Hoarders: A TV Review

Hoarding is a mental health problem that may or may not be related to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). People who have a serious problem with hoarding accumulate such large quantities of items that it impairs their quality of life in their home. Hoarders accumulate insane amounts of stuff, unable to throw any of it away. It eventually overtakes their homes and their lives.

Hoarders, a television show that airs on A&E, sheds light on some severe cases of hoarding, bringing much-needed awareness to this issue.The hoarders featured on the show live in shocking conditions. The average viewer is left in disbelief seeing the reality of this disease and its' impact on a person's environment.

They all have homes that are in desperate need of cleaning. Their things have accumulated so much that there's no way their house is safe to live in. Dust, mice, mold and lice hide far under all their belongings; and since they can't get to them, they can't be eliminated.

Many houses are in severe disrepair underneath all their stuff. Beams are breaking, there's holes in their floors, flooring is ruined and bathrooms aren't working.

Piles upon piles of things are stacked or thrown everywhere, leaving a tiny trail for them to walk through. Beds are covered in stuff - forcing families out of their bedrooms.

When the team from Hoarders come in, these people are in dire situations. In some cases, their house is literally falling apart. Some face jail time or eviction for the state of their homes and land. Others are at risk of losing their homes. In some cases, families are at risk of being torn apart and the hoarder has received their final ultimatum. They have been unable to overcome their disorder on their own, and need outside intervention in order to make progress.

That's where the show starts. The team that comes in has a joint focus: to help clean up the property in order to solve the immediate crisis, and to help the hoarder realize they have a problem and start to work on it.

The team that comes in is a jumble of professionals: a large cleanup crew specializing in hoarding, professional organizers and mental health professionals that specialize in hoarding.

Throughout the show, family members share their opinions and experiences with the hoarder. These family stories document exactly how much this illness effects not just the hoarder, but everyone around them. Children, spouses and loved ones feel like the hoarder is choosing 'things' over them - which, sadly, is sometimes true. The emotional toll of hoarding on the family is almost as bad as the horrid living conditions.

Hoarders is hard to stomach at first. You wonder how in the world a home could get that bad. How someone could let their child live in those conditions. What could possibly happen that you couldn't give up an empty box. But throughout the show, you begin to see the problems, the thought processes and the background. While it's impossible to relate, you begin to understand the person and their illness. Disgust turns to disbelief, and you truly want them to clean up and get well.

Some of the shows' hoarders do start making progress. Some, however, do not. Like every mental illness, it takes more than a few days to really make progress on it. Most of the time, the cleanup crew leaves the house in good conditions that at least get them out of their crisis.

Hoarders provides the people with counseling and support services after they leave, hoping to set them up for success. At the end of the show, you get updates on the current conditions of the people they help. Many are dedicated to improving their lives to avoid another crisis in the future, and at least maintain the cleaning and attend therapy. Others immediately go back to their hoarding, inevitably starting on the road to another crisis.

Hoarders is a show that really helps people, and spreads awareness about a mental disorder that is widely misunderstood. It avoids ridiculing the hoarders, focusing more on progress than on dismal starting conditions.

See more on the show Hoarders (including past episodes, recaps and show information) on A&E's site.
For more on hoarding, visit the Mayo Clinic.