BoingBoing reader Daniel Geduld says,
I recently watched a
BBCdocumentary on compulsive hoarders.
Far from normal collectors, compulsive hoarders fill their homes with almost anything. Some have very specific obsessions, for example a man in the UK who filled his house with bicycle parts. Most are men and most are over 50. It is a severe form of obsessive-compulsive disorder.Although that documentary is not available online, I did find this eight-minute trailer for an upcoming documentary about a woman with this disorder. A woman's mother is an obsessive collector of other peoples' refuse and has filled her house with junk to the point that she can no longer sleep inside.
The producers of this documentary claim that there are a million compulsive hoarders in the U.S. alone. How many of your neighbors, the ones who always seem to have junk on their lawns, are compulsive hoarders? Unfortunately, in many cases, they are not diagnosed until their bodies have been found inside their hoarde.
One of the most famous cases of compulsive hoarding was the two Collyer Brothers who were discovered dead in their apartment when one brother was buried by junk, killing him. The other brother at that point needed constant care and so died of dehydration and malnutrition.
Here is a wikipedia article about the Collyers: Link.
The trailer referenced is for a film titled "My Mother's Garden," here's the official website. (screengrabs above).
Reader comment: Jed Silverman says,
ChildrenOfHoarders.com has some videos, many stories, and most importantly info resources where children and relatives of hoarders can get help to help their loved ones.
