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What Is A Hoarding Disorder?

One of my relatives is a hoarder, and a friend has two middle-aged sons also affected by this condition known as hoarding. Being someone who loves to research social issues, the topic piqued my interest enough for me to investigate hoarding disorders for myself.

Famous brothers Homer and Langley Collyer, well-known wealthy Manhattan residents, are recognized as hoarders. After the death of their parents in the 1920’s, the two men withdrew from the public. They split their time between the family’s Manhattan residence and their Harlem brownstones.

In 1947, a neighbor notified the police about an overpowering odor coming from their home. When the police arrived, they found Homer, who was blind and crippled, dead and surrounded by trash. David K. Israel, author of “7 Famous Hoarders” said, “His corpse was amid tons of junk, including an early X-ray machine, the jawbone of a horse and bundles upon bundles of old newspapers.”

After a full and lengthy search, Langley’s dead body was found in one of their brownstones, buried by newspapers. His death had occurred weeks before. Israel noted that Langley “had been dead for weeks and rats had eaten most of his body. It was ultimately determined that Homer died of starvation when Langley, who fed his crippled, blind brother, was crushed to death under . . . a bunch of junk.” ¹

History of Hoarding

The study of hoarding is a relatively new study. In the 1990s, many psychologists and neurologists assigned hoarding into the category of an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) for lack of a better classification. However, owning many possessions makes a person with OCD feel anxious and unnerved while a hoarder finds extreme delight in finding bargains and purchasing a good deal. In 1993, psychology professor Randy Frost at Smith College attempted the first methodical study on hoarding. Now 24 years later, there has been an obsession with TV shows such as TLC’s Hoarding: Buried Alive and A&E’s Hoarders.

Hoarding is a brand-new disorder. In The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition: DSM-5 published in 2013, hoarding is now listed among other psychiatric diagnoses.

In the article “Why Do You Hoard?” by Bonnie Tsui states that most scientists believe hoarding has three defining characteristics:

  • the excessive acquisition of things that appear to be of little or no value
  • the inability to discard possessions; and
  • the disorganization of those possessions, which clutter up living spaces and make them impossible to use for their intended purposes.” ²

Hoarders

Hoarders often live alone and other people are frequently unaware of their hoarding. Other times hoarders are just considered “pack rats” by those who know them.

Hoarders may save newspapers, papers, plastic bags, pill bottles, shoes, food, mail, photographs, magazines, household supplies, flyers, bottle caps, beer bottles, clothing, or more. Some people even hoard animals.

Jill, a recovering hoarder whose last name was withheld, says about her hoarding:

“I just have too much stuff. I’m a “packrat.” There is stuff everywhere in plastic containers and in drawers. I have enough clothing to dress all the neighbor women for a couple of weeks each. This stuff is mine and I see a use for all of it. I just can’t bring myself to throw away any of it. I like it all! I really wish every space in my house wasn’t a collect-all.

We don’t even get to sit at the table as a family. My husband complains we hate to have unexpected family, we eat out because there is no space on the counter to cook, important papers get lost and we buy more stuff because so many things get misplaced. Everyone passes the blame on someone else. To top it all off, we live in a small ranch home with little closets. How will I ever overcome all of this hoard? I want to live like the normal tidy person—Stuff is ruining MY LIFE.” ³

Types of Hoarding

Many types of hoarding occur because of one’s background, education level, different personality, DNA, and other factors.

The “Address Our Mess” website discusses five main types of hoarding. ⁴

Shopper or Shopping Hoarder

This individual might shop daily. Many of the items purchased find themselves years later in the hallway or closet with the original price tags still on – unused. They might purchase clothing, collectibles, technology. They may feel incapable and experience severe anxiety if they pass up this “basement bargain.”

Food Hoarding

Some shoppers make runs to the grocery stores even when their refrigerators, freezers, and pantries are at full capacity. Throwing away outdated food seems wasteful and rarely occurs. Dealing with spoiled food, diseases, and unsanitary conditions may lead to severe illnesses and possibly death.

Garbage and Trash Hoarding

This type of hoarder is unable to discard their waste and trash. Some hoarders are known to go through other people’s garbage to see if they find valuable items. One might find trash hoarders storing garbage in their homes, garages, yards, or storage facilities.

Animal Hoarding

Many animal hoarders believe that they are helping animals by keeping them safe and loved in their living quarters or on their land. However, they fail to take into account that the lack of grooming, accumulation of waste, and non-existent exercise creates an unsatisfactory environment. Due to deplorable situations, animals are being starved and/or disease-ridden.

Paper Hoarding

Paper hoarders cannot throw away, shed, or discard anything on paper, i.e. bills, flyers, magazines, newspapers, forms, books. Stories abound of people who have been missing and later found injured or dead from being hidden under an extraordinary amount of paper products.

An excellent article written by the National Study Group on Compulsive Disorganization was reprinted in the Dec. 1, 2010, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper issue. The article was titled, “Levels of Hoarding: Some Guidelines for Recognizing the Problem.” The organization created a scale for professional organizers making their initial contact with their clients. Although the study took place in the early 1990s, it is still relevant and informative today. Click here to read the article:

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/north/2010/12/02/Levels-of-hoarding-some-guidelines-for-recognizing-the-problem/stories/201012020349

Causes of Hoarding

Genetics, anxiety disorders, lack of organization skills, loss, being raised in poverty, fear, psychotic tendencies, and even dementia are reasons why someone might hoard.

For many hoarders, it is incomprehensible to pass by a bargain. They love to shop or purchase items online which they don’t need. They feel they might need the item one day in the future. Hoarders pile things up around their home, office, or yard in an unorganized fashion. Afterwards, they become emotionally attached to these things to the point of being unable to part with them. A vicious cycle occurs with purchasing and saving items. Year after year, the hoarding becomes more harmful and unhealthy.

However, hoarders rarely realize the extent of their hoarding. While it may be obvious to an outsider, the hoarder’s mind may not see the devastation and destruction occurring due to their accumulating and stockpiling.

Carol Mathews of the University of California, San Francisco, and others have studied the cognitive patterns of hoarders. Mathews’ MRI studies try to simulate emotions relating to hoarding, i.e. how a hoarder sorts, categorizes and thinks about discarding items. ⁴

Signs and Symptoms of Hoarding

Hoarders may not recognize how much of a burden their possessions create on their physical, social, emotional, psychological, and spiritual life. Many signs and symptoms indicate potential or established hoarders struggle to pay bills because they keep repurchasing items or devices they have “misplaced.” A few hoarders even lose custody of their children when their environment creates a needless safety or health hazards for their family.

Other indications of a hoarder may include having . . .

  • Limited or no livable space in their home.
  • An isolated and depressed life.
  • A regulated or non-existent social life.
  • Things replace human relationships.
  • Marital problems. (Many divorces occur due to the spouse’s inability to deal with the appalling living conditions.)
  • Children who will not invite their friends over to their home.
  • Financial problems.
  • An inability to organize their possessions.
  • An unfounded fear of running out of items, i.e. shampoo, boxes, food.
  • An inability to sell, give away, or part with their possessions. (This often creates an intolerable anxiety in hoarders.)
  • No power to keep their home functioning due to their clutter, i.e. not being able to reach a light fixture to replace a light bulb.
  • To live with broken household items in their home for fear of inviting repairmen into their extremely cluttered home.
  • An inability to bathe or reach their toilet.
  • An inability to cook due to broken equipment or being able to reach their stove, oven, or microwave.

Hoarding vs. Collecting

Hoarding and collecting are different entities. Both are characterized by acquiring possessions, but their purposes and intentions are different. Having a collection involves a sense of pride about what a person amasses in their acquisitions. Collectors usually display their items in an orderly fashion—on a shelf, in a curio cabinet, over the fireplace. A collector loves to talk to others about their collections.

On the other hand, a hoarder may be embarrassed by their “prized” possessions and they may be uncomfortable with others seeing their accumulation of “stuff.”

Recovery for Hoarders

Ample reasons abound regarding why hoarding should be addressed and why hoarders should be treated. However, the most important reason is that all the accumulation affects the health and safety of the individual and those around them. Hoarding can lead to hospitalizations, children being taken away from parents, fire, evictions, homelessness, and even death.

Help is available for hoarders. A clutter specialist, accountability partner, a 12-step program, and/or a physician is often needed to help with the remediation of this disorder. Understanding that recovery is a continual process is imperative. If someone came into a hoarder’s home and cleared out everything so the home was relatively clean and orderly, the home would quickly become ‘unlivable’ to the average person unless the emotional aspects of hoarding had been dealt with. To overcome a hoarding lifestyle, group involvement must occur. A hoarder needs to find a friend, family member, or support group to help with the initial stages of cleanup.

Many great articles are available on the Internet where support groups and help can be found. Talking to one’s family physician about the problem is an excellent starting point.

Christian Perspective on Hoarding

Just like any other difficulty we face in life, we need hope to overcome it. Making wise choices give us hope while addressing the problem and reaching an actual solution. Hoarding is difficult to treat. God is willing and waiting to help. Nevertheless, there must be a desire in the individual to want to do something about their hoarding problem. God and others will help hoarders free their attitudes regarding possessions and He will help in maintaining a clutter-free lifestyle. This is accomplished through God, therapy, friends, and PRAYER!

GotQuestions.org speaks to hope on its website. “No matter where a hoarder falls of the spectrum, there is hope. A hoarder needs to learn how to make healthy decisions that will lead to resisting the urge for more buying/acquiring, disposing of unneeded items, and putting things in a regular place . . . The underlying cause of hoarding is our human tendency to want things and our inability to discern what is truly valuable. For those with severe compulsive hoarding, anxiety or loss or genetics may prompt the behavior and limit a person’s ability to discern value and worth. But for all of us, Jesus is the most precious treasure we can possess, and His followers should value what He values. Trusting in Him means we no longer should rely on ourselves in a hopeless effort to meet our needs or satisfy our souls. Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)” ⁶

Conclusion:

Informational blogs like this one sometimes lack the compassion which should accompany them. My desire for believers is to have compassion for those unable to free themselves from anything they find themselves in bondage to—including hoarding. When held in bondage, we are unable to be a useful witness for the Lord to others. But, when we are released from that bondage, we open ourselves up to living a full and meaningful life. Let’s be compassionate and caring. At times in our lives, we might find ourselves in difficult situations. We don’t need judgment during those times. We need love, compassion, and help.

If you like this article, let me know, because the flip side to hoarding is when people possess an extreme and excessive need to PURGE themselves of their possessions. It’s a tough concept to comprehend, but it will make for an interesting blog topic someday! And just remember, we are all on the spectrum between the two extremes!

Where do you find yourself?

——–

Bible Verses:

Thought: We live in a word filled with idolatry. Our cars, our homes, our stock portfolios, and our vacations have become idols to us. It’s not rocket science to see how a person can become a hoarder. But believers should be set apart from idolatry no matter what form it takes. The Bible tells us not to love our money or possessions but to serve the Lord with our entire heart. The verses below will help us to see God’s perspective on storing possessions, greed, compassion, and how to overcome any problem we might be facing.

You shall have no other gods before Me. (Exodus 20:3)

There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt. (Ecclesiastes 5:13

Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and the justice due me escapes the notice of my God.” (Isaiah 40:27)

Ah Lord God, Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You. (Jeremiah 32:17)

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. (Matthew 6:24)

Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15)

Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:33-34)

You, in Your great compassion,
Did not forsake them in the wilderness;
The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day,
To guide them on their way,
Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go. (Nehemiah 9:19)

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. (1 Peter 2:17)

Prayer:

My heavenly Father. Thank you for teaching me daily more about Your people. Help me in the areas I struggle with and give me compassion for those who are different from me. Give me Your wisdom and grace. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

God Bless,

GreenePastures.org

Member Inspirational Writers Alive; Bible Gateway Blogger Grid Member


Edited by E. Johnson; Bible verses are taken from the NASB if not noted otherwise.

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Answer Me: Developing a Heart for Prayer (A Devotional Prayer Journal) by Patti Greene, click here

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Anchor Me: Laying a Foundation in Bible Study and Prayer (A Devotional Prayer Journal) by Patti Greene, click here

Answer Me: Developing a Heart for Prayer by Patti Greene
Answer Me: Developing a Heart for Prayer by Patti Greene
Anchor Me
Anchor Me: Laying a Foundation in Bible Study and Prayer
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Awaken Me: Growing Deeper in Bible Study and Prayer

Works Cited

¹ Israel, David. “7 Famous Hoarders.” Mental Floss, 22 Oct 2009. http://mentalfloss.com.

Accessed 11 Aug 2017.

² Tsui, Bonnie. “Why Do You Hoard?” Pacific Standard, 29 Apr 2013. https://psmag.com.

Accessed 10 Aug 2017.

³ “How to Recover from Hoarding—Getting Organized.” Living on a Dime. Livingonadime.com.

Accessed 10 Aug 2017.

⁴ Types of Hoarders. Address Our Mess. https://www.clutterhoardingcleanup.com/types-of-hoarding/

Accessed 17 Oct 2017.

Got Questions. “What Does the Bible Say about Compulsive Hoarding?” Accessed 10 Aug 2017.

⁶ “Types of Hoarding.” Address Our Mess. Clutterhoardingcleanup.com, 18 Sept 2013. Accessed

August 9, 2017.

Consequences

We all have done something STUPID in our lives. I have. It can be that we haven’t thought through a situation, it can be that our emotions or thinking processes have been compromised due to drugs or alcohol or it can be we are influenced by others to participate in an unwise activity. Regardless, looming consequences for our actions may be just around the corner. But, even after our “s_ _ _ _ d” actions, we can turn to God, trust Him, and depend on Him to see us through.

I don’t like to use the word s_ _ _ _d, but in the case below, there is no other synonym that fits! Merriam-Webster’s thesaurus uses other words like airheaded, birdbrained, dim-witted, empty-headed, half-witted, and more, but honestly, sometimes s_ _ _ _ d is the only word that works. But so as not to offend anyone, I will substitute the word half-witted in this blog.

In the January 12, 2016 edition, USA TODAY posted an article about an Ohio fugitive who texted a photo of himself to the police to use after seeing a mugshot they posted he found unflattering.

“Here’s a better photo that one is terrible,” Donald “Chip” Pugh, 45 said in the text. He attached a selfie with him wearing a blazer and gold-rimmed sunglasses sitting in a car.

The police have a warrant out for him and his new photo is now posted on the police department’s Facebook page.

I don’t know about you, but I would call that half-witted.  As for me, every so often I have been known to do something half-witted too.

My Story

One Thursday, this past December, I was scrambling to get to the Olive Garden Restaurant to meet Dee for our annual Christmas gift exchange luncheon. Unfortunately, I got carried away with time causing me to leave home later than I anticipated. I deplore being late — even a little late. So, I reached for my cell phone to call Dee to notify her that I would late but realized in my rush to leave the house, I also left my cell phone at home. Not being able to call her made me doubly anxious about being late.

As I drove up to Cheddar’s, I absent-mindedly drove right passed the restaurant’s one and only entrance. To remedy the situation, I would have had to drive all the way down the service road to the next exit; make a U-turn and go under the freeway; drive all the way down to the correct exit; make a U-turn under the freeway; quickly veer to the right; and pray I didn’t miss the entrance the second time around. However, I decided not to do that. I turned quickly into the Olive Garden restaurant that was next to Cheddar’s. I pulled into a parking space that faced Cheddar’s. While I originally thought I could just walk over to Cheddar’s, there was a problem — a major problem! Between the two restaurants was a great big, deep overgrown drainage ditch that sloped at least 15 feet down.

No problem, I thought. Confident I could handle crossing the ditch; I took the plunge with my purse and a Christmas gift bag in tow and began my adventure down the ditch. I must admit, I was a little nervous as the grass became thicker and taller on my way down. I thought of withering snakes making contact with my feet in the grass, but I was too far down to turn back.

When I became closer to the center of the ditch, I felt a swampy wet sensation on my feet. Yes, I was wearing “my favorite, black, wedge-heeled flip-flop fastened to my foot by only a small strap”. And, before I knew it, when I was at the bottom of the ditch, my right foot slipped into muddy “quicksand” and I was being sucked in.  Within seconds, my right leg became entrapped all the way to my thigh by swampy, murky mud. I knew that I was in trouble and it would be awfully dangerous and hard to escape if I didn’t act quickly. I fell to the left, quickly dragging my right leg out of the muddy, putrid water and pulled myself to a wobbly standing position. My right flip-flop was entrapped in the murky sludge over three feet down; I looked back, like Lot’s wife, and saw my left flip-flop a few feet away. Scared to retrieve the left flip-flop, I ran up the other side of the drainage ditch like a mad woman.

Miraculously, at the top of the ditch, I pulled myself together and proceeded to walk into Cheddar’s, barefoot and all. As soon as I arrived, I saw Dee. After sharing the short version of what just happened, we checked in at the reception desk and the host brought us to our table. I hoped no one would see my soaking wet bare feet and my muddy jeans and ask me to leave. If anyone saw them, they didn’t say anything. From the waist down, I was freezing. It didn’t help that the restaurant’s AC was in full force right on our table either.

God works in mysterious ways! Dee happened to have a few bags of clothes in her car that she was going to drop off at the recycling center after our lunch, so she went to fetch them for me. I felt like the poor Samaritan who was being helped by the kind-hearted person passing by. I took a few pairs of socks, a pair of overalls 6 sizes smaller than I am, and a sweatshirt. I proceeded to the restroom to change. I had to walk all the way to the other side of the restaurant, pass by a ton of waiters and waitresses, just to get to the restroom where I could change. Mind you, no one mentioned my condition or bare feet or my smell. I was fortunate — I was able to put the tight overalls up to my waist when I unbuttoned all the buttons; I let the bib and straps hang down, and I put the sweatshirt over me.

Then, Dee and I had a lovely Christmas lunch!

The Secular Moral of this Story

Sixty-one-year-old females should never run down a 15-foot drainage ditch without expecting some kind of trouble. It’s just plain half-witted.

In my secular story, I was lucky — all I lost was “my favorite, black, wedge-heeled flip-flop fastened to my foot by only a small strap.”

But, when dealing in the spiritual realm, sometimes the consequences of our actions can be a lot more catastrophic.

The Spiritual Moral of this Story: Dealing with Consequences

If an individual decides to wander away from the right path, they might lose their virginity, their reputation, their license, their family, and/or more. But, as believers sometimes we do mess up. Temptations will always be upon us and our choices lead to consequences. However, there are some things we should all understand when we have done something half-wittingly.

We need to understand that . . .

  • God isn’t surprised when we do something unwise or sin.
  • If we sin, God will forgive us.
  • There are consequences to our actions.
  • God is compassionate.
  • We need to trust the Lord when we mess up.
  • God will help us out of our difficult situations, but we must let Him.
  • God knows we can make a bigger mess of our lives if we don’t let Him help us.
  • God knows why we do what we do or did what we did. He understands our poor judgment.
  • God sees the big picture of our lives.
  • God can use our mess-ups to develop our character.
  • God wants us to learn from our mistakes and become closer to Him by depending on Him for everything.
  • The Bible advises us to obtain wise counsel from people who can help us.

And please, whatever you do, try not to lose more than a pair of shoes like I did. It’s NOT worth it!

God bless you.

PATTIGREENE.eps-(1


 

Bible Verses

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Romans 7:15

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15-16

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.” Isaiah 41:10

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, please help me to always honor you in all I do. I can try on my own to be a good person, but I find myself failing so often. Teach me to think like you. Help me to behave like you Jesus. I need your wisdom and your mind to be all you want me to be. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.


 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/01/12/ohio-fugitive-hates-his-mugshot-sends-police-selfie-replace/78682094/

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