A&E: Hoarders and Intervention. Is it conspiracy?

Okay guys, I will admit, I can hardly get enough of "Hoarders", and my spouse complains that every time I watch it "I start throwing things away."

I watch "Intervention" from time to time as well, and I see these families exposing their (so-called) sib or parent who is near complete annihilation from abusing drugs/alcohol.

These stories are so completely out there.....does anyone else think that maybe, perhaps, these stories are invented? The homes full of mountains of crap and garbage, the family interventions and "specialists" that are coming in to "help"
the sufferers of hoarding disorder, are fictitious? The people with these apparently severe and excessively dysfunctional coping mechanisms, whose families "get together for a pre-intervention", and then "confront" the weirdo....
are they real? They LOOK real. They SEEM to be real people. But who would actually call these producers and say, "you know, my mom is buried in garbage, and her home smells of animal feces, and you can't even walk through it." Or, "you know, my sister says she has this "disease", and she manipulates our entire fam to enable her getting a free ride out of guilt."
Are they some sort of warped and manufactured "reality TV"? And what are these programs supposed to be teaching us? Is it just a new generation of the Jerry Springer show?

I was watching "Intervention" this evening, and the story just seemed so outlandish, so extraordinarily bizarre, that I began to wonder if it's "real" reality....or if it's some sort of media conspiracy to make us all feel like we're screwed up. OR, THAT WE ARE ONLY A LITTLE BIT SCREWED UP......so we're really okay.

Any takers? What do you guys think, ATS?

the show hoarders came to a town about 5 miles from here..I think it was real because the lady had been on the news off and on even before the show started.

She hoarded animals and the animals were sick and dieing..so I think in this case it was real. She was a nasty mean old lady with chickens and goats in a trailer.

reply to post by Neopan100


It's a combo of both.
There are extreme stories out there.
I've seen - personally - a case of animal hoarding that was so bad that the person was even hoarding the animal corpses. It was so disgusting - really big, seasoned, male cops were puking left and right. You would have never, ever guessed from looking at the person that they were sleeping on a mattress with the rotting corpse of a giant breed dog- the ooze had soaked through the mattress but this was an attractive, well dressed person. A very sick person who was sick for many years before it gained someone's attention that could go in to the house and access the situation.

BUT, I have another friend that did one of the wife swap shows. It really misrepresented the family - they went in and did tens of thousands of dollars of alterations to the home before they filmed...they misrepresented the nature of some of the relationships, filmed for weeks to get a shot of a bug... I know her - she's not nasty at all, but that's how the show wanted to represent her. They paid her well to let them do it too.

Hoarding is VERY real. I hate to throw my mom under a bus like this to strangers but shes definitely a hoarding case.It's not that bad now because I clean up every so often but I've witnessed what it can be.
I haven't seen the other show but I don't doubt there are some of those people out there.
I could imagine there's plenty of padded reality shows but I will verify hoarders IS NOT fake in any way. I bet you know someone in your life...maybe you don't know about their issue. There are closet cases that contain it to one room so that people don't see. Either way its really common. I just read a story recently about a man crushed to death when boating magazines he had in the attic came through the ceiling. This was not a ''healthy'' sized collection.

Total conspiracy here.

I know there are some severe cases out there....I just have to wonder about the "national media exposure" thing.

A couple of years ago, while I was sick and so was my husband, just out of bordeom weI watched the Jerry Springer show for the first time, and it was so outrageously poorly "acted" and so "unreal" seeming, that I actually called the 800 number (that they offer before commercials)....and I asked "what do you guys pay?" The operator told me she would "pass along the info." I just could not believe those people on there were being serious. Talk about bad acting!

I actually got a call back the next day from a "producer" (there are dozens of them) who wanted to know if I really wanted to come on the show. I made up some crap fiction story about my best friend and my husband fooling around. They wanted to know if I had kids.....and would they want to come on....and would I give them the kids' phone numbers....etc.

I said again, "What does it pay?"

They said: "Well, we will fly you out here, pay for your room, and the females will get a free makeover, and the guys will get a carton of cigarettes."

I let my kids and best friend know I had called, and then...when they got the call from the JS show, they thought it was freaking hilarious....we had a good laugh.

And, believe it or not, another "producer" called me several days later and said "So, can you be here Wednesday?"

It was quite enlightening.

My mom has that HOARDING problem. She just "HAS TO HAVE a dozen of everything ALL PILED UP to the dam ceiling".........been this way most of my life.
As a child it was 'my job' to organize and clean things up....and I got out of that crap hole shortly after I turned 16.

To this day where she lives is piled to the ceiling with tons of crap. She spends her days unboxing and reboxing 'things'.....this is her life. If an area gets kinda cleaned up she goes to thrift stores and buys MORE crap to fill up the cleaned up area....... She likes to tell people it all MY fault for not being willing to help out my poor mom in getting organized.........she ALWAYS blames other people for any problem in her life. She has MANY mental problems and this hoarding issue is just one of them.........in my YEARS of trying to 'understand' & 'figure out' my mother I am practically a psychologist lolz........

I have watched this HOARDERS show on TV and just shake my head in wonder.....I do believe its true. I do think that people can go as many different kinds of crazy as you can think up in this world. Its s stone cold FACT that folkd hoard boxes of crap, piles of plastic junk, and even poor helpless little creatures in trying to fill up the 'void' they feel within themselves............its a shame.
We NEED more hospitalization full time housing for people like this.......they should NOT be left to do as they please on there own...........but people do NOT want to pay the extra taxes it takes to care for such folks. Selfish selfish world we are living in, and it NEEDS to change......sadly, this hoarding problem is based in 'selfishness'......its a rampant problem thats getting worse.

reply to post by PutAQuarterIn


Thanks for sharing that. I do know of people who know people who live in those deplorable conditions. I have myself been "invited" to holiday parties at homes where, when I went in to use the facilities, I was forced to walk across a floor full of accumulated stuff to get to a bathroom that was absolutely disgusting. I was amazed that they would invite someone there. What??!!

I've been to other peoples' homes where there were roaches freely crawling, or so much clutter that there was literally nowhere to place a foot. I have often wondered how those people can stand it, and what's wrong with them.....

(And btw, at this hour of the night, after a few beers, your avatar is SO weirding me out!)

reply to post by wildtimes


I know a girl that was really bad into huffing and her family tried to get her on it. She ended up catching on so it didn't happen, thankfully she's clean now.

reply to post by theRiverGoddess


I agree with you. It was (as I recall, but may be mistaken) that it was Reagan who "closed" the state hospitals for the psychologically incapacitated and said "the communities should take care of them". And so they let those folks "free", and that is one of the reasons we have so many homeless and ill people on the streets now.

I have years of experience working with those people who should have remained hospitalized and monitored....which stories I'm willing to share, but it would take hours and hours to talk about it.

Anyway, thanks for responding. It really is disturbing that these things go on. I find it hard to fathom that in this country we don't "intervene" sooner to get these suffering people help and support.

First hand experience, the way many things play out in Intervention are very much real, and mostly downplayed to be considered watchable on cable tv. Been there, done that.

Hoarders.. I've too wondered if people really can get that screwed up in the head.. truth is, they can and do.

reply to post by wildtimes

Hi wildtimes remeber you from the tin foil hat competition. Loved your entry and your dog, Wall E. Turd. I have a female, mini, short hair, Black and Tan. She won't wear a hat though.

These stories are so completely out there.....does anyone else think that maybe, perhaps, these stories are invented?

Having been a serious drug addict most of my adult life I can tell you that the portrayal of the abuse and intervention are spot on. Maybe they embellish some, but the insanity is closely captured on the part of the drug and alcohol addict. I know. It happened to me. Cheers!

Originally posted by wildtimes
reply to post by theRiverGoddess

 

I agree with you. It was (as I recall, but may be mistaken) that it was Reagan who "closed" the state hospitals for the psychologically incapacitated and said "the communities should take care of them". And so they let those folks "free", and that is one of the reasons we have so many homeless and ill people on the streets now.

I have years of experience working with those people who should have remained hospitalized and monitored....which stories I'm willing to share, but it would take hours and hours to talk about it.

Anyway, thanks for responding. It really is disturbing that these things go on. I find it hard to fathom that in this country we don't "intervene" sooner to get these suffering people help and support.

Your hitting the nial on the head here!!
The 'homeless situation' in the USA started right after Reagan closed the state hospitals. Prior to that, it was not such an issue in America.........but once he put all those mentally ill folks out in the street, well...they STAYED in the streets......and people who can not take care of themselves have no other choice but to do the best they can in the streets.
Its a crying shame this country can not see fit to care for those who can not care for themselves......

If the hoarder folks were threatened with being put in a home, MAYBE they would see fit to try and better the situation they are in. The fact that the worst thing that can happen to them is 'someone' comes in and cleans up their house is ridiculous to say the least........if they can't control these 'urges' they need to be put somewhere that it is controlled for them.

reply to post by intrptr


Cheers to you back!! Wall E. Turd (original name Walter....now mostly just "Turd") was SO patient doing the photo shoot! We have another dog whose name is Claret....the puppy....but her "familiar" name is "Poops"....
Turd and Poops.

Anyway, back on topic.....

Having been a serious drug addict most of my adult life I can tell you that the portrayal of the abuse and intervention are spot on.

*puts on tin foil hat* Yeah, I worked as a clinical substance abuse counsellor for several years, and I know it is an awful situation. A certifiable labyrinth.

So... why do you think they are airing these programs, and why do you think families are willing to be exposed so openly?

Do they get paid to do so??
Is it their "15 minutes"?
Or is A&E actually attempting to bring these social issues to life and to encourage folks to seek help?
*removes hat*

Cheers!

EVERYTHING on TV is fake.

reply to post by Ghost375


Second line?
Care to expand on that asessment???
Please, don't just declare and ditch!

K, team, I gotta clock out now....but I hope that we can discuss this further....
thanks to all for chiming in.
--wt

I believe that most of the people on these shows just don't have enough storage space and aren't really that bizarre to begin with.

Originally posted by wildtimes
reply to post by Ghost375

 

Second line?

Care to expand on that asessment???
Please, don't just declare and ditch!

It's the policy I go by...There's not really any more details I could have added.
Everything on TV is fake.

reply to post by wildtimes

Turd and Poops...

So... why do you think they are airing these programs, and why do you think families are willing to be exposed so openly?

Well for me, it was reminding me where I came from. Once I got clean, I was still "fragile". I loved "Intervention" and another by Dr. Drew that dealt with recovering addicts. Those two helped me enormously by keeping me in touch with my addictive behaviors. Also, to unearth the reasons behind why the addict seeks escape thru abuse. That was also important. Maybe more than the drug abuse itself.
Families seemed to agree to the show because they were at their wits end, having exhausted all other options. The show's producers funded the treatment phase if the people agreed to go. Thats BIG. Nowadays, unless you are insured, treatment is a high cost for most families who are financially devastated from years of fighting the disease.