A lot of hoarding cases have NOTHING to do with poverty (in childhood or in the person's current life). I don't know that it always has to do with a specific loss, either. I've personally had the tendencies I have ever since I was a small child - I certainly wasn't raised in poverty and at the time, hadn't suffered any huge losses or traumas.

I dont think my mother's hoarding is totally related to loss. I think my dad kept her in check when they were married. My mother had expensive tastes if you will and always had the thought she was better than others and her "things" helped with that mentality. Once my dad left, there were no adults around to put a stop to spending, so my mom spent herself into bankrupcty trying to keep a lifestyle she could no longer afford to impress people.

I do think loss can have a role. My mom got really bad when she had to sell the house I grew up in. I think she felt all the memories left with the house and her "things" was all she had left.

I dont really know though. She is so detached from reality anymore. She doesnt get it no matter how many times you sit her down & explain it to her that she doesnt have room for all that crap, my sister and I have no interest in her crap in the present or the future, most of it represents a life that is gone and has been for 18 years and isnt coming back, she cant afford it, etc.

I was watching 20/20 and they did a piece about hoarding. They mentioned a website called Children of Hoarders. I thought was worth posting here.
http://childrenofhoarders.com/wordpress/

Great link! I went to their facebook page. They post the articles there too.

Tonight's episode on A&E was interesting.

The pregnant lady was interesting. She looked interesting and she acted interesting. The hoarding expert yelled at her, rightfully so. CPS was threatening to take her kids and she still wanted to keep everything. I was happy when her family yelled at her.

The other case, the older man who wanted to keep everything. He wanted to keep towels and things that had been kept outside. There were rat and raccoon droppings over the things.

I think Dr. D.J. Moran, the Clinical Psychologist on "Hoarders: Buried Alive" is handsome. He isn't photogenic and probably looks much better in person.

/frivolous

Supposedly, they were just filming an episode in a small town right near mine.

The teen hoarder needed a therapist and an ass whooping. She was talking to her mother like it was HER house.

Just now catching the one with the animals....:eek: does not do it justice!

How...HOW can someone live like that?!? The barking, the smell...OMG.

This quote made me laugh:

"You fall and something falls on you and you can't get up...how awful is it to die under 1,000 dolls?!"

On the re-aired episode now:

Hoarder Husband talking about how he gets around the house:
"I could walk sideways...but I'm the same size sideways as I am forward...I'm a big man."

Wife: "I can't pick BillyBob up."

:rolleyes: Oh my...I gotta get caught up. Hoarders is good for motivating a whole-house cleaning session, too.

Ditto

I'm watching the A&E marathon. To further confirm that hoarding tends to be rooted in other issues:

1. The firefighter who was talking to his mother and sister as though he was fighting a fire: "put that down and look at me...." Who in the hell does he think he is talking to? Issues.

2. Another episode: The man who adopted a boy and a girl. He is white and the kids are Black. The boy has some SERIOUS ISSUES. Initially I was like "Badass Black Babies...next on Oprah" but that boy needs some serious counseling. Biting, hitting, blowing his nose on people...I just wonder how long this has been going on. He is 8 years old going on 9. They have had a counselor for 6 months and I am glad because a lot of Black families would've just kept beating the hell out of him, among other things.

The man's friend (a Black man who the kids consider their uncle) was absolutely correct that they better stop this now or he will probably become a juvenile delinquent and eventually an adult offender.