Don't knock 'hoarders'. Most of my eBay auction/offer tech bargains were from house estates of sadly deceased, where a relative is selling off their possessions, for a lot less than they were bought for, or worth.
One branded new unused 4G phone I bought on eBay about 5 years ago was a quarter of the price and came from someone who said their original owner "bought loads of things they never used or opened, often from the TV shopping channels". This phone was indeed purchased by them from Ideal World 2 originally.
Similarly, I had a deceased distant male relative where his daughter and son-in-law were clearing the house and found piles of brand new shirts, suits, shoes, clothes, all still in their packs unopened. He liked buying clothes he liked and thought may use in the future. Just in case and nice to have.
Some hoarders from the older generation also often have deep-rooted needs to insulate from earlier poverty or less than ideal experiences in their earlier years.
When I moved up to Nottingham in the later 2000s I took a job as a support worker in a role for people over 60. I had done community advocacy for people with physical disabilities/mental health issues for several years prior to that in Northamptonshire.
One of my service users was quite a dapper looking chap in his 70s. Well-presented and articulate. The well-presented stopped right there. His house was in the most unbelievable state of crammed to the filthy brim chaos I have ever seen. And that includes those clutter horror stories you see on Channel 4 etc.. Where to start? Well, getting through the front door of his house was the first issue as there was only just space for a man of my physical stature to get through it. The conundrum of it all was this plausible, pleasant elderly gentleman surrounded by rotting food in his kitchen full of overflowing bin bags of God knows what in a house full of old batteries, torches, cameras, clothing, empty boxes, full boxes, going up to the ceiling in every room. Have a cup of a tea, he said.. Err..I’ve just had one, thanks, Reg (he wasn’t called Reg really)…
The trouble with Reg and with I suspect a number of hoarders at his level of ‘clutteritis’ is they see the problem, literally, want help, but then cannot accept even a leaking, rusty old HP7 battery being thrown away. The problem also pushes away (literally again) loved ones and friends. You wonder if this extreme way of keeping social contact at a long arm’s length is all part of the adverse reaction to the emotional traumas many suffer from? In Reg’s case, after months of working with him and gentle persuasion, we got him to the point where he had a front room people could safely walk through, a relatively accessible and cleaner kitchen, and a more useable and safer house in general.
Even now, I cannot fully understand why people like Reg get their homes into this state. There was with him an issue of bereavement (his partner) and an almost closing down physically, socially and emotionally against life reaction. Building a wall of clutter as some sort of visual defence mechanism against the world in general. I think this is a common theme with many hoarders in his position. But it is the intense protectiveness many have to even a dirty rag with holes in it, or a ten years out of date packet or rancid sausage rolls I don’t get! Saying that some broken plastic filthy fork will come in useful with a good clean, for example.. The key, if there is one, is having the time to work with them, AND…getting them on board to and accepting of gradual and subtle change. Some though, you either cannot help, or they return months later to a similar way of living.
