Woman Dies From Hoarding

[SeriouslySearching]

I know this is an older story, but I thought it was just incredible. I did a search and didn't see it on here.

SHELTON, Wash. -- A Washington state woman who was reported missing was later found dead suffocated under a pile of debris in her home, police said.

Officers found the body of Marie Rose, 62, buried under clothes Thursday, reported KIRO-TV in Seattle.

Her husband reported her missing after he couldn't find her early Thursday morning.

~snip~

"In some areas, clothes and debris were piled 6 feet high," said Police Chief Terry Davenport of the Shelton Police Department. "Officers were having to climb over the top on their hands and knees. In some areas, their heads were touching the ceiling while they were standing on top of piles of debris."

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/5950773/detail.html

 

[golfmom]

I always feels such pity for those afflicted with the compulsion to hoard.

 

[gaia227]

How sad.
An ex-boyfriend of mine, his mother was a hoarder. Her house was .....amazing. Newspapers dated from the '60's stacked to the ceiling everywhere. FIVE refridgerators, she saved used napkins - she would dig them out of the trash and try to wash them and save them; she had thousands of them, boxes upon boxes of stuff. She lived in this big, beautiful old house but unfortunately all character was lost. There was a trail through the house that lead inbetween the floor to ceiling stacks of stuff. She compulsively bought things she didn't need - like refridgerators. There were two in the living room, none of which were even plugged in, one on the front porch, one in her bdrm and then the working one in the kitchen. She reminded me of a little squirrel because she was always scurrying back and forth reorganizing her stacks of stuff, moving it here and there, going through it and making more stacks, pulling out things she thought she could reuse elsewhere which inevietably became another stack. She had so much frozen food - three freezers full and canned goods (which were stacked to the ceiling in the kitchen and hallway) and a refridgerator box full of flashlights and another box full of batteries that if there is ever a major crisis I am going to stay with her. We could live in there for at least a year.
It is sad. She really needed to get help for her obsession-compulsion. She couldn't work because her hoarding compulsion was too bad, she spent SO much money on all this stuff she never even uses, she lost her husband because of it. The problem was she would never recognize that her behavior was abnormal. She had no qualms about inviting people over = she tried to have Thanksgiving dinner one year, which was uncomfortable to say the least. She obviously was not embarrassed about the condition of her house and that was because she refused to see it was an issue.

 

[nanandjim]

I think that both my husband and I have a touch of hoarding. We do not have stacks of things in most rooms. I neatly organize it and hide it in closets, drawers and spare rooms in our big house. I have things that I just need to throw away. I recognize my tendency. So, perhaps, I don't have a true problem!

 

[golfmom]

Hoarding is when it controls you rather than you control it. When you can't throw out an old newspaper or disposable container, you know you've passed from collecting things to obsessing things. :bang:

 

[nanandjim]

Hoarding is when it controls you rather than you control it. When you can't throw out an old newspaper or disposable container, you know you've passed from collecting things to obsessing things. :bang:

Sometimes, it seems like the clutter and junk takes on a life of its own around here. I do throw things away when I can't stand it any longer. I have tons of other things that I need to go through and throw away. I'm just not motivated...

 

[Rino]

My husband and his whole family are pack rats, I had the hardest time breaking his habbit. I get rid of everything the minute I'm done, I hate clutter of any kind.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

They recognize it as a problem, but without proper therapy...the cycle continues as they are unable to control it. They have an abnormal "emotional" attachment to material objects, imo. It is a form of OCD, as I understand it.

I have a relative that is a hoarder. I cannot do more than step inside their house. It is a horrible disorder because of the safety issues alone. The house is a fire waiting to happen. However, at 80 plus...it would literally kill her to take away her "things".

We have made progress in recycling goods and various ways of helping her get rid of the worst of the worst, but I am afraid we are resigned to wait until she is gone to finally clean her home (might take months). It is just so sad.

I am giving her a copy of this story to read, but the saddest part of all...she won't see herself in it. (One of her obsessions is to read as witnessed by the magazines, books, paper clippings, etc. she hoards.)

 

[Blondieskatz]

gaia my grandmother was the same way with food. I always assumed it was because she had lived during the great depression and that influenced her need to keep so much food in the house. When she died and we were clearing the house there was canned food everywhere~ under the beds, cabinets in bathroom, bedroom closets and of course crammed packed in the kitchen. She had a three bedroom home and one room was like a wall in food closet!

 

[hipmamajen]

Wow, that must have been so scary!

 

[SeriouslySearching]

gaia my grandmother was the same way with food. I always assumed it was because she had lived during the great depression and that influenced her need to keep so much food in the house. When she died and we were clearing the house there was canned food everywhere~ under the beds, cabinets in bathroom, bedroom closets and of course crammed packed in the kitchen. She had a three bedroom home and one room was like a wall in food closet!

My relative lived through the GD, too. We used to think it was the problem, but have come to learn that while it could be triggered by memories of going without during that time...it could just as easily manifest itself as being on the other end of the spectrum with cleanliness. My relative actually believes the GD is her problem and uses it to justify the hoarding.

 

[GlitchWizard]

I think that both my husband and I have a touch of hoarding. We do not have stacks of things in most rooms. I neatly organize it and hide it in closets, drawers and spare rooms in our big house. I have things that I just need to throw away. I recognize my tendency. So, perhaps, I don't have a true problem!

I've learned that whatever denial and excuse you can use to make yourself feel better about it is a good thing. I am organizationally challenged, myself.

 

[Taximom]

I watched a program once about hoarders and those who try to help them, and it was really sad to watch them have panic attacks when something just needed to be thrown or given away. They just couldn't let go. I used to think it was a GD thing too, but these people were much younger and didn't go through that era.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

I watched a video in my psychology class last semester about a guy that was a hoarder. I felt soooo bad for him. He knew it was a problem, yet he couldn't stop it or help himself. He knew that people thought he was weird, and he was extremely embarassed at the state of his house and to have people come over. I remember him saying that he was even embarassed to have the documentary people there, and the only reason he let them come is because it might bring attention to that fact that this is a psychological disorder and not him, and people might start to understand and accept him. Sad stuff.

 

[Floh]

My husband and his whole family are pack rats, I had the hardest time breaking his habbit. I get rid of everything the minute I'm done, I hate clutter of any kind.

Well it would be hard to keep tooooo much in that caravan in your avatar you call home!

 

[pixies]

My husband swears I am a hoarder!
I just have huge collections of things. It all started with purple carnival glass, then antique birdcages, then quilts, antique sewing machines and buttons....ect...
I also have a creepy collection of "burial dolls", dolls made in the likeness of a dead child using the childs real hair from the 1890's-1920's.

Now I am into old photographs from the great depression.

Okies, so maybe I do have a small hoarding problem but never trash and you can actually see my floors through the crushed up cheerios and juicy juice boxes.

 

[Floh]

My husband swears I am a hoarder!
I just have huge collections of things. It all started with purple carnival glass, then antique birdcages, then quilts, antique sewing machines and buttons....ect...
I also have a creepy collection of "burial dolls", dolls made in the likeness of a dead child using the childs real hair from the 1890's-1920's.

Now I am into old photographs from the great depression.

Okies, so maybe I do have a small hoarding problem but never trash and you can actually see my floors through the crushed up cheerios and juicy juice boxes.

:laugh::laugh::laugh: