Does Overwhelming the Hoarder Help At All?

Can overwhelming a hoarder help them see that they have too many things?

When we got to the hoarder house on Saturday, we were in disbelief at all the new items the lady had bought since we were there last week. Those stairs that took us so long to clean off, were full again. Not quite as bad, but there was stuff almost all the way down to the turn. My mom flipped out.

Why does everything have to go on the stairs?

We worked all day Saturday and Sunday. No bathroom or refrigerator or sink that could be used when we needed it. Yes, there is so much illness it’s traumatic watching it unfold before your eyes.

I was successful in my attempt to clean away five feet of things all the way around the furnace and a path to the furnace 2′ wide but I was beyond unsuccessful in helping her to see that there’s a problem.

She needs some hoarder help!

Here’s one example out of many that we experienced. About an hour before leaving at the end of the long weekend, we pulled out a box of votive candles. My mom asked her if she wanted to keep them and after some hesitation, she said yes. My mom was about to put them in a box and I said, “No, that is a fire hazard in this house.”

She was completely shocked and horrified that I said that. She said she never lit them when she had a dog because that was a fire hazard. I explained to her that she has so many papers in the house that it would be very dangerous for her to light a candle in there. So she hesitantly let them go.

So does it help at all?

Back to the topic of whether overwhelming the hoarder helps. When I was hauling all that stuff out, I just kept thinking that she’s not seeing it at all. She seems to have no understanding that there’s too many things in her home. So, I just kept hauling stuff out all day so she could see how much she has. I filled up the tarp that we put under the shade tent. Her and my mom were buried three feet deep in clutter and I was waiting for them to yell Mercy. They never did so I just kept hauling it outside.

My mom did that to me at the very beginning of my de-hoarding journey. She would come over and we would sit in the backyard and go through bucket after bucket. After about the third time of hauling it around and looking at it over and over, it started to get easier. It finally sunk in that I didn’t need that stuff and that’s the point I’m hoping to get to with her.

It might not work in this case because I’m the one hauling the stuff around, not her. She’s not feeling the pain but I’m definitely ready to get rid of all of it. Haha! I really think it’s a process that works but it takes time. That is something that’s in short supply already! Not to mention that my mom can’t take much more of dealing with her either. It’s really rough.