As the technician from Bio-Hazard Service Inc approached this home, he knew something was horribly wrong. Outside the two-story home on a quiet Georgia street, the smell was almost unbearable. The front porch was crowded with papers, bags of garbage, an open bag of dog food, toys, a bunch of shoes and several pairs of roller skates. The white screened front door was prevented from closing by the mess.
Inside it was much worse. The entry hall was crammed with a garbage bags filled with toys and books, boxes of dishes and so much clothing, the technician had to step out of the house to put on his respirator before he could go back inside. The wood-paneled living room and the dining area also had piles of papers, books and other objects stacked on nearly every surface.
This was not the life the home owner had imagined in 1991, when he married. He had a satisfying but low-paying job as a social worker. His family had grown at a faster rate than his modest income. His financial struggle was overwhelming.
About 10 years ago he began to feel trapped by his poverty. He thought to himself “What can I do? I’ll do what my grandpa did.” From that moment on he refused to discard anything he thought would be potentially useful.
In 2004 he began selling books on-line. He took great pride in picking up bargains for his 3 children. However those bargains eventually took over the household, adding tension to an already troubled marriage. The scuffed floors were sticky, the appliances, including the refrigerator and the dishwasher often did not work. He was too ashamed to let a stranger in to do repairs and felt too overwhelmed to clean up his home filled with clutter. Every time the doorbell rang, he would hide in the bedroom.
Between 2005 and 2009, caseworkers visited the home at least 8 times. They gave the home owner time to clean up the house, which he always tried to do. But the visit in February 2010 was different. By that ime the couple had separated and he was raising his 3 children on his own for the most part. The clutter had gotten even worse and was considered dangerous. The caseworker ordered the home owner to move his 3 children to their mother’s apartment.
Dangerous Compulsion
Saving stuff in moderation is considered normal. However this seemingly healthy impulse can quickly go too far and develop into a clinical obsessive-compulsive disorder. You can’t chalked up compulsive hoarding to an eccentricity or a character flaw. It is much more serious and harder to control than that. Dr. Sanjaya Saxena, MD, director of the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders Program at the University of California, San Diego. explains “It is, in fact, a neuropsychiatric disorder that will not get better unless the person is treated.”
Compulsive hoarding can lead to tragic consequences. The most famous cases involved the wealthy and reclusive Collyer brothers. In 1947 their bodies were discovered in a New York City home packed with over 100 tons of junk. This past year a Shelton, Washington resident was found smothered by a massive pile of clothes that had toppled onto her. Compulsive hoarders will fill their homes with flammable material and often block hallways and exits in the process, which can make escaping a fire impossible.
Hoarding affects people of all backgrounds and ages. Studies show as many as 3 to 6 million Americans may be afflicted at some level. Compulsive hoarding often requires extensive treatment. However many will deny that they have accumulated too much stuff, or that the clutter may cause a problem. Even those who seek treatment can’t always find or afford the currently recommended approach, cognitive-behavioral therapy sometimes paired with medication from a specialist.
