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Hoarders: Overload


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I knew Laura was going to be a hard case when she explained that she didn't work because she had to be home 24/7 to protect her stuff.  Building barricades in front of dressers/desks was another definite red flag.  That couple was toxic together - they've been fighting about the hoard for 15 years.  I felt so bad for him and his daughters - at least he was able to make a little sanctuary in the garage.  Laura's yelling and bullying would have sent me running, so I assume they are one of those deluded couple that thought "staying together for the kids" was better than going their separate ways.   They are both too stubborn/hard-headed to see that that is a terrible idea.   

I think besides hoarding, Laura might've had some other issues (paranoia/bipolar), and it all created a big nightmare.  I was happy when the kids father (name?) told Laura that she'd have to leave the house, that he made a stand to change the toxic environment.  That turned to dismay when the screen said that a year later they were all still in the same house.   I suspect the reason Laura is still under the roof:  the 14 year old's closeness to her mom, the guy being a softy for his daughter, Laura not having much work history and guilt.  I wouldn't mind a follow-up on them - but I suspect they'll be together for the next 20 years.

Edited by patty1h
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I agree that Laura's partner likely allows her to stay for their daughter, although he has to have some issues to put up with it for that long. I am sure if he went for custody he would get it but it might break their daughter. I feel so bad for her because she obviously loves her mom but really wants a sense of normality. She was so happy to clean out her room and have a space of her own. I am sure that the mom sharing a room with her daughter was her idea of protecting her daughter. I wonder if mom limits the daughter's time with friends or others away from home in order to "protect" her. 

The fact that laura's oldest three children were taken away because of hoarding shows this had been an ongoing issue in her life. The fact that it has happened again tells me that things are unlikely to change. I wonder what the house looks like a year later. I don't think Laura can be reasoned with. It's as though she doesn't process anything anyone says to her and she only sees what she believes. Her sister seemed so over it, as though she has been dealing with this a long time. 

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This episode reminded me why as fascinating a subject as this is that I had to eventually bail on the original recipe show.  It's incredibly wearing to listen to someone shriek for a solid hour about how absolutely nothing is ever her fault and blame blame blame everybody else for that one dish in the sink that she didn't personally leave there when you can barely even see the sink because of her mountain of crap.  As nearly always in these cases, I ended up spending an inordinate amount of time wondering what exactly the attraction is.  I get it that the house is actually yours so you can't just walk away.  But what part of I lost my first batch of kids because of filthy hoarded living conditions makes a guy think yep, there's someone I want to move into my house and have a child with?  This couple would be toxic for each other even without the hoard the way they fight.  It's depressing that he still can't live in his own house a year later because of this situation, which I'm betting has everything to do with placating his kid, although I suppose he does at least deserve credit for not paying for storage for the hoard indefinitely.

The daughter was breaking my heart both because she's a teenager who looked to be sharing a sleeping space the equivalent of a nest with her mother and when she was so distraught that everyone was being "so mean" to Mommy Dearest.  It says a lot about the damage already done to that girl and how thoroughly Laura has manipulated her to side with her and the hoard that she wasn't any more able to hear what anyone was actually saying than her mother was.

I do think I prefer the format focusing on only one person instead of two.  While it's tough when the subject is as shrieky as Laura is, it feels less rushed through.

Edited by nodorothyparker
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Laura's screaming was making my blood pressure rise, seriously! If that had been my house, she would have been out in the street just for the noise, let alone the hoarding. I felt so sorry for that poor young girl in such a dysfunctional home.

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Michelle's story reminded me of Silkwood, when contaminated items were taken out of Karen Silkwood's house to be destroyed: record albums, clothing, her hair dryer...it was like being politely robbed. And I imagine that's how Michelle felt, and how a lot of hoarders feel: like they're being robbed. Except, they brought it on themselves. I personally know numerous collectors of stuff who will never have this happen to them because they take care of their stuff

Also, when Matt said that anything from the basement had to go because of black mold, and Michelle was still digging in her heels, it made me wish this show has an Aggie. If you watch this and Buried Alive, you may also be familiar with Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie from the British show How Clean Is Your House? (later morphed into Kim's Rude Awakenings). Now, they rarely deal with true hoarders, mostly just slobs, but Aggie's schtick was to take swabs of various surfaces in the house, send them off to a lab for analysis, and then show the results to the homeowners. "Now, a normal reading would be about 200 particles of e.coli; that's a safe amount, and everyone has some germs in their house. But do you know how many you have? Just in your kitchen? Eleventy million!! My god, this is where your children eat! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?!" I wonder how people would react to Matt or Dorothy showing them cold statistics like that. 

Yama: I had a lot more sympathy for her than I usually do. Since she was only 22, and was carrying on her mom's hoarding tradition, rather than wallowing in it of her own accord, it seemed reasonable to hope she can have a normal household from here on in. And she had a lot of friends who were willing to help, indicating that she hadn't alienated/hidden from everyone, and was in general a likable person (which is also unusual for a hoarder). Also, I loved the "tumbleweave"!

Edited by Lorna Mae
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6 hours ago, Lorna Mae said:

I personally know numerous collectors of stuff who will never have this happen to them because they take care of their stuff

/snip/

Also, when Matt said that anything from the basement had to go because of black mold, and Michelle was still digging in her heels, it made me wish this show has an Aggie. If you watch this and Buried Alive, you may also be familiar with Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie from the British show How Clean Is Your House? (later morphed into Kim's Rude Awakenings). Now, they rarely deal with true hoarders, mostly just slobs, but Aggie's schtick was to take swabs of various surfaces in the house, send them off to a lab for analysis, and then show the results to the homeowners. "Now, a normal reading would be about 200 particles of e.coli; that's a safe amount, and everyone has some germs in their house. But do you know how many you have? Just in your kitchen? Eleventy million!! My god, this is where your children eat! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?!" I wonder how people would react to Matt or Dorothy showing them cold statistics like that. 

I'm dealing with a situation with my brother (77) right now.  He's an atheist, but l-o-v-e-s to decorate for Christmas.  He has stripped every Goodwill and thrift store within miles to buy tacky decor items.  He lives in a 500sf apartment with his "decor" and over 1,200 DVDs/VCR tapes.  He recently had to be hospitalized and Mr. AZC and I went to clean his apartment before he was discharged.  One CAN walk around in there, but every inch is covered with dusty plastic plants and stuff.  I realized after 30 minutes of being in there that my throat was getting extremely sore.  Within 30 minutes of leaving, I was fine.  I looked up about "sick house syndrome" and realized that probably 75% of his medical situation could be caused by his environment, but he refuses to let go of anything.  I've tried to talk to him about it, but he will not budge.  So he's on his own; we are tired of talking to a wall.  Yet, home nurses come in and say, "Oh, we've seen worse."  

-----

Thanks for the trip down memory lane with Kim and Aggie.  I LOVED them, and - even though very tidy myself - have taken a lot of their advice to heart.  No more toothbrushes in a cup out on the bathroom counter!!! 

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Ruthann  and her daughter are so seriously damaged.  The grown daughter with her hair in pigtails acting coy.  Ruthann doing the head dip and side look to the camera looking coy.  Both in a battle royale over a child molester.  Ruthann, honey, your ex-boyfriend of an eternity ago molested your daughter for years; she ran away.  When she was brought back, she married the molester.  Your daughter was a victim who is emotionally damaged.  You were not a victim but you are also emotionally damaged.  I don't know how the team out up with Ruthann.  The second I saw the animals and her cuddling the kittens that could have died because she caged their mother, I would have packed up the animals, called APS and run for the hills. 

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4 hours ago, Muffyn said:

Ruthann  and her daughter are so seriously damaged

I know.  That situation was so sick I turned off  after 18 minutes and went to bed.  Naturally the daughter is still dressing and acting like she's eleven, because that's the look she had when she caught Mr. Wonderful.

 

On ‎1‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 9:08 AM, AZChristian said:

 I realized after 30 minutes of being in there that my throat was getting extremely sore.

This was brought home (literally) to us recently when a friend of ours gave my husband a stack of books.  We all three got sore throats every time we walked into the spare room where I had shelved them.  Then he brought one book into the living room and the dachshund went nuts sniffing it and growling.  We threw them all out and cleaned and suddenly we were well.  That was from ten hard back books from a suspected hoarder house.

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What was Ruthann more "broken/distraught" about.....the fact that her 12 yr old daughter was being molested by her 'boyfriend that she had been dating for 10 yrs or that Ruthann's boyfriend married  her daughter and not her ? 

I would really like to know how Ruthann's  grandkids cope with knowing their father was dating their grandmother and molesting her daughter (their mother0 at the sametime ?

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On 1/4/2017 at 6:08 AM, AZChristian said:

He lives in a 500sf apartment with his "decor"

Thanks to Hoarders and crazy candle lady, I can't read the word 'decor' without it sounding like day-core in my head.

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I remembered Ruthann's show from when it first aired -- but does anyone know what was different from the original show and last night's? I sure have no idea.

This who "Overloaded" thing seems to be kinda bogus. I'd prefer if they'd show a current update at the end. 

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11 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

I remembered Ruthann's show from when it first aired -- but does anyone know what was different from the original show and last night's? I sure have no idea.

This who "Overloaded" thing seems to be kinda bogus. I'd prefer if they'd show a current update at the end. 

I think It's a lot more talking heads, especially in the beginning. This is my first overload episode. Since it was a show focused solely on her - which I doubt it was originally - it was more in depth with all the stuff about the hoard and the family. 

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My son is a cable technician and he says, without a doubt, that he has to work in a hoarder's home at least once a day and sometimes more and then the customer will want something totally outrageous like asking him to move their shit and then getting bent out of shape when he says he's not allowed to touch any of it (not that he would). He tells them as politely as he can that either they move/clean up the area where a tech has to work or it ain't happening.

While I can understand a disease, as both my folks were alcoholics, I will never be able to wrap my mind around these people thinking their crap is more important than those who love them.

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5 hours ago, MsWausau said:

My son is a cable technician and he says, without a doubt, that he has to work in a hoarder's home at least once a day

That might explain why the men who installed our new furnace acted like we the most special people ever, telling us things like most people should change their furnace filter twice a year, but we could probably go for three or four years, etc.  Our house is nothing special at all, but it is clean and while not quite minimalist, much  more bare than most.  The guy looked at our dining room table and said how incredible it was.  It's just an ordinary, bare table with a vase in the middle.  It makes me feel really sorry for people like your son, it's so stressful to work inside  chaos and I've read that it's getting worse all the time with people having far more stuff than they did not long ago.

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On ‎1‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 3:12 PM, MsWausau said:

My son is a cable technician and he says, without a doubt, that he has to work in a hoarder's home at least once a day and sometimes more and then the customer will want something totally outrageous like asking him to move their shit and then getting bent out of shape when he says he's not allowed to touch any of it (not that he would). He tells them as politely as he can that either they move/clean up the area where a tech has to work or it ain't happening.

While I can understand a disease, as both my folks were alcoholics, I will never be able to wrap my mind around these people thinking their crap is more important than those who love them.

On ‎1‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 8:32 PM, JudyObscure said:

That might explain why the men who installed our new furnace acted like we the most special people ever, telling us things like most people should change their furnace filter twice a year, but we could probably go for three or four years, etc.  Our house is nothing special at all, but it is clean and while not quite minimalist, much  more bare than most.  The guy looked at our dining room table and said how incredible it was.  It's just an ordinary, bare table with a vase in the middle.  It makes me feel really sorry for people like your son, it's so stressful to work inside  chaos and I've read that it's getting worse all the time with people having far more stuff than they did not long ago.

When we were still in the process of moving (but were 3/4 of the way done), we had the cable hooked up at the "new" place and disconnected at the old.  I kept apologizing for the house having boxes, bags ,etc, and the guy kept telling me "If you've seen half of what I've seen....this is paradise". 

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On both of last Sunday's episodes, both hoarders (Linda and Ruthann) had perfect manicures with nice long healthy nails. Go figure???

I thought that Ruthann's daughter finally confessed to Dr. Green that she was a willing participant with her mother's boyfriend, so it wasn't "molestation." I mean, I know legally it still was, but I guess that made it "OK" in the warped family's eyes.

I wanted to cry when I saw what a wreck Ruthann had made of that gorgeous house. My dad was a hoarder (not to that level, thank God, and they didn't have animals and food/trash issues) but he ended up ruining a beautiful home also built in the 60s. Dad was a hoarder of books, and paper stuff like old bills, receipts, etc. Now, he's in the process of hoarding his tiny nightstand at his nursing home.

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I feel duped - these people (Joyce and Kimberly) were featured on the show before; I thought the Overload series was all new cases.   I bailed about 15 minutes into the episode, so did I miss new info or an update to these hoarders?

Edited by patty1h
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5 hours ago, patty1h said:

I feel duped - these people (Joyce and Kimberly) were featured on the show before; I thought the Overload series was all new cases.   I bailed about 15 minutes into the episode, so did I miss new info or an update to these hoarders?

I think it's just expanded versions of previous episodes, not new episodes.

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3 minutes ago, OSM Mom said:

They've been airing right after the regular "Hoarders" episode. 

On A&E? I realize I sound dumb but the first 48 always airs right after it. They're not On Demand for me either. 

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The editors were great with T'Resa.  She's telling us how great scrubbies are for cleaning.  Each thing she mentioned they showed in her house n all of its overwhelming filth. 

A few years back Matt Paxton made the comment "Were all just five bad decisions away from pooping in a bucket."  Doris made five bad decisions and then many, many more.  When the choice is between clearing a bath to the bathroom or sleeping on the sunporch and pooping in a bucket, clear a path!

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8 hours ago, AuntTora said:

T'Resa was clearly F'D UP during the entire show. "I'm beautiful!"

That was some straight-up Baby Jane business. 

I noticed T'Resa constantly had a huge blue jug with a straw in it. Pretty sure she was tanked the entire time. I felt terrible for her son. 

Edited by Bunky
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I'm positive that I've already seen an episode with T'resa because I remember her son.  (And the scrubbies.)  I marveled at how together and successful he was despite his upbringing. I'm so glad he left her home as soon as he realized that something didn't click.

Good observation about her gigantic blue sippy cup.  I wondered what she was sucking down the entire time. I thought something was very wrong with her with her half-shut eyes and slurry speech.  I thought maybe it was due to oxygen deprivation. Yep. I'll bet she was drinking the entire time because she looked remarkably clear eyed and sounded coherent at the reveal.  Indeed, T'resa was very very lucky that her house didn't burn down from either her heavy smoking or her oxygen tanks exploding.  Even if her house remains sparkling clean, if she's drinking and smoking then nodding off, that's still a fire/explosion waiting to happen.

Doris and her granddaughter seemed familiar, too.  Celeste seemed like a well-adjusted young lady and I was impressed by her willingness to jump right in and help. Glad that she was able to make some sense out of crazy granny.  Doris seemed off as well. Her eyes were completely vacant. I don't think she was drunk, although I noticed quite a stash of wine bottles on one of her shelves.  Surprisingly they weren't empty.

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I clearly remember seeing both women featured previously. I'm not quite sure what is different about the Overload series, but I'm happy to watch it anyway. As we keep saying, they are very motivational in their own way - nothing inspires me to clean or to clear clutter like they do!

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4 hours ago, scootypuffjr said:

nothing inspires me to clean or to clear clutter like they do!

Nothing inspires me to keep my plumbing in clean, working order more than these people. 

Initially, I confused T'resa's son with Augustine's son (who was also pretty awesome). But this is yet another instance where I was yelling at the TV for the child of the hoarder to run far, far away from their toxic, evil parent who will never change. That adult children of assholes who still believe they need to work "on their relationship" with their abusers stuns me. At least Augustine's son washed his hands of her (though his sister seemed to be quite the consumer of ongoing punishment). 

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I'm watching this now - saw Cory climbing  in the house to help T'resa get her breathing treatment. She's clearly struggling. Next shot shows him stepping into the room with the neb & he says 'put the cigarette out'... I know it's not funny but I lost it. Just wow.

I love the sign they put up for her in her home "The best things in life aren't things"; her house looked great & she looked so happy at the end.

Edited by gonecrackers
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I was thinking today about T'resa & her scrubbies. Supposedly she made some money off of them, her son called her a "hustler". Who would buy these stinky (mold, feces, cigarette smoke?) things? They showed her in a parking lot making a sale. I bet she gets a lot of sympathy sales. It's better than her holding up a cardboard sign for money, I suppose.

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10 hours ago, scootypuffjr said:

As we keep saying, they are very motivational in their own way - nothing inspires me to clean or to clear clutter like they do!

A friend was just saying the other day, how an episode makes her think her house isn't messy at all.
And I'm with her.

On ‎1‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 5:12 AM, peaceknit said:

not only did doris poop in a bucket, she literally dumped it in her garbage can.

She was dumping her urine against the fence, couldn't tell if it was against the street, alley, or a neighbor, but I'd think it would really smell.
That would bother me more than poop, because some people dump animal poop in bags in trash.  (I bring it in and flush it.)

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One way to tell approximately when the episode first aired is watch for one of the very (daaah, duuuum) first black screens when is says how may million Americans hoard.

Of the two episodes this past Sunday night, one (IIRC) said "over three million" and the other had the number of horders in the middle teen millions.  Definitely not the same season.

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On 1/29/2017 at 9:16 PM, peaceknit said:

oh my god, T'Resa's (!) nails! I could smell that house through the teevee. Who could buy her nasty, nicotine smelling scrubbies??

If I saw her somewhere out and about selling them and stopped to see what she had, and saw those disgusting nails, I would have taken a bath.  Right there.  Stripped naked, gotten the water hose and started showering, and I would have kept on showering deep into the night.

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They now say 19 million hoarders in the united states on this show, I think I know a million of them...seriously. I have five friends that have this problem, and how could that possibly be? How could you know five people that have this? This means it's really really really bad. I don't have that many friends....hey, I'm old, they are dead.  Snort. 

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  In regards to all these shows I understand that things have to be done a certain way But when reality comes along and the people are told that they must clean the house or lose the house or have to move out I think the day that the moving comes they should take the hoarder for a ride for the day and let the people who clean up do their job and then when it's all over then bring the hoarder back and that should satisfy everybody because when the hoarder is watching everything come out that's when things go bad so take the hoarder for a ride and let 1-800 junk or whatever take it all out because the bottom line is they're going to lose their home so what is the lesser of two evils fight over what has to stay and what has to go or just take the hoarder out for the day and do everything to have to be done as possible that's my strategy and that's what I would do with my mom on my dad or anybody it was related to me to take them out for the day and when they come back that's the way it is but at least I'll have a place to live.

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If it were up to me, that's how it would happen, too . . . but there seems to be a belief among professionals that if the hoarder doesn't help get rid of it, they'll just go out and get more stuff.  It's odd that it's okay to send alcohol and drug addicts to a forced in-patient facility to let them dry out and clean up, but the same is not true for people who have other addictive habits that can kill them.  If I were a landlord, I'd give them a time frame (30 days) to clean up and make the place acceptable to me as the property owner.  If it's not done, they are evicted at the end of the 30th day.  On day 31, 1-800-GOTJUNK comes in.  It gets more complicated when it's a homeowner, but we've seen them get thrown out by city code enforcement officials, so it's not impossible.  These folks just keep getting too many extensions.

My brother is a pack rat, but not to hoarder level.  I kept telling him that his back porch looked like a pig sty, and I couldn't believe his landlord wasn't on him about it.  Sure enough, his landlord sends a letter with a picture of his back porch, and tells him exactly what has to be done, or he's evicted.  (No, I did not notify the landlord.)  His first comment to me was exactly like what one of the hoarders said yesterday, "Well, if the city is getting on me about the outside of my house, they'd better get on all my neighbors, because they all use their porches for storage, too."  (Matt looked around and didn't see it; this was just the hoarder's reasoning behind why her porch full of crap was okay.)  My brother has left specific instructions in his will about what should be done with all his treasures.  As executrix of his will, it will be up to me to empty out the property.  1-800-GOTJUNK.

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Even if they rehoard, that's so many months that they aren't at risk living on the street.  And that gives the neighbors a chance to kill or at least knock back the vagrant rodents who are temporarily homeless. 

Back when limited lobotomies were done, were they ever done to hoarders?  

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This is the thing that drives me crazy!  You don't let someone continue to drive drunk with their kids in the car, but they're allowed to keep their children amid vermin and garbage.
I've never heard someone try to persuade people not to drive drunk by talk.
My favorite cleanout ever, was when Mike Holmes found that the people who called were hoarders, so he said that it all had to go first, brought in dumpsters, and loaded up.
 

On ‎6‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 10:25 AM, AZChristian said:

(No, I did not notify the landlord.)  

But were you tempted?

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