My favorite TV Show! Not sure why?

[achab1984]

I am not sure why but I just love to watch the Hoarding Buried Alive shows on TLC. I grew up in a hoarding house and I am no were close to that. I freak out if something is on the counter or table in my house. I no longer live with my parents have not for 11 years now. Now it is even more worst then it was when I left there. What I am wondering is why do I like to watch it so much? And I don't know what to do to help my mom out to get better?

Has anyone ever had a hoarder in there life? What did you do to help them?

I would love to hear what you all have to say and think.   

[kaoskat]

We watch it on occasion. Not really a favorite though.

[Katika]

I have no real advice on helping loved ones that hoard, but I can tell you that I used to "fantasize" (I guess that's the right word?) about intentionally filling my house up with too much stuff to try to get on Clean House and let their crew make my house amazing for me, lol.  I figured that it would be easy to let go of things that I brought in just for that purpose, but then figured they'd go after making me get rid of my gnomes and my Ponies and neither of those were options.  Off course... if they wanted to design an entire room off of MLP... that'd save me needing to do it myself

[Saja]

My dad is a hoarder but not to the extreme of people on those shows. Mostly dvds and magazines he has 2 and 3 or a lot of them, and cant be bothered finding them so buys another. He also keeps stuff just incase, and when people offer him anything, all there junk, he keeps it, incase he needs it some day, lol. As for the show, Some of the times I watch, but are put off when they find dead cats etc in peoples houses, that's just too much.

[kiwimlp]

I like watching Hoarders too.  It amazes me how some people live!  I would go insane surrounded by so much clutter

[hathorcat]

I am dangerous on TLC; ever since the channel launched in the UK I keep finding these shows to watch; Hoarders, Extreme Couponing, Storage Wars, Mob Wives [I LOVE THIS SHOW]. Yes, people, I am happy to admit I am that person to watch trash TV.

As a collector and gatherer of "just in case I need it" things, I will admit to being a teeny tiny teeny tiny bit of a hoarder myself sometimes. But a bi-annual "bin" day usually cures it and empties the place. As to advice for people who suffer from it to any kind of serious degree, I believe it is a psychological thing most of the time and therefore there is a reason they do it. I don't often believe in the whole, turn up and empty the place angle of it. Most people who get into that situation for a reason and I think getting to the bottom of the why is a better place to start than clearing it out...and then watching it happen all over again.

[Khema]

I love that show too! I think it's fascinating how a trauma drives them to fill their house with meaningless stuff, and watching the process to move through it. It also motivates me to get some housework done.

[sweetlittlejenny]

I love those shows too! My husband on the other hand doesn't really care for them.
My Granny was a pack rat I'd call her. She kept many things she didn't really need, still does to a point. That trickled down to my mom I think and she would keep things she didn't really need for the whole 'in case' situation. If someone was giving stuff away or throwing 'good' stuff out my mom collected it. It got to the point where a room in my childhood home was full and you couldn't really open the door. But it was just one room, not the whole house luckily.

I guess I do the same thing but on a more practical level. I keep baby things cause we may have another baby, old home decor cause I may redecorate some day. (I do that pretty often actually)

I learned that if I'm going to have a living situation I like, that is pleasant, that I have to let go of some of the less important stuff. If I keep everything that is remotely sentimental, like my mother tends to do, I'll be overrun and ultimately unhappy.

One of the plus sides to being a military family is that very few years we move and I get to go through the whole house and purge the unessassary!

[melodys_angel]

Im not a fan of those kinds of shows (the people behind things often make things look worse to but those people in a negative light), but ive caught bits and pieces from time to time.

I think maybe you might be on a sympathetic level without realizing it? I could be wrong but that's what it sounds like to me^^

As far as I go, im not a hoarder but do go through cleaning phases where my 'must be pristine' thing kicks in.  Usually when its nice out and theres a steady cool breeze.

[achab1984]

It was nice reading what you all have to say about it This topic is very interesting for me along with minimalist.

[Hervoyel]

I haven't watched that one, but I do enjoy HGTV's Consumed, which I gather is a less extreme version of the same thing (I've heard the families on that show described as "worse than Clean Sweep, better than Hoarders).

There was a hoarder house in my last neighbourhood - it was wild to walk by it and see the enormous quantity of stuff in their garage and garden and piled up near their living room window.

[achab1984]

I haven't watched that one, but I do enjoy HGTV's Consumed, which I gather is a less extreme version of the same thing (I've heard the families on that show described as "worse than Clean Sweep, better than Hoarders).

There was a hoarder house in my last neighbourhood - it was wild to walk by it and see the enormous quantity of stuff in their garage and garden and piled up near their living room window.

I have never heard of them other ones. I also have a neighbor at the end of my road that is the same way. Its just horrible to see it all!

[Beldarna]

TLC is dangerous! I'm allover their shows on Netflix. I've never stuck in the hoarding shows but Say yes to the Dress is my favorite thing to watch when I come home from work. Extreme Couponing is insane!

[achab1984]

I have watched some of them Extreme Couponing and cant get over how much some of them people get. They have to add onto there house to store it. That is just crazy! The money they save from the items went into building that room its all in.....LOL

[Unicorn_pops]

My grandma is a big hoarder! My mom thinks it's because she lived in the depression where they never had anything. My mom and aunts go in every couple weeks and "throw stuff out or give away" It's not so bad anymore because my grandma doesn't get out much now due to health issues.
I have to remind my mom about hoarding clothes. She seriously has 4 big closets Full and I keep making her clean them out. She'll find stuff from the 80s in there. But at least it's just limited to clothes with my mom. But yeah my grandma another story.  It's kinda sad, like they need lots of items around them.