The Secret Lives of Hoarders: True Stories of Tackling Extreme Clutter

by Matt Paxton;Phaedra Hise

  Wendy’s adult daughter and young granddaughter had been living with them, but after the cleanup Wendy realized that having extra people in the house was a stress button for her. Also, her daughter, having grown up in a hoarder house, had hoarding tendencies herself. She and the granddaughter were working on turning that around by applying the same cleanup rules Wendy and Sam had. But Wendy could see that it was a struggle to have four people in a small house, with at least two of them being recovering hoarders. She asked her daughter to find her own apartment.

  Once the house was clean, Wendy and Sam were faced with maintenance issues that Wendy had ignored for years. Also, for the first time ever, they were doing weekly cleaning—dusting, vacuuming, and washing dishes. They decided that the house was just too much work for them to maintain. After Wendy’s daughter moved out, Wendy and Sam put the house on the market with the goal of moving to a smaller low-maintenance space.

  Throughout the process, Wendy was being honest with herself, and by moving, she imposed space limits on herself. With this, combined with her newly learned cleaning techniques and the support from her children, hers has become a success story.

  MICHELLE

  Once her house was clean and de-moused, Michelle’s two children were returned to her from foster care. Michelle responded well to antianxiety medication. The house stayed clean, so Michelle’s social worker considered her a success story. As far as he could see, Michelle had cleaned up, passed inspection, gotten her children back, and was in compliance with her medications. So he closed her case.

  A few months after, Michelle decided that she felt so great and things were going so well that she didn’t need her medication anymore. Once she quit taking it, she slipped back into anxiety and hoarding, not an unlikely scenario for a Stage 5 hoarder. The house isn’t as bad as it was before, but Michelle is definitely on that same path again.

  During Michelle’s cleaning we had found some drugs in the house, which she said her son had brought in. About a year after the cleanup, I heard from Michelle’s case worker that Michelle’s son had been convicted on a separate drugrelated charge and was serving time in jail.

  Her daughter is still in the house, but she is a teenager and will be moving out soon. After that, unfortunately, there won’t be much incentive for Michelle to stay clean. She could easily continue to hoard and fill up the house until neighbors start to complain and city inspectors visit again.

  DAISY

  Miss Daisy had a remarkable recovery for an elderly Stage 5 hoarder. She had several positive factors working for her. One was her terrific support team. Another was the fact that she hadn’t been a hoarder all of her life. Daisy didn’t start hoarding until after her retirement, so she had experienced what a tidy house felt like, and she understood how to keep it that way. She appreciated order and knew that she had the tools to reach that goal and stay there.

  Even though Daisy was in her eighties, she had an alert mind and good health. And her cleaning turned up a string of positives that helped encourage her. First, when her county-provided financial planner learned that Daisy had been a teacher for thirty years, he did a little research and discovered an $85,000 pension that Daisy didn’t know she had. Using that, he put together a budget that ensured Daisy would be taken care of for the rest of her life. That was a huge positive that proved to Daisy the benefits of cleaning up and organizing her life.

  With Daisy’s clutter piled almost to the ceiling, the cleanup crew was afraid of what they might find under it all.

  Daisy had a remarkable team of helpers who got her bedroom livable again.

  Meanwhile, Daisy’s social worker located family members who were living nearby. Daisy had cut off contact with them fifteen years earlier, embarrassed by her hoarding. They thought Daisy had passed away and were thrilled to find her alive and well. Her family welcomed Daisy back into their lives unconditionally, delighted to have their mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother back.

  Daisy also had her strong church community. She had volunteered there for years and had endless support and love from the large congregation. That gave her life meaning. Each day when Daisy got up, she had somewhere to go and people who needed her.

  With her pension, Daisy could have lived on her own after her house was cleaned. Instead, her family kept asking her to move in with them. She finally decided to sell her house and live with one of her adult grandchildren. She is still there today, in her nineties, volunteering at her church and spending time with her great-grandchildren.

  RESOURCES

  By the planning stage, people usually have hundreds of questions about where to get special tools, or where to donate some items, or simply who to call for more help. As the understanding of hoarding grows, additional resources will become available and added to the resource list on our website at www.cluttercleaner.com.

  Most of the resources listed here have national coverage, but always look for local solutions as well (key words to search for are included under each topic). Local companies may be able to help find nearby support for other aspects of the project.

  ABOUT HOARDING

  The resource section that follows features additional information about the basics of hoarding, including therapists, cleaning companies, and support groups available. To find more information, keywords to search include hoarding, squalor, OCD, saving, collecting, clutter, and organization.

  Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD): www.challengingdisorganization.org

  International Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Foundation: www.ocfoundation.org

  National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO): www.napo.net

  A&E’s Hoarders: www.aetv.com/hoarders

  TREATMENT CENTERS

  Hoarding can have multiple triggers and accompanying mental health–related issues. Following are some of the top treatment centers in the country for hoarding, anxiety, OCD, and related disorders. Most cities and many universities also have local specialists. To find more information, keywords include OCD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, hoarding, phobia, anxiety, depression, stress, body dysmorphic disorder, trichotillomania, panic, agoraphobia, social anxiety, and PTSD.

  Lakeside Center for Behavioral Change (Dr. Renae Reinardy): www.lakesidecenter.org

  Kansas City Center for Anxiety Treatment (Dr. Lisa Hale): www.kcanxiety.com

  The Institute of Living (Dr. David Tolin): www.compulsivehoarding.org

  Panic/Anxiety/Recovery Center (PARC): www.beyondanxiety.com

  Compulsive Hoarding Center (Dr. Robin Zasio): www.compulsivehoardingcenter.com

  Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Institute of Greater New Orleans (Dr. Suzanne Chabaud): www.ocdigno.com

  SUPPORT GROUPS

  Most localities do not have physical support groups for family members of hoarders or for hoarders themselves, but that is changing. Meanwhile, there are multiple support groups online. These grow and change quickly, so to stay current on what’s available, search on the following keywords: hoarding support, squalor support, organizational therapy, families of hoarding, and children of hoarding.

  Children of Hoarders: www.childrenofhoarders.com (This site also features a valuable resource page of general hoarding information.)

  Clutterers Anonymous: www.clutterersanonymous.net

  Squalor Survivors: www.squalorsurvivors.com

  Mates of Messies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mates-of-Messies/

  ANIMAL HOARDING

  Animal hoarding is a growing disorder that is receiving increasing attention, with more and more resources and research becoming available. Please be aware that the pictures on some of these websites are graphic and can be disturbing. Additional information can be found by searching for these keywords: animal hoarding, animal abuse, pet abuse, animal cruelty, and foreclosure pets.

  ASPCA: www.aspca.org

  Humane Society: www.humanesociety.org

  Pet Abuse: www.pet-abuse.com/pages/animal_cruelty/hoarding.php

  Anim
al Legal Defense Fund: www.aldf.org

  Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium: www.tufts.edu/vet/hoarding/harc.htm

  GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY

  For a hoarding cleanup to be successful, it is important for hoarders to get a better understanding of what is the trigger and why they hoard. I encourage all hoarders and family or friends affected by hoarding to seek therapy if needed. Below is a list of websites that can lead to local therapists who can help with long-term treatment. Keywords include psychology, therapy, cognitive therapy, social workers, abuse, divorce, grief, and separation.

  Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies: www.abct.org (searchable national therapist list)

  Awareness Foundation for OCD and Related Disorders: www.ocdawareness.com

  American Psychological Association: www.apa.org

  Anxiety Disorders Association of America: www.adaa.org (searchable national therapist list)

  BOOKS

  We have written an overview of hoarding—what it is, why it happens, and how to help. These books are helpful to learn more specifics about the disorder and how to work with it, for understanding the psychology of hoarding, and for step-by-step suggestions on how to organize a house so that it stays clean.

  Digging Out: Helping Your Loved One Manage Clutter, Hoarding, and Compulsive Acquiring by Michael A. Tompkins and Tamara L. Hartl (New Harbinger Publications, 2009)

  Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost and Gail Steketee (Houghton Mifflin, 2010)

  Buried in Treasures: Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving, and Hoarding by David F. Tolin, Randy O. Frost, and Gail Steketee (Oxford University Press, 2007)

  Overcoming Compulsive Hoarding by Fugen Neziroglu, Jerome Bubrick, and Jose Yaryura-Tobias (New Harbinger Publications, 2004)

  It’s All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff by Peter Walsh (Free Press, 2007)

  CLEANING

  Some families may try to clean the home themselves and some families may bring in a professional. Regardless of how the home gets cleaned, it’s important to explore all options before making a final decision. Remember that it sometimes takes a hoarder decades to clutter up a house, and it won’t take one weekend to get it empty. Safety and price are the key factors to consider when deciding on a physical cleaning process.

  Cleaning Services

  There are very few professional cleaning companies in the United States that can handle both the mental and physical requirements of a hoarding cleanup, although that will likely change. Before hiring someone to clean a home, please research the company thoroughly, ask for references and proof of insurance, and find out how many hoarders the company has worked with. Ask about success rates and ask to speak with hoarder clients, not just the family member who hired the company. The company 1-800-GOT-JUNK can handle Stage 1 or 2 hoarding, when the job focuses just on debris removal and not mental issues. The other two companies can take any job up to a Stage 5.

  Clutter Cleaner: www.cluttercleaner.com

  SteriClean: www.steri-clean.com

  1-800-GOT-JUNK: www.1800gotjunk.com

  ORGANIZERS

  Some organizers can clean a Stage 3 house and higher, but most are better for aftercare than the initial cleanup. The organizer can teach ongoing skills to the hoarder. As with the cleaning services, research the options and get to know the organizer before hiring. This person will be working side by side with the hoarder, so make sure their personalities match. Look for Certified Professional Organizer (CPO) certification for more extreme cases.

  National Association of Professional Organizers (with a searchable directory): www.napo.net

  Metropolitan Organizing, LLC (Geralin Thomas): www.metropolitanorganizing.com

  Abundance Organizing: www.abundanceorganizing.com

  The Delphi Center for Organization (Dorothy Breininger): www.delphicenterfororganization.com

  Things in Place (Standolyn Robertson): www.thingsinplace.com

  Dr. DClutter Life Management: (Dr. Darnita Payden): www.drdclutter.com

  SUPPLIES

  Every job will need lots of different supplies, most of which can be picked up at any local or national hardware or home improvement store. The most important items are listed below.

  Clothing

  • Steel-toe boots

  • Long socks and pants

  • Long-sleeve shirts

  • Tyvec protective suits with hood (when needed)

  • Work gloves with latex coating to keep liquids from seeping in (Use tight-fitting gloves and avoid big, bulky leather gloves that won’t give much flexibility.)

  • Respirators or masks (Make sure they read P100 or N95. If it doesn’t say either on the mask, do not wear it into the house.)

  Cleaning Supplies

  • 3-millimeter-thick trash bags

  • Cardboard boxes for sorting only, not to be used for storing items

  • Labels and permanent markers

  • Pocketknife or box cutter to open old boxes and cut strings

  • All-purpose cleaner

  • Paper towels

  • Brooms, snow shovels, and rakes

  OTHER SERVICES

  Dumpsters

  If the family is not hiring a professional junk removal company to help, a Dumpster is indispensable. Try to find a thirty-cubic-yard Dumpster or larger (a cubic yard is roughly the equivalent size of a dishwasher). Some cities will require a permit if the Dumpster is stored on the street. If at all possible, have the Dumpster full each night so it can be picked up early the next morning.

  Waste Management: www.wm.com

  Document Shredding

  Most houses need document shredding because of old tax and financial papers, medical records, and other secure information. I recommend calling a document shredding company that will come to the hoarder’s house, shred on-site, and give the hoarder a certificate showing that the documents have been shredded.

  Shred It: www.shredit.com

  Portable Storage

  If storage is necessary, we recommend portable storage, which can be easily dropped off and picked up at any time. We tend to work with SmartBox USA because their boxes are the perfect size for sorting, shipping, and storage. They charge a monthly fee.

  Smartbox USA: www.smartboxusa.com

  Pest Control

  I recommend having a contact number handy in case spiders, rats, mice, fire ants, or roaches appear during cleaning. The hoarder may already be aware of what infestations are in the house. Look online for a local provider. Keywords are pest, rodent control, critter, and the name of any specific insect or animal in the house.

  Prescription Drug Disposal

  One way for clearing out used or expired prescription medication is to call a local veterinarian’s office or police department, as both process large amounts of controlled substances. Also check with local pharmacies, as many of them have national bag campaigns in which customers can fill a bag and the pharmacy will mail it to the FDA to be destroyed (free of charge).

  EPA

  It’s possible that the house may have some chemicals that are no longer safe. Have a list of the chemicals and call the EPA one time to discuss disposal options. They will most likely point the resident in the direction of a local dump on a special day, but it never hurts to contact the EPA first. Many professional cleaning companies will take care of this for the family.

  Environmental Protection Agency: www.epa.gov

  Bio-waste

  If the house has alarming amounts of feces, urine, or medical waste, then the family should most likely hire a professional service. But if the family has questions during the research phase, I suggest contacting the company below and asking about their medical waste pickup.

  Stericycle: www.stericycle.com

  REMOVAL

  We’ve found that many hoarders are in financially challenging situations and could use a few extra dollars. Although few sales of hoarded items yield financial windfalls,
these resources are the best opportunity to earn some cash or a tax deduction.

  Donation

  Salvation Army: www.salvationarmyusa.org

  Goodwill: www.goodwill.org

  Craigslist: www.craigslist.org

  Freecycle: www.freecycle.org

  Appraisers and Auction Houses

  Having a yard sale or estate sale is rarely worth the effort. We only work with auction houses, which typically take between 25 and 35 percent of the sale to cover their expenses.