Is housekeeping a pain in the ass? Do you feel guilty when you let it go until tomorrow? Do you keep stuff thinking you might need it tomorrow, or next month? Cheers! I have the the ultimate guideline!!
Hoarders on A&E.
During the time I have been watching the show, I’ve picked up a few tips.
1. Do not buy two rabbits as pets, keep them indoors and allow them the run of the house. If you do, you will end up with a bunch of bunnies that will eat through walls; eat the wiring in your house, and really, really, really piss off your landlord.
2. Keeping eighty-five cats in your house, will make it difficult to clean.
Also, that many cats in one place will not be easy on your furniture or your floors. You will certainly get the attention of your neighbors, and it will not prompt them to deliver a fresh apple pie.
3. Five cages with twenty chickens in them will not be happy in your bathtub. They also will not clean the tub, or sinks- no matter how hard you try to encourage that behavior. Cleaning That bathroom will require a sledge hammer, a carpenter, and tile guy.
Suffice it to say I have omitted Most of the details. The explanation for this behavior is a mental disorder but the reasons for this disorder remains mostly unexplained- but many cases occur after major trauma.
One of the most memorable episodes for me was ‘the trash collector’ story. Every day, a middle aged woman would get up early, and cruise neighborhoods before the trash collector came. She would then go through each persons trash, ‘rescuing’ anything she considered of value. While her son, therapist, and cleaning crew were shoveling out her house, she took off, went a few streets over, and -yep! picked up a van full of trash
My recommendation of this show comes with a Huge Caveat! It is not for the faint of heart, or stomach!! If dysfunctional families upset you, scroll right past this show. You must have a strong constitution, and an Iron stomach to see these homes. However, if your home is similar to one of those on this show, your housekeeping skills are definitely not up to par.
JkkFL, thanks for this witty reflection! “Hoarders” is a must see show in our household, but not for the psychological reverse lessons in housekeeping behavior.
As much as this show serves as comedy for some, a chance to ridicule and demean for others, or a weird voyeur opportunity for many, it serves a few other purposes for my family.
The he show is always a important lesson in developing a constitution to withstand and get past the very attitudes and biases that keep us from empathizing with others. I make myself not turn away from what I see and hear, so I will not be blind to or unmoved by the humanity of others. Even if one can learn to feel for, sympathize with the stresses that would so alter someone’s ability to take care of themselves and those they love, that is important in my mind. One of the reasons we are so fascinated with reality type programming of this sort is exactly because these people are just people–not monsters, aliens, or offensively obnoxious misanthropes who reaped all the evil they sowed in life. They’re people like us, damaged or hurt in some way so profound to them that they can no longer resist via logical/rational means.
I’m one of those whacked empaths who cry at television advertisements. The show is always emotionally draining for me to watch. But I do, because I think it’s important to acknowledge that these people are here–they live in our communities, they suffer and need like the rest of us. It’s just that their suffering happens to manifest itself in behavior that makes life worse for them, not better.
Now mind you, I won’t be watching any show that makes hay of people who eat comet, toilet paper, or other such oddly exploitable and freakish behavior. Besides, comet and toilet paper are important fundamental tools in the housecleaning battle.
But Hoarders remind us that no man or woman is an island, or a rock. And, unlike rocks, people feel pain, and people cry. Sometimes the cry is hoarding.
Chris- I agree, but tv reviews seem to require a different approach. There is no way you can describe the show in the terms it is presented, because there are many people who would object- and I’m not sure I would blame them.
I agree that some are cries for help, or resistance to the course of their lives; but there are some shows that I feel like the veneer is very thin. Like the guy with the rabbits- his behavior was reminescent of a spoiled 10 year old, and to allow that much damage to be done to a house that is a rental- I’m sorry..he’s just fortunate I wasn’t his landlord.
I am usually empathetic as well, and I understand these shows focus on the extreme, but I have issues with some of the storylines.
I have watched the other show- can’t think of the name, but I have no explanation/understanding for those behaviors.!
I understand that your heart goes out to them, but is it really in Your best interests to watch a show you find so emotionally draining?
I am not being critical, please understand what I am trying to say; but I have battled depression- and if I watched it every week- I would probably go back to being an emotional wreck.
Thanks for your comments, I appreciate your feedback!
jkkFL: You are a truly good and caring soul for both your thoughtful comments about my post and your observations about the show in general terms.
I did not make my post to take issue with your observations, only to caution us all about the inferences we might make because of what we see, hear, and feel due to who and why these shows are produced the way they are at this point in time.
I saw the “rabbits” show to which you refer. It was clear to me from the beginning of this episode that the subject in question was not a good person, and in fact in most states could and should be prosecuted as emotionally and physically abusive. It was also abundantly clear that the man had issues of stability and socialization waaaay far and beyond anything that we would consider normal or even rational. It just ain’t right for anyone to let rabbits eat their way through your home’s drywall into its guts and ravage the very structural integrity of the abode.
And THAT exactly is the point I was trying to make. No one of stable intellect and emotion would allow his or her living situation to degenerate to such a wholly awful point. The more horrible point, and maybe the the gist to which you object, is that some one who produces programs like this saw fit to televise it in all of its repugnant and physically disgusting glory.
If that’s the case, then fine. Call it like it is, as you see it. But I do believe that just because something is televised is not an automatic authorization to denigrate, deride, laugh at or dismiss its import.
It is the tendency in our culture to denigrate, trivialize and marginalize those things that manage to get attention from any segment of the mass media. Attention equals a money making opportunity. But the rub is that the economic opportunity is only available for those who can identify with it and are willing to see and use it–no matter where they fall down in the field of those affected.
This may not make any difference to how you understand my position on all this, but I hope you may be able to connect to the notion that popularizing something is not necessarily doing any service to it, or the cause(s) that might be part of the overall message or issue.
Chris, I’m sorry you feel I was disrepectful to the show, and it’s content. That was not my intent. If you find it offensive , I truly apologize.
I do not agree with the tendency of social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists with “discovering” a new mental illness for every dysfunction under the sun.
Some people are just plain nuts. The only thing that will help is a lot of sedatives, because the person will be in a coma.
Some people just want their way. Not narcissistic personality disorder (completely different), just self-centered and selfish.
here are some “mental illnesses” that will probably get discovered soon to excuse behavior that is actually just the certainty that they have a god-given right to treat others like crap.
“Highway Agressive delusional Disorder” – suffering from the delusion that they are the only people on the road, brought on by starting the car and the trauma of pressing the gas pedal.
Recommended Treatment – construction of their own nationwide freeway system and 24/7 escort by security people armed with bulldozers.
“Shopping Center Hysterical Ideological Sado-Masochism” – the compulsive/obsessive behavior brought on by the presence of any retail worker with a shred of self-esteem or self-confidence left, usually attempts bizarre behavior in order to destroy those shreds.
Recommended Treatment – requires all retail workers to be fitted with RFID chips for easy location, providing the patient with blank check coupons, and repeal of labor laws.
“OC Paparamania with Situational Kleptomaniac and Anger Management Complications” – The obsessive/compulsive need to shoplift when tabloid reporters are watching, accompanied by gratuitous violence on anyone publicizing the patient’s existence.
Recommended Treatment: restricting all paparazzi to isolated internment camps and monitoring the patient’s every move with 24/7 movie cameras, with webcast, by hovering robots with advanced trouble-avoidance programming.
Note: I do, however, agree with the addition of “Trainwreckiphilia” to the DSM V, and sincerely hope Sarah Palin, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Miley Cyrus, Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen, Mel Gibson, et al., get better soon.
Morning 2ndClass, very good! Thank you for the morning laugh! 😆
You’re welcome. My bill is in the mail.
When you watch these types of shows, you find out there are some Realllly strange people in this world; and you find out how ‘normal’ you are.
Many thanks to admin for the awesome illustration!!
What boomer said x2. 😀
I’ve heard ‘Trainwreckiphilia’ also referred to as ‘Celebutard Syndrome’
Ditto boomer!
2ccp, you should submit your newly discovered disorders to A&E or TLC! You have at least one season of issues for them to dwell on 🙂
😆 2CCP, you should do an article on the Revised Edition of the DSM V! Fantastic!
From my work experience, I can verify your new categories and add one more. I guess I would call it Faux BiPolar Disorder. While, of course, there is the real thing, there’s also a version that goes like this: “First I will be saccarinely, charmingly, flatteringly manipulative to get you to do what I want. Then, when that doesn’t work, I will turn into Raging Bull!”
When it comes to drug and addicts in the hospital, trust me, we see a lot of this.
kes- the ones in the hospital don’t annoy me as much as the ones still on the streets!
I love the Google thingy! A selected list of named phobias on one side of the political spectrum….
Arithmophobia- Fear of numbers.
Athazagoraphobia- Fear of being forgotton or ignored or forgetting.
Cenophobia or Centophobia- Fear of new things or ideas.
Coitophobia- Fear of coitus.
Eleutherophobia- Fear of freedom.
Enosiophobia or Enissophobia- Fear of having committed an unpardonable sin or of criticism.
Epistemophobia- Fear of knowledge.
Erotophobia- Fear of sexual love or sexual questions.
Eurotophobia- Fear of female genitalia.
Francophobia- Fear of France or French culture. (Gallophobia, Galiophobia)
Genophobia- Fear of sex.
Gnosiophobia- Fear of knowledge.
Gymnophobia- Fear of nudity.
Gynephobia or Gynophobia- Fear of women.
Hedonophobia- Fear of feeling pleasure.
Hellenologophobia- Fear of Greek terms or complex scientific terminology.
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia- Fear of the number 666.
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia- Fear of long words.
Hobophobia- Fear of bums or beggars.
Homophobia- Fear of sameness, monotony or of homosexuality or of becoming homosexual.
Ideophobia- Fear of ideas.
Ithyphallophobia- Fear of seeing, thinking about or having an erect penis.
Kainolophobia or Kainophobia- Fear of anything new, novelty.
Katagelophobia- Fear of ridicule.
Kolpophobia- Fear of genitals, particularly female.
Medorthophobia- Fear of an erect penis.
Neophobia- Fear of anything new.
Nudophobia- Fear of nudity.
Oneirogmophobia- Fear of wet dreams.
Panophobia or Pantophobia- Fear of everything.
Paraphobia- Fear of sexual perversion.
Peccatophobia- Fear of sinning or imaginary crimes.
Phallophobia- Fear of a penis, esp erect.
Philemaphobia or Philematophobia- Fear of kissing.
Philosophobia- Fear of philosophy.
Phronemophobia- Fear of thinking.
Polyphobia- Fear of many things.
Poinephobia- Fear of punishment.
Psychophobia- Fear of mind.
Sciophobia Sciaphobia- Fear of shadows.
Sesquipedalophobia- Fear of long words.
Sexophobia- Fear of the opposite sex. (Heterophobia)
Sophophobia- Fear of learning.
Stygiophobia or Stigiophobia- Fear of hell.
Technophobia- Fear of technology.
Xenoglossophobia- Fear of foreign languages.
Xenophobia- Fear of strangers or foreigners.
http://www.phobialist.com/index.html
What’s the fear of phobias? phobiaphobia?