Hoarders
By Staff Writer
Daeshavana Robinson
Hoarders are people who have a compulsive hoarding disease. It is not really common, but affects an estimated 5-6 million Americans. According to a Times Magazine article in July of 2010, there are 75 hoarding task forces nationwide. These people are hoarders because they feel they have no jobs, no motivation or no direction in life.
The main cause of hoarding is family loss. When a hoarder loses someone that they really care for, they have a fear of letting go of the past. They begin collecting items repeatedly and become immune to it. Hoarders have fears of failing in the future, abandoning things and overcoming their memories. Hoarders tend to have a tenuous sense of self and often use hoarding as a defense against getting help or close to others.
They also have scarcity mentalities, meaning that they feel they may need things later. By thinking that they need things later, results to the piling up- of unnecessary items and things. Some hoarders have a byproduct of shoplifting. Their hoarding gets so bad that they begin to steal useless things, even from family.
Hoarders receive consequences for their hoarding because of their hoarding, they develop lost time and space. They also receive loss of relationships and health. Many hoarders lose their families because they don’t want to be around someone who doesn’t have a clean environment. Hoarders also lose self-esteem and focus, so they begin to procrastinate way more than when they started. They soon become people that are mostly to themselves or animals and want nothing to do with the outside world. They soon end up with loss of reputation.
There are plenty of ways that a hoarder can seek out help. They can read books that support hoarding, go to counseling or get put on medication. They also can go to support groups that provide specialist to assist them in their hoarding. There are plenty of ways hoarders can seek help including hiring a personal organizer, enlist family and/or friends to be involved with helping, watch educational T.V shows and educate yourself on health hazards and negative consequences. Hoarding is a compulsive obsession disorder that many people may suffer from, but help is out there.
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