The sad truth is, many people dread receiving an inheritance from a relative; quite often, there is nothing of value, only junk. The unhappy recipient of a hoarder’s estate can spend many months sorting through piles of rubbish or call estate cleanout services in Los Angeles and be done with it.
Public Awareness is Growing
Thanks to TV shows such as TLC’s “Hoarding: Buried Alive,” the mental disorder known as “hoarding” has seeped into the mainstream consciousness. Shocking scenes of hazmat personnel climbing through ceiling-high piles garbage while an overwrought hoarder begs to keep it all are certainly fascinating. Sometimes, the hoarder so many pets that the home is very dirty. Fortunately, the pets most often are placed with a caring rescue organization.
What is Hoarding?
Hoarding is, in fact, an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Without exception, the act of hoarding both creates, and relieves, anxiety. Often, depression is also a component. Just the thought of getting rid of anything causes a feeling of panic. The more a hoarder collects, the more protected they feel from the world. However, the more a hoarder collects, the more estranged they become from the real world. This includes family and friends. This strange compulsion causes the hoarders’ emotional, mental, physical, and even financial health to deteriorate. Tragically, their personal relationships with family and friends also deteriorate as their loved ones struggle to understand.
Curiously, neuroimaging studies show that hoarders develop peculiar emotional attachments to inanimate objects. Likewise, hoarders experience an extreme amount of anxiety around decision-making. Severe cases of hoarding are most common among the middle-aged, but the tendency to hoard often begins during adolescence. Hoarders are also commonly socially isolated and withdrawn and often begin hoarding as a means to comfort themselves.
If you have a hoarder in your life, seek out professional counseling for them and consider estate cleanout services in Los Angeles.
