Celebrity Hoarding: A New Trend?

Hoarding has become a popular topic of the media lately, and television cameras have gone inside homes to give us a view of this strange compulsion. Recently Niecy Nash of CBS's The Insider visited the home of Lindsay Lohan who appears to suffer with this strange problem.

What is Compulsive Hoarding?

MayoClinic.com describes Hoarding as, "the excessive collection of items, along with the inability to discard them." And "Hoarding, also called compulsive hoarding and compulsive hoarding syndrome, can be a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). But many people who hoard don't have other OCD-related symptoms, and researchers are working to better understand hoarding as a distinct mental health problem".

Hoarding usually creates cramped living spaces that become almost suffocating, with rooms filled with stuff, often to capacity, linked together only by narrow pathways through all the accumulated clutter. The most famous case of compulsive hoarding was the eccentric Collyer Brothers who lived in New York's upscale Fifth Avenue district in the Twentieth Century. Wikimedia tells us the brothers, "obsessively collected newspapers, books, furniture, musical instruments, and many other items, with booby traps set up in corridors and doorways to protect against intruders."

The challenge of treating a hoarder is worsened by the fact that hoarders often don't see their situation as a problem. They continue to gather and save items, as their possessions take over their homes, garages and lives. Unlike the rest of us, hoarders are unable to purge items they own to make way for newer possessions. They have a hard time letting go of anything, including newspapers, magazines, junk mail and items void of value such as milk cartons, boxes and other trash.

Lohan's Cluttered Home: Hoarding or Simply Disorganized?

The Insider cameras showed the extreme clutter in Lohan's home, a large portion that consisted of clothes and shoes. One bedroom had become a giant shoe closet filled with hundreds of shoe boxes. Another contained boxes of clothing, many items spilling to the floor, and racks and racks of dresses. Lohan told Niecy that when her sister visits she doesn't even bring a suitcase, but instead just picks from her stash. In other rooms, framed pictures and other artwork, never hung, were lined up across the floor, and tables were covered by paperwork, trash and other items. The clutter extended out to her balcony. Undoubtedly the difference between a celebrity hoarder and an everyday hoarder is the caliber of their clutter as Lindsay's was obvious designer quality!

Experts on hoarding feel many hoarders keep items that hold personal significance for them; memories of happier times. With all the turmoil in Lindsay's life, the theory is that her clutter mirrors her chaotic life. Could it also be a sign of hoarding, the clutter holding significance for her as the Lindsay she once was and yearns to be again?

Can Hoarding be Treated?

Professional celebrity organizer, Linda Coopersmith, took all of Lohan's expensive clutter and organized it into an amazing personal space. Donny Osmond, who was a guest host of the Insider show, asked Niecy whether Lindsay would be able to keep the space in it's organized state if she truly has a hoarding problem. Niecy reported that Lohan seemed uneasy about maintaining the organization. (See Show Hype's before and after videos of Lohan's home.)

The Mayo Clinic site warns that hoarding is often difficult to treat, especially since it is not usually diagnosed until middle age, when habits have spiraled out of control. They recommend speaking to a mental health provider as soon as symptoms are suspected.

Niecy Nash wasn't convinced that Lohan is a hoarder, but felt she was simply Disorganized (Capital D!). But with the lack of privacy and all the public scrutiny over many embarrassing events in her life, could those exposés have thrown her over the edge into a dark abyss of hoarding clutterdom and an obsessive-compulsive disorder? If so, we will more than likely see more celebrities like Lindsay Lohan "outed" for this disorder. I hope Lindsay works from the inside out, using the help she got from The Insider with organizng her personal life, to kick-start revamping her public mess.

Resources:

TheInsider.com
Mayoclinic.com
Wikipedia "Collyer Brothers"
ShowHype.com