I don't know if there's any conspiracy here, but I can tell you I love the show Hoarders, it makes me feel better about my house...which is a little untidy, but never anything that is like what you see on those shows. Lol. However, I can tell you I have seen homes like that. Quite a few times. And Beleive it or not I have cleaned homes like that!!! I used to be a maid for a service.

I watch Hoarders every week. I just am amazed by it I guess. I can understand some clutter but filth, bugs and dead animals I just am dumbfounded. Many actually have cleanup teams come in wearing masks and in some cases biohazard equipment.

And during the interviews most are calm to an almost hypnotic state. I always have to tidy or clean something when that show is on.

Originally posted by PutAQuarterIn
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.

I'll throw my mom under the bus right along with you so you're not alone in familial betrayal. My mom is a bit of a hoarder, too. Mostly food and disturbing amounts of it. There's so much that she frequently can't find what has spoiled....I helped her straighten it all out for a move. It took her less than a year to go to overflowing again. I, too, have tried to help her out when I've spotted encroaching "issues". Know how tough it is. It's hard to see really as the person's child. From the hoarding shows that I've seen, they really don't do nearly enough to actually assist in a meaningful way. It's mostly clean up what is going on but guaranteed it gets back to bad again pretty quick. I firmly believe that it's a deep seeded psychological issue.

Ironically enough, I'm OCD but then again, maybe that makes sense, eh?

Ask ANY paramedic or ANYONE who deals with folks in their homes.. its real, it happens, and its horrible.

I just retired from the PA's office and within victims advocacy sometimes you have to go to their home, speak with them, go through the court process, help them see you as a person in their corner and not some legal eagle jerk.. and these days you have to pick many up in your personal vehicle and bring them to court. Ive been in some homes that I wanted to go to the CDC and get tested.. or at the very least decontaminated. Its kinda hard to sit there, provide information and speak with them on deep personal and hurtful subjects while fighting gagging or the urge to run out... and I was an RN in an ER for a decade.. so the stomach is strong. Given the nature of my job, I can see how dysfunction in the family, tragedy, stress, depression can really effect folks and prompt hoarding for a plethora of reasons. Blocking the outside world, foring a safe womb around them of junk, saving everything as if they want to stop time, etc. It's the filth and trash hoarders that really are disturbing.
About 3 yrs ago I had the misfortune of working with a sexual assault victim. WHen you see this with your own eyes.... its a weird feeling.. like a person drowning or burning alive and you cant stop it.. but youre forced to watch it. Its just a bad feeling. Sexual assault.. thats a nice clean sterile word for some heinous crap this woman went through. Her home was the worst Id ever seen.. anywhere. It went as far as feminine hygiene products stacked up around the side table like she has been saving them in an orderly way... ANYTHING that went along with bodily function maintenance materials ( kwim.. not trying to get too gross here) was kept.. along with all trash and anything else she could order due to her not leaving the house. She would save jars of urine and test them over and over for pregnancy, then save the tests ( negative) and somehow that made her feel better.SHe knew that she couldnt still have a chance of pregnancy, but she was compelled to do it to relieve the anxiety I guess.The assault was almost 2 years previously when I got involve in it.. and she had been doing it for that long. She didnt take the trash out because that would have meant leaving the house. She was VERY embarrassed and apologetic... its not like she thought it was okay or was in denial concerning the filth. She knew something was wrong, but couldnt leave to get help and was too embarssed to seek help in the first place. I think it gets so bad that they just lose hope and it becomes a vicious cycle.
These shows that offer inhouse counseling and help are really doing wonderful things IMO.. I hope the show has a LONG life if the byproduct of exploiting human suffering for ratings means certain folks get some needed assistance they wouldnt otherwise get.

WHen you watch this show.. just really realize you are getting a small glimpse into someone's own private hell.