What happens when someone you love forgets how to let things go?
They might have the psychiatric diagnosis of “Hoarding Disorder.”
Hoarding behaviors create trip and fall hazards
“Hoarding Disorder” was included in the DSM-5 because previous attempts to treat the disorder with medications that had been helpful for people with obsessive compulsive disorder or anxiety disorder were unsuccessful. For whatever reason, the brain chemistry of people who hoard appears to be significantly different than those with the other psychiatric diagnoses. Sometimes the hoarding behavior starts early in life in childhood. Many times, it starts later in life after a stroke or other illness.
“Hoarding disorder is characterized by the persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, regardless of the value others may attribute to these possessions.”
- Those black dots you’re seeing aren’t dirt …
The people receiving this diagnosis aren’t just “collectors.”
What sets them apart is the vast quantity of items that they possess; so much “stuff” that the behavior creates a crisis of safety in daily living.
But what exactly constitutes a crisis of safety?
The most obvious concerns are the many trip and fall hazards that hoarding behavior creates. And then there are the fire hazards . . .
- The exterminator said this roach infestation was the worst he had seen in 23 years
But, in this particular case, beyond the trip and fall hazard and the fire hazard,
the most pressing crisis of safety was roaches.
Millions and millions of roaches.
- Hoarding clean up in Philadelphia must deal with roach infestation. These champagne glasses are filled with roach excrement.
Every possible surface in this person’s home had been infested with roaches, including the dishes inside the cabinets and out . . .
even the glasses on the table.
And not surprisingly, the resident of this home had multiple medical problems as well.
The family isn’t certain if the homeowner’s health issues caused the hoarding behavior,
or if the hoarding behavior created the toxic environment that caused his health to decline . . .
It’s kind of a “chicken-and-egg” question.
And the answer doesn’t really matter.
The poor customer was struggling to stay organized by keeping all his glasses in one place. The roaches thought that was a good idea too . . .
By the time this man’s family contacted us, his health issues had further compromised his ability to deal with the crisis of clean up on his own.
And his family was unable to meet the overwhelming need without professional help.
Not knowing where to turn, his daughter found us on the Internet and made the call. What is interesting is that we had been contacted earlier that same week by the TLC Network who had also found us on Google.
We put these two parties in touch with each other, and now
you can watch the hoarding clean up process
March 19th on the TLC Network show
“Hoarders: Buried Alive”
[…] at PuroClean Emergency Recovery Services we’ve seen first-hand the danger of hoarding and clutter in homes when property damage happens from fire and smoke or water and sewage. We see […]
[…] would think since our company specializes in hoarding clean out, that we would have been more than ready, able and prepared for this work. However, what made it so […]