# Hoarders and Hoarding: Buried Alive **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 3, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950 "2011-12-03T15:38:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/122 "2012-02-15T17:33:07Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > My biggest issue is that I. Cannot. Keep. These. Shows. Straight. . Me either. Funny how channels copy each other. Now it’s all about collecting, auctions and pawn shops. Last year they all had a little person show. Couple years back and shows about families with lots of kids and shows about house flipping were huge. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/123 "2012-02-15T17:52:02Z")
Just saw this headline on the Tribune website. [Elderly woman found dead under trash in Worth home](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-elderly-woman-found-buried-under-trash-in-suburban-home-20120214,0,5132440.story) Real life case. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/124 "2012-02-15T17:58:30Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > My biggest issue is that I. Cannot. Keep. These. Shows. Straight. I’ve looked it up, checked the listings and synopses and informed myself of it a dozen times, yet when I see one in the channel guide I cannot for the life of me know which show it it. Invariably it’s the one that me and the g/f like less. Maybe it’s time to change your username? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/125 "2012-02-15T18:26:40Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > :smack: Seriously? If you’re going to buy a framed motto, make it a poem, or a bible verse, or some famous quote. Something that’s worth seeing in your home, and having other people see it. But you want the crap I just described to take up space in your home? Even if it wasn’t adding to a hoard, it would still be a waste of space. And that was typical of the useless items in this store. And that’s part of what drives a hoarder: they don’t discriminate. And most (not all) of them have abysmal taste to begin with. That quote also smacks of justification/defensiveness over the hoarding. Some hoarders do hoard stuff that was lovely/valuable/interesting, but of course, any heavily-“hoarded” house will probably eventually lead to conditions where anything valuable slowly disintegrates. My husband told me of one case in the suburbs of Chicago where no one (in terms of neighbors/officials) really knew that a particular middle-aged woman was a hoarder - until a large truck or semi went out of control and hit her house, and the sheer amount of junk that poured out of the house got officials’ attention quickly. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/126 "2012-02-15T18:39:13Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Just saw this headline on the Tribune website. > > [Elderly woman found dead under trash in Worth home](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-elderly-woman-found-buried-under-trash-in-suburban-home-20120214,0,5132440.story) > > Real life case. Wow, that is just like my mom’s house. Except she’s not dead. Yet. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/127 "2012-02-15T19:30:36Z")
As for calling the authorities, I remember an episode (don’t ask me which show, I don’t remember) with a widower with a small son. The boy was perhaps two. He had an older daughter who did not live with him. She would take her (half) brother between school and work. When the therapist saw the living conditions, she told him that she could not in good conscience leave the boy with him. Child services must be called. If I’m remembering correctly, CPS gave him a set amount of time to meet minimum standards, which he did. I felt for the guy. He was of the ‘big life loss-these things could be valuable’ type of hoarder. It was obvious he loved his son but did not know how to care for him. I sure hope CPS also gave him some parenting lessons. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/128 "2012-02-15T20:33:44Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > As for calling the authorities, I remember an episode (don’t ask me which show, I don’t remember) with a widower with a small son. The boy was perhaps two. He had an older daughter who did not live with him. She would take her (half) brother between school and work. Yeah, he’s the guy who wore a gas mask while changing his son’s diaper. I felt bad for him, too, but he did not have a safe environment for his kid. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/129 "2012-02-15T20:46:53Z")
In one of the shows, the one with Robin Zazio (that’s Hoarders, right?), she called CPS on a woman in Hawai’i because of the state of the house. She said she was a mandatory reporter and had a legal obligation. I think CPS came out after the house clean-up was done, though. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/130 "2012-02-15T20:50:21Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Just saw this headline on the Tribune website. > > [Elderly woman found dead under trash in Worth home](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-elderly-woman-found-buried-under-trash-in-suburban-home-20120214,0,5132440.story) > > Real life case. Yikes! From the article - “The stench inside the house was unbearable, even for officers with the hazardous material masks, a Worth police source said.” ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/131 "2012-02-15T20:59:06Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > In one of the shows, the one with Robin Zazio (that’s Hoarders, right?) Yes–also known as “Dr. Tonya Hoarding.” ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/132 "2012-02-15T22:33:43Z")
What drives me crazy about Hoarders is that it seems like without fail this happens in every episode i’ve seen: In the beginning the therapist/specialist is calmly explaining to the camera and family that the hoarders have a mental disorder and that this will be a tramatic event, and that everyone needs to remain calm & just try to be helpful… Now cut to the last 10 minutes of the show, the same therapist/specialist is now completely unhinged and basically yelling at the hoarder “YOU CAN’T KEEP THIS CRAP, ITS GARBAGE, THROW IT AWAY”. If I only watched the last 10 minutes of the episodes its as if the experts are just some average Joe telling the hoarders to stop being stupid. OK, maybe not _every_ episode, it sure feels that way. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/133 "2012-02-15T23:00:51Z")
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the psychiatrist go off on one of the subjects. The guy on _Hoarders_ who seems to go off on the subjects the most is [Matt Paxton](http://cdn.thegloss.com/files/2011/01/mattpaxtonhoarders.jpg), and he’s not a therapist, he’s an “Extreme Cleaning Specialist”. He’s my favorite “character” on the show, for exactly that reason, because he’ll say to the hoarder exactly what we’re all thinking. I’m sure it doesn’t help the subect at all, but it’s definitely the point in the show with the highest entertainment value, at least for me. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/134 "2012-02-16T00:17:34Z")
Yes, I love Matt! ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/135 "2012-02-16T00:33:39Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Yes–also known as “Dr. Tonya Hoarding.” 😃 I confess, to my shame, that sometimes I watch “World’s Dumbest Criminals”, and Tonya Harding is a host/guest comedian/whatever it is. It takes irony a bit too far, sometimes. Likewise with Leif Garrett, who was busted for black-tar heroin in his shoes at some point, and they featured him on the show. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/136 "2012-02-16T01:55:08Z")
I don’t know how people who clean up these places for a living are able to do it… ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/137 "2012-02-16T02:00:39Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Just saw this headline on the Tribune website. > > [Elderly woman found dead under trash in Worth home](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-elderly-woman-found-buried-under-trash-in-suburban-home-20120214,0,5132440.story) > > Real life case. The worst detail to my mind – one of her sons lived with her in the house, and must surely have known she was dead somewhere under all the mess. The younger son heard his mother hadn’t been seen for weeks, visited the house and following > [@](#): > > an uncomfortable" conversation with his older brother who also lived in the home and decided to go to police ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/138 "2012-02-16T10:48:55Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > The worst detail to my mind – one of her sons lived with her in the house, and must surely have known she was dead somewhere under all the mess. The younger son heard his mother hadn’t been seen for weeks, visited the house and following My brother lives with my mom.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/139 "2012-02-21T02:21:31Z")
Holy fuck is anyone watching _Hoarders_ right now? This woman has been using her toilet without running water for like 2 years. There is literally a tower of shit coming up out of that thing. That is the grossest thing I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/140 "2012-02-21T02:36:50Z")
I’m sure I’ll catch it later, around 2am when I get home. Did you see the episode with, I think it was Ruth? She had stopped using the second floor of the house, and had no useable bathroom, and for who-knows-how-long had been using plastic grocery bags\*\* as toilets, tying them up, and tossing them up the stairwell. There was a door at the base, and it was a walled-in stairwell, so out of sight, out of mind, I guess. I think it was one of the early stages of Matt figuring out the necessity of hazmat suits and spray-downs outside. \*\*(I wonder what she would have used if she had to pay for them? Har.) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950/141 "2012-02-21T02:37:46Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Holy fuck is anyone watching _Hoarders_ right now? This woman has been using her toilet without running water for like 2 years. There is literally a tower of shit coming up out of that thing. That is the grossest thing I’ve ever seen. Oh god, that’s worse than the woman who just used diapers and then dumped them in the bathroom when she was done. :eek: Fuck, her cat just died from all the filth, and _she’s blaming it on the clean-up_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoarders-and-hoarding-buried-alive/604950.md?page=8)