you met them.It didn't take a panel of technocrats 2 years and 12 reports to formulate an opinion for one side or the other.Most mental health reports are biased and based on who is paying for the report ,therefore the reports are all slanted and worthless.
Bless all you sensible people who are calling this what it is.
crazy money people = severe disorder that effects a lot of the rest of us. So how much is too much when it comes to being rich?????
How does somebody being rich affect you?
When you can go out and buy anything you want and no one ask if you can afford it.They don't run your credit,they do nothing but give you the key.Whether it be a car,house,airplane,beach house or woman!
lazy people disorder=a disorder that affects you but mostly them.It's the reverse of greed,its need!The difference is who spends the money on whom!
I have an uncle who recently died. He was raised on a farm and grew up relatively poor. After serving his country in the U.S. Army, he put himself through college, earned a business degree and built his own company up from the ground. Nothing was given to him, he earned it all. From 1977 to 2005 he ran his business and retired with over $60 million. To me, that is what the American dream is about, using your talents and intelligence to make a good life for yourself. FYI, my uncle donated time and money to his church and many, many charities and food pantry's. When he died, he left $4 million total to be split between his five siblings and gave his house and the rest of his fortune, including his insurance money, to charities. I guess you are right, his being rich did affect many people...all in a good way.
To bad not all rich people have his attitude
People who have too many pets should not be diagnosed with the same condition as those who won't throw away their junk mail and so forth, though it is possible that they may both have "issues" of some sort. Pets and junk are not the same thing. But, in a different vein, OCS has been the diagnosis for both those who hoard and those who clean up too much, so it may be time to change that. I agree that more medications that may come forth for the "hoarding" problem may be about profiteering, and the drug companies willl likely come forth with repurposing older drugs for that purpose to give those drugs new revenues. I have to say that I feel that most pharmaceuticals are poisons, based on personal experience.
I suppose that I should disclose that I am a licensed clinical social worker, though I am currently employed as a CPS investigator.
licensed clinical social worker= someone who couldn't get a teaching certificate. One step below a grocery store bagbay,in the food change!
FYI, being a licensed clinical social worker requires a higher level of education than that needed to obtain a basic teaching certificate. Both professions strive to help others, but what are you doing to benefit society?
Gingerj, I think it depends on how the pets are being treated. Certain hoarders bring things home and then let them rot. Some kinds of animal hoarders do the same thing. The amount of suffering the animals go through from neglect, starvation, and disease is horrifying. When the place gets cleaned out, dead animals are found under and behind the junk. Precious kitty wasn't so precious after all. I think these kinds of hoarders are so disconnected from reality that they don't realize the consequences.
Ignore Mas098--he's here only to amuse himself.
They are just F---ing nuts!
Now we can give them a disability check....yeahhhhh
My wife suffers from such a compulsion. I am able to unload more than she brings into the home. She is constantly afraid that people are taking her things and I guess she is right. It's me..........