Why Hoarding is BAD for you and your loved ones:
· Unsanitary conditions that pose a risk to health
· An inability to perform daily tasks, such as bathing or cooking
· Poor work performance
· Loneliness and social isolation
· A fire hazard
· Buildings become unsafe from the buckling of the weight
· Danger of getting buried alive
· Rodent and insect infestation
· Depression
All of these things can also spill out onto the hoarder’s family as well. In an extreme hoarding case in Las Cruces, New Mexico last May, a woman called 911 after falling in her home. Crews found her and over 300 rats inside the home. The rats had been seen by neighbors several times and there was even a report of finding a giant rat in the engine of a car down the street from the hoarder’s home.
Children living in these conditions are always at risk for health and mental problems. Sadly more and more children have been taken out of homes where extreme hoarding is occurring and they are being placed in foster homes just because their parents can’t clean up. There are now support groups for children of hoarders online like “Children of Hoarders: Finally talking about the family secret.” Children of hoarders can reach out and get help with support groups in person and online.