Topic : 03/07 When Too Much is ... Too Much

Lori, bless you for having the courage to go on the show, sharing your hoarding behavior, and trying to change before it ruins your marriage.  My ex-fiance was a hoarder (notice the word "EX"), and I came from a family of hoarders who grew up during the Great Depression.  My ex-f's house was so filthy and cluttered that the last time I went in, I had to leave because the dust made me have an asthma attack.  But we weren't married yet and I wasn't stuck with him!  To those of us in the non-packrat world, it seems as if the hoarders care more about their stuff (which we see as junk) than about making a comfortable environment for us to live in.  Keeping a FEW things on hand "just in case" is fine, but excessive hoarding is irrational and self-defeating.  You wind up wasting money on duplicate things because you can't find the originals in the heap of clutter, and you force your family to live in a pigsty.  Just ask any of us who have cleaned out the houses of Depression-era relatives after they pass on, and we can tell you about that! 

A few things to consider:  when you have things around the house which are not being used, they are going to waste anyway...it's just that the dump is inside your house instead of at the county landfill.  IMHO, God will provide.  If you pass along those unused extra clothes, shoes, and household items to someone less fortunate who can use them, your good deed will be returned if you ever find yourself in need.  So have a little faith, get some counseling, and set yourself free from this prison of clutter!  Good luck and God bless.

I LOVE animals and I have 6 cats.  I had 7 and she was 24 years old wehn she passed away in August.  As much as I love them, there is no way I would take anymore in.  I count them as family and I pride myself in taking care of them real good.  My Vet says I have the healthiest and oldest patients they have.  My house doesn't smell.   They are house trained and I clean the litter several times a day.  Once when we had our house catch fire we had to go to a Bed and Breakfast, they let us in.  After 6 weeks they said the "whole" family could come back.  There was no damage or smell.  Everyone that comes over to our house always say" I thought you had Cats"  (they hide when people come over).  So saying all that.   She has waaaaay to many animals and I wouldn't live by her.  I can smell it from here!.   She doesn't need all them!   She has to have a licence anyway, she was denied wasn't she??

It's very easy to have an opinion about something you know nothing about. The stories today are about symptoms of problems and not the actual problem. It 's a good thing  Dr. Phil and people like Dr. Phil who are educated are there to help deal with the true underlying problem. 

I used to volunteer with a cat rescue group in New York City.  There were a number of cat hoarders in the group.   The group leader actually got arrested and did jail time for two many cats (especially the dead ones that hadn't been properly disposed of) for animal abuse.  I almost got trapped myself, but I stopped at 7 when I knew I was headed for trouble.

The other kind of hoarder is worse in my opinion.  Both are health hazards, but the junk hoarder can get away with it.  Someone is going to notice 200 cats.  The junk hoarder is really a health hazard.  I live next door to one, and have known one previously.  I have do deal with cockroaches thanks to  my next door neighbor.  No one else in the building is particularly concerned about it.  He shows no signs of getting help or doing anything about the problem, and he DOES know its a problem.  I've tried talking to him about it ( I talked him into watching a previous Dr. Phil show), guilting him about its impact on me and the rest of the neighbors and nothing has worked.  I am really at my wits end with this one.  I really want to move out, but can't afford it.

Thanks, Dr. Phil, for showing the existence of this problem.  I suspect most people have never encountered it.

Several people here have referred to the lady with 200 cats as having a "big heart" or that her "heart is in the right place".  Actually, I don't think her problem is that she has too big of a heart, I think her problem is that she has a bottomless pit that she can't fill so she keeps trying to fill it by acquiring more and more animals.  It doesn't have much to do with how much she loves the animals, it's more to do with trying to fill up a void she feels in her own life.

It';s obvious that one person could never properly care for that many animals, so like most animal collectors, she is probably in total denial over their well-being.   It's a mental illness, and one of the really tragic things about this kind of mental illness is that the sufferor rarely sees the situation for what it is, even when they end up with scores of diseased, dead and dying animals.  

It's very sad and tragic but there needs to be good intervention in cases like this that saves the animals from neglect and at the same time treats the collector with compassion and dignity. 

I, also, need to get rid of a few things around my home - but, I am a "pig collector" and noticed the cute pig statuettes that Lori has in her home.  So, Lori - if you want to "toss" them out, you can "toss" them my way. 

Seriously, I can understand extactly how Lori feels.  As my siblings and I were growing up my dad become critically ill and for several years we weren't even sure where our next meal was coming from, let alone if we had toys, etc.  So, I get very upset when someone tells me I should throw out some of my "stuff" I have stored.  There is a lot of comfort in being able to know you have "stuff".  :)

I really am a pig collector though - But, I don't have very many on display at the moment.