In 2009 thanks to A&E TV Channel we learned the clinical term for packrat. These people are Hoarders and the show of the same name pulls back the curtain on all the ugliness, danger and drama that goes with having a hoarding disorder. Particularly poignant is the effect the disorder has on the hoarder’s family, whether they just drop by from time to time, or have to endure living in the same house. For Season 9, Hoarders added a few aptly named “Overload” segments which dive even deeper with additional footage. After a few of these episodes aired this season, it’s clear that there are five life lessons to be learned from Hoarders Overload
5. Addiction (In Whatever Form) Is a Selfish Disease
We’re all familiar with the stories of drug addicts or alcoholics who put their addiction ahead of their families and many hoarders are no different. In the first episode of Hoarder’s Overload, there is Laura, who makes her husband sleep in the filthy garage. If given the choice of their “stuff” vs. their marriage partner and children, they will usually choose the ‘stuff” every time without an intervention. Even then the chances are dicey that they will choose life and loved ones.
4. Professional Organizing Is a Hard Job
Before meeting Dorothy Breininger, the idea of a career as a professional organizer might have seemed like a cushy job. After all, how hard is it to help someone organize their closet? Then we see Dorothy dripping in sweat, red-faced from heat, trying to pry a moldy stuffed animal from an angry women who has plopped herself in a lawn chair. You can actually see Dorothy wince every time the woman says “Keep!” On the Overload episodes, we see more of the human side of the staff who work so diligently trying to help.
3. Hanging on to Someone’s Stuff Won’t Bring Them Back
Everyone grieves for the loss of a loved one at some time in their life, it’s how you handle it that counts. On Hoarders Overload, we see a woman who is addicted to shopping and hoarding to honor the memory of her dead mother. Dead parent issues run deep on Hoarders, and many of the subjects accumulate and hang on to stuff as a replacement for the lost love one. It’s a poor substitute and it never truly satisfies, so the person stays stuck in their grief.
2. Don’t Expect Gratitude for Your Efforts
One thing we see on Hoarders Overload is that the subjects are just as ungrateful, if not more so, in the edited out footage they show. On very few occasions does the hoarder seem to appreciate all that is being done for them. They are more likely to complain and kvetch all the way. Friends, family, everyone gets the hostile treatment.
1. Expiration Dates are There for a Reason
One look at the pantry or fridge of a food hoarder and that explains it all. More is not better when it comes to nasty, inedible food. Yes, it defies logic that some of these hoarders are still alive, but its best not to take chances. The Hoarders Overload episodes with trash and food hoarder can be quite difficult to stomach.
Honorable Mention
Roaches Infest Dirty Homes, So Keep it Clean!: Yeah, if you keep your home clean you may run into a roach or two, or if you live in the South, Palmetto bugs may pay a visit now and then but to really get an infestation going, there needs to be a mess for them to breed in. Also, roach dust does exacerbate allergies and asthma.
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