Article: 87 year old hoarder facing eviction (warning: incredibly sad)

[Ultralight]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ollection.html

[sweetana3]

I do not find it sad. It is a fire hazard and she lives in rented accomodations. Any firefighter would tell you that it is a fire hazard and they would not be able to rescue her in case of fire. It may be clean but dangerous all the same.

[Ultralight]

I do not find it sad. It is a fire hazard and she lives in rented accomodations. Any firefighter would tell you that it is a fire hazard and they would not be able to rescue her in case of fire. It may be clean but dangerous all the same.

Oh, I totally understand that it is a fire hazard. And I support that they pull her and her sons out of there, and clean that place out.

But I think what she said in the article is probably true. It'll kill her. She'll die from the mental and emotional trauma.

She said "I am nothing without my things..."

[sweetana3]

That part I agree is pretty sad.

[Ultralight]

And it is the core of the problem, I think.

I think in situations like that the hoarders who are being separated from their hoards need 24/7 medical surveillance.

[kib]

And on some level, I do get it. When something is your passion and drive, when you put all your energy into the care and maintenance of something and then "they" decide it should be taken from you, that's got to induce a cocktail of miserable emotions; grief, rage, powerlessness, loss of identity, loss of purpose, loss of accomplishment, emptiness, resentment, maybe shame. In the case of hoarding which often seems linked to a sense of security or wealth-conservation, add in terror. Hoarding misplaces that passion and drive onto material objects in unhealthy and potentially dangerous ways, but I doubt that changes the feelings associated with losing your creation.

[Ultralight]

And on some level, I do get it. When something is your passion and drive, when you put all your energy into the care and maintenance of something and then "they" decide it should be taken from you, that's got to induce a cocktail of miserable emotions; grief, rage, emptiness, resentment, maybe shame. In the case of hoarding which often seems linked to a sense of security, add in terror. Hoarding misplaces that passion and drive onto material objects in unhealthy and potentially dangerous ways, but I doubt that changes the feelings associated with losing your creation.

I wonder if there is an emergency protocol for when emergency workers (EMTs, etc.) know they will have to separate a hoarder from their hoard...

The hoarder probably needs to be sedated, maybe physically restrained so they don't jump in front of a bulldozer or something. Maybe they remove the hoarder from the property entirely too?

[bae]

I wonder if there is an emergency protocol for when emergency workers (EMTs, etc.) know they will have to separate a hoarder from their hoard...

The hoarder probably needs to be sedated, maybe physically restrained so they don't jump in front of a bulldozer or something. Maybe they remove the hoarder from the property entirely too?

Amazing...

[Ultralight]

Amazing...

Obviously I am speculating. But my speculation is based on the massive amount of reading I have done on the subject. And on personal experience with my parents and grandma.

I know that if "they" were going to separate my mom from her hoard, then she'd definitely need sedated or to have some kind of team of mental health pros right there. Otherwise, she'd totally lose it and probably do something dangerous and self-destructive.

Hoarders who have had their hoards disposed of by the powers that be have been known to attempt suicide.

[catherine]

I'm not a psychologist, but it's amazing how inseparable one's things can be from their identity and life itself:

"I do have a lot of things, but they aren't junk. They are my life. How can anybody say my life is junk?"

So, yes, her getting rid of her stuff will be like amputating a limb or worse--more like separating Siamese twins. I agree with UA--it will probably kill her.

It seems like people who can't live for today, or are not happy with today, or who look back nostalgically on what they no longer have, are more vulnerable to hoarding. It's like they want to keep the past alive.