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| 'It looks like you're a lazy idiot': hoarders welcome medical classification | 'It looks like you're a lazy idiot': hoarders welcome medical classification |
| (4 months later) | |
| David Woods was a university student when he formed an insatiable appetite to find out more. He bought books – lots of them. Thirty years on, the 50-year-old council worker is surrounded on all sides by his ever-growing collection: 15,000 books and DVDs fill his small bungalow on the outskirts of Edinburgh. “It’s quite tricky to let go of some stuff,” he admits. | David Woods was a university student when he formed an insatiable appetite to find out more. He bought books – lots of them. Thirty years on, the 50-year-old council worker is surrounded on all sides by his ever-growing collection: 15,000 books and DVDs fill his small bungalow on the outskirts of Edinburgh. “It’s quite tricky to let go of some stuff,” he admits. |
| Woods is a hoarder, as is his housemate Lynda. They’re midway through an anxiety-ridden declutter, which has already resulted in one transit van full of “stuff” being taken away, with about six more left to fill. By the end, they hope, there may even be room to sit down. | Woods is a hoarder, as is his housemate Lynda. They’re midway through an anxiety-ridden declutter, which has already resulted in one transit van full of “stuff” being taken away, with about six more left to fill. By the end, they hope, there may even be room to sit down. |
| “If I was living in a big, posh house and had this amount of books on the shelves, they would call it a library,” he said. “Nobody would go ‘Oh, Lord Toffington is a hoarder!’ But because I’m living in a bungalow and I’m the underclass, I’m a hoarder.” | “If I was living in a big, posh house and had this amount of books on the shelves, they would call it a library,” he said. “Nobody would go ‘Oh, Lord Toffington is a hoarder!’ But because I’m living in a bungalow and I’m the underclass, I’m a hoarder.” |
| The World Health Organisation this week classified hoarding as a medical disorder, in a move described by hoarders and psychiatrists as “extremely significant”. According to the WHO, the disorder is characterised by an “accumulation of possessions due to excessive acquisition of – or difficulty discarding – possessions, regardless of their actual value”. | The World Health Organisation this week classified hoarding as a medical disorder, in a move described by hoarders and psychiatrists as “extremely significant”. According to the WHO, the disorder is characterised by an “accumulation of possessions due to excessive acquisition of – or difficulty discarding – possessions, regardless of their actual value”. |
| Do you have a problem with stuff? How to rethink hoarding disorder | |
| An estimated 5% of the UK population have hoarding disorder but experts believe the true figure is higher. The NHS recognised the condition five years ago yet it remains little understood. Campaigners say hoarders have been mischaracterised by television programmes such as Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners and The Hoarder Next Door, which they say falsely portray them as cheerfully living in grubby homes surrounded by junk. | An estimated 5% of the UK population have hoarding disorder but experts believe the true figure is higher. The NHS recognised the condition five years ago yet it remains little understood. Campaigners say hoarders have been mischaracterised by television programmes such as Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners and The Hoarder Next Door, which they say falsely portray them as cheerfully living in grubby homes surrounded by junk. |
| The issue is far more complex: hoarding is often linked to other serious mental health issues, such as childhood trauma or clinical depression. Not all hoarders live in unhygienic homes, nor are they all fiercely opposed to letting go of possessions. | The issue is far more complex: hoarding is often linked to other serious mental health issues, such as childhood trauma or clinical depression. Not all hoarders live in unhygienic homes, nor are they all fiercely opposed to letting go of possessions. |
| “The television programmes add to the shame and embarrassment because if you say you have hoarding issues people immediately relate that to the TV and think they’re dirty. They call it entertainment but it’s just reinforcing stereotypes,” said Linda Fay, the founder of the hoarding support company Life-Pod. | “The television programmes add to the shame and embarrassment because if you say you have hoarding issues people immediately relate that to the TV and think they’re dirty. They call it entertainment but it’s just reinforcing stereotypes,” said Linda Fay, the founder of the hoarding support company Life-Pod. |
| Woods said he did not realise he had a problem until a mental health support worker visited his home three years ago. “I just thought it was normal to buy a lot of books you don’t necessarily read.” | Woods said he did not realise he had a problem until a mental health support worker visited his home three years ago. “I just thought it was normal to buy a lot of books you don’t necessarily read.” |
| Inside the life of a hoarder: trauma, loneliness, and the secret power of Things | Giovanna Walker | |
| His eclectic collection includes tomes on microbiology, magic and tarot cards, but his “latest splurge” has been on books about inequality and politics. It stems from “a feeling of not knowing enough”, he said. “I panic and go, ‘Oh my God! I need to understand.’” | His eclectic collection includes tomes on microbiology, magic and tarot cards, but his “latest splurge” has been on books about inequality and politics. It stems from “a feeling of not knowing enough”, he said. “I panic and go, ‘Oh my God! I need to understand.’” |
| Woods has received help from Life-Pod for three years. It takes time and patience, he says, but “there is hope to deal with it”. Treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy are often prescribed by the NHS but rarely work, campaigners say, while forcing someone to simply clear out their possessions – as espoused by some local authorities and private landlords – often has disastrous consequences. Fay said she has known hoarders to kill themselves after being forced to get rid of their belongings. | Woods has received help from Life-Pod for three years. It takes time and patience, he says, but “there is hope to deal with it”. Treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy are often prescribed by the NHS but rarely work, campaigners say, while forcing someone to simply clear out their possessions – as espoused by some local authorities and private landlords – often has disastrous consequences. Fay said she has known hoarders to kill themselves after being forced to get rid of their belongings. |
| The embarrassment often felt by hoarders means many suffer in silence, according to Jo Cooke, a director of Hoarding Disorders UK. Just this week, Cooke said, police had to force entry to an elderly man’s house after neighbours found him collapsed in his garden. When officers arrived, they found a house filled to the ceiling with tools. He had five woodchippers, countless lathes, and a cement-mixer in his dining room alone. | The embarrassment often felt by hoarders means many suffer in silence, according to Jo Cooke, a director of Hoarding Disorders UK. Just this week, Cooke said, police had to force entry to an elderly man’s house after neighbours found him collapsed in his garden. When officers arrived, they found a house filled to the ceiling with tools. He had five woodchippers, countless lathes, and a cement-mixer in his dining room alone. |
| My dad has chronic depression and has begun to hoard junk | |
| A former engineer, the man lived alone in the house where he was born. He had never sought help for hoarding. “We don’t know how long he had been living like that,” said Cooke. “His house was a toy room for a grown-up. When I spoke to him about what he could keep and what he could lose, recognising he would have anxiety, he said: ‘I want all my tools – everything else can go.’” | A former engineer, the man lived alone in the house where he was born. He had never sought help for hoarding. “We don’t know how long he had been living like that,” said Cooke. “His house was a toy room for a grown-up. When I spoke to him about what he could keep and what he could lose, recognising he would have anxiety, he said: ‘I want all my tools – everything else can go.’” |
| The WHO classification was a “watershed moment” for hoarding disorder, said Paul Bertuello, a 59-year-old antiques buyer who lives with a blind three-legged cat named Minkyand a lifetime’s worth of valuables in a small cottage near Bath. | The WHO classification was a “watershed moment” for hoarding disorder, said Paul Bertuello, a 59-year-old antiques buyer who lives with a blind three-legged cat named Minkyand a lifetime’s worth of valuables in a small cottage near Bath. |
| Sitting on the corner of his bed, Bertuello stares at a 1.5-metre tower of what, he says, can “only be described as rubbish”. His home is named Boot Cottage as everything he owns and wears was bought at a car boot sale. | Sitting on the corner of his bed, Bertuello stares at a 1.5-metre tower of what, he says, can “only be described as rubbish”. His home is named Boot Cottage as everything he owns and wears was bought at a car boot sale. |
| How can we help people who can't stop hoarding? | |
| His past employment as an antiques buyer has morphed into an almost uncontrollable desire to track down historical objects at bargain prices. Bertuello wears a 2,000-year-old Roman ring, and a silver piece of eight dangles from his left ear. Somewhere in his bedroom is a 200-year-old solid silver catheter and a pair of second world war fighter goggles. | His past employment as an antiques buyer has morphed into an almost uncontrollable desire to track down historical objects at bargain prices. Bertuello wears a 2,000-year-old Roman ring, and a silver piece of eight dangles from his left ear. Somewhere in his bedroom is a 200-year-old solid silver catheter and a pair of second world war fighter goggles. |
| While his collection might sound eccentric, Bertuello says his hoarding is a byproduct of clinical depression, which he has had since his twenties. | While his collection might sound eccentric, Bertuello says his hoarding is a byproduct of clinical depression, which he has had since his twenties. |
| He said he hoped the WHO decision would lead to a greater public understanding of the condition: “It’s often quite a secret illness. It’s very, very difficult for people to empathise with you because it looks very silly. | He said he hoped the WHO decision would lead to a greater public understanding of the condition: “It’s often quite a secret illness. It’s very, very difficult for people to empathise with you because it looks very silly. |
| “It looks like you’re a lazy idiot and ‘get off your backside’ but I’ve suffered depression all of my life. I say to people: ‘I would love to invite you round for coffee but I’m afraid I can’t – you couldn’t get through my front room.’” | “It looks like you’re a lazy idiot and ‘get off your backside’ but I’ve suffered depression all of my life. I say to people: ‘I would love to invite you round for coffee but I’m afraid I can’t – you couldn’t get through my front room.’” |
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