Hoarding disorder is a much more common problem than people realize, occurring in an estimated 2 out of 6 Americans.
People often confuse hoarding with practical or sentimental collecting, but they’re not the same thing. When somebody has a hoarding disorder, they excessively save worthless items to haphazardly store them, usually for no use or purpose whatsoever.
When a hoarding problem is left to intensify, it can quickly spiral out of control.
Many people with hoarding disorder end up living in cramped, cluttered, often unsanitary conditions.
83-year-old John has hoarding disorder – and his house is so full of items that he’s hoarded that there’s barely space to move.
John’s home was featured on UK cleaning show “Call The Cleaners” – and you’ll be surprised at how cluttered it is.
His living room is so full of items that the things John actually wants to keep – his TV, a set of keys, and other furnishings – are completely buried.
John has lived alone in his bungalow for 33 years, and his son, Peter, desperately wants to get his hoarding under control.
Speaking on-camera, he said:
“I’ve tried for years and years, and he’s just getting worse and worse. It was a case of, ‘Got to call the professionals’, otherwise I think the next stage would have been he’d have to go into care.”
He added that he just wants to help his dad because he “can’t bear” to see him carry on like this. Peter is clearly a son who cares deeply about his dad’s wellbeing, and he thinks it’s time that things changed.
The extent of the problem becomes even more apparent when John’s bedroom is revealed.
The clutter in the hallway and bedroom has created an obstacle course that the presenter has to wade through and climb over to reach John’s bed.
With John being 83-years-old, having to make such an effort to get into bed every night could put him at risk of injury.
The bathroom is another shocking sight.
Most of the room has been completely buried, apart from the toilet and a small space in the skin, where John can wash his hands.
With the majority of the floor space in his home taken up, John spends most of his time sitting in a chair in the corner of his kitchen.
It’s a sad sight, and a sign of just how serious hoarding disorder can be.
John clearly knows it’s time to do something about his hoarding habits, as he says to the show’s presenter:
“I just can’t cope with it anymore.”
Luckily, he’s come to the right people! “Call The Cleaners” features a team of highly-trained, specialized cleaners who have decades of experience in cleaning even the grimiest homes.
A big team is enlisted to remove the unwanted items from John’s home.
They find some interesting items, including a receipt from 20 years ago and a pair of shoes that crumble when they’re picked up.
It’s shocking to think that somebody could live in such cramped, cluttered conditions for so long.
By the end of the deep clean, John’s home looks unrecognizable.
Now free from 30 years of accumulated clutter, John’s living room is finally liveable. His bathroom has a visible bath and sink, and in his bedroom, he can now reach his bed without coming to harm.
It can’t have been easy for John to part with his possessions, but he certainly looks impressed with the cleanup.
You can see the incredible before-and-after transformation of John’s home in the video below.
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