Safeguarding Adults Week | Day Five
Day Five
Why I Hoard
I first appeared on a Documentary TV show on Channel 4 around nine years ago.
I saw the show advertised in the TV magazine asking for people to take part, so I called them.
They arrived two days later with a full film crew to interview me and look around. I think they were rather shocked, claiming I was the worst case they had seen.
Filming went ahead over the next three months. I travelled to the midlands one day a week to a clinic and received various treatments, but once the filming stopped, the "after-care support" promise stopped too, and I was just dropped and left to it.
These shows claim to help people and offer resources that perhaps not everyone can access, but I would strongly advise anyone thinking of doing a programme, not to bother.
They promise everything, and you just get left to it. They pick up on things which they know will shock the viewers and don't help the person they are supposed to be supporting. It also increases the stigma attached to hoarding. As you can imagine, I received incredibly nasty comments after the show.
I think people don't understand the situation and believe the lie that we're just dirty, lazy people.
I feel now that it is high time people were more educated and given an understanding of what makes people hoard and how their minds work.
There is no quick fix. A lot of people seem to think if they get you a skip and get rid of all your items, the hoarding will stop. It doesn't work that way. In fact, in my experience, it can make the situation even worse and also make the person less likely to look for and accept help in the future.
Following such a bad experience as the Channel 4 show, I am beginning to feel more positive again now that I have the support from hoarding Peer Groups across Merseyside. I am also finally able to do what I set out to do, be there to try to help others in the same situation as me, and show them there is non-judgemental support out there for them.
Member of Hoarders Helping Hoarders (HHH)