Hoarding Shows Can Cure Your Clutter

Hoarding disorder is categorized as “the excessive acquisition of and inability to discard objects, resulting in debilitating clutter”. After watching current reality shows, you will loathe clutter and hopefully become a minimalist. The mountain of stuff that’s ruining these people’s lives leaves you wanting to empty your stuffed closets.

TLC’s hit reality show Buried Alive takes you inside the homes of hoarders and captures the drama that invariably ensues when specialists arrive to intervene in the unimaginable collecting of everything. Things piled on every surface. Stuff blocking doorways, piled up to ceilings, immobilizing entire rooms.

Hoarders is a documentary series that airs on A&E. The series depicts the real-life struggles and treatment of people who suffer from compulsive hoarding.

The frequent theme on hoarder reality shows is that the individual does not realize their lifestyle has spiraled out of control. Sometimes therapy is used with hoarding patients that can be applied to everyday disorganized homes. On shopping excursions the hoarder must practice walking away from items, even FREE items. If they protest, they must think about the item for 24 hours and then see how strongly they feel about it. What people usually find is that the feeling to acquire something is usually gone within minutes or hours. This is usually surprising because people typically believe that the urge to acquire an item will torture them forever.

Hoarders also practice getting rid of things, by prioritizing what they can throw out first. But even when the house is clear, maintaining tidiness a struggle. People need to continue to practice the skills they learned and catch their lapses as they happen.