People that do this are NASTY.

[airforewifenmom]

 I dont really think that but.....I watched a show on A E about hoarding. I think it is sooooo sad. I can not imagine feeling that overwhelmed and helpless. My dad has issues with it, just not to the full extent. Do any of you do it, or know anyone that hoards?

For you that dont know what it is, its when people keep EVERYTHING that comes into their house. Sometimes even garbage. It gets to the point they dont know what to do with it, and just give up.

[babie113]

i saw it too i feel sorry for them it must be horrible to have a mental illness like that

[MixedCooke]

My husband's parents have a touch of it but I think it goes with compulsive shopping and collecting.  part of it is because where they are from, everything is so expensive, so they collect and send things back there.

My hubby is a pack rat too and I am a minimalist, so it gets a bit difficult but I do what I have to, so my home is not cluttered.

[snoober_k]

yes my mom is a hoarder, pack rat, whatever. she doesnt keep things like garbage but she never gets rid of anything. we often have more than 1 or 2 of the same thing, either broken, or unused, that she wont let go. our house is cluttered and there is no surface in this house that doesnt have a ton of shit on it. and if i clean it or organize it she panics. 

[hautemama83]

I'm sorry but I do think its nasty. From what I have seen on that show, everything is just so unsanitary. Now I am by no means a total germ-a-phobe, or clean freak, but seriously there comes a point where you just have to stop, and throw shit away. I know someone who I wouldn't say is a hoarder exactly, but definitely a huge pack rat. Its just disgusting IMO

[MommynMonster]

Dhs mom and step dad are hoarders. Its so bad that they sleep in the living room because all 3 bedrooms are piled with junk as far back as 20 years ago. Dh went last year to clear their garage and found his baby clothes rotting in a pile of clothes 6 ft tall, along with animal skeletons (mostly rats).They have these nasty cats that they don't clean up after either. I refuse to take Kael over there.

[justgg]

I COLLECT THINGS.........BUT NOT TRASH!

I EITHER KEEP IT, USE IT, DONATE IT, OR SELL IT IN A YARD SALE BUT I DON'T HAVE A CLUTTER OF STUFF HOLDING ME BACK FROM LIVING NORMAL.

[AngelaVega]

Not me, but someone close to me. It really is a mental illness and it is very sad that they spend so much of their life preoccupied with this obsessive behavior. What's just as sad is how misunderstood it is and how people judge those with this illness or any mental illness. No one judges people with a documented physical ailment, but it's different for those whose problems are mental or emotional, and it shouldn't be. Mental illnesses are just as real and just as crippling as physical problems.

[MadameReeseCup]

My MIL is one, but not to a huge degree.  My son plays with all my husband's matchbox cars and little people from the 80s. 

It is strange when she gives us random stuff, like a Micky Mouse clock from the 70's. Or when I walk into her house in July and she she still has the Christmas Tree up. 

She put a bunch of crap out last summer and told us to take what we wanted and she was going to donate the rest,  She was so proud of herself for this, but the stuff she had out was old VHS tape, broken tequila bottles, , ..just crap.  Ugh, I just don't understand why she can't throw anything away...

[elly25]

  I don't think that it's nasty at all!It's a form of O.C.D.They can't control the feeling to hold on to things.My mother has an O.C.D that causes her to hoard things.Not throw things out sometimes.Most people that hoard are very intelligent people.Very strong minded.Seem to be very put together to people that they know out side of their home.

  I have watch t.v. shows on this too.Because of my mother.It made me better understand her and what she's going threw on her O.C.D.

[SammySJ99]

My hubby is a pack rat... Not anything near what's on that show though...  I asked him to go threw his stuff before he got deployed and he did, but he didnt throw much out... Only like a jacket and some old paperwork... 

He likes to take menus from restaurants hes been to (the paper kind not the big think kind), he had some one shoes he hadnt worn in 10 years, some clothing that was never worn or really out of date... 

Needless to say after he got deployed I took about 7 bags of stuff to the trash... I would have just sold most of it had I been in the states, but I was in Germany and I didnt live on base...  My hubbys mom isnt like that but she said her mom is a pack rat too...