The Secret Lives of Hoarders: True Stories of Tackling Extreme Clutter (29 page)

defensiveness

denial

freaking out

grief

lashing out

pushing for control

“rattlesnake” hoarders

retreating into denial

stonewalling

See also
cleanup

readiness of hoarder for cleanup

reality, avoiding

recognizing self-worth

“recovery,”

recruiting the team.
See
team, recruiting the

refrigerators

Reinardy, Renae

relationships (strained)

reminders

replacement behavior

resources for hoarding

responsibility, accepting

“retail therapy,”

retreating into denial by hoarders

rewards of cleanup, sharing the

Rick's case

Roger's (and Kathy's) case

Rose's case

Roxanne's case

rules, ignoring the

Salvation Army

Sam's and Wendy's case

San Simeon museum

scheduling, cleanup

schizophrenia and hoarding

scrap metal

secret cleanups

self-image of hoarders

“sell” piles

setbacks

setting boundaries

Sex and the City
(TV show)

shared space rule

sharing burden and rewards, cleanup

shopping hoarders

“skinny” clothes

social phobias and hoarding

social workers

cleanup and

staying clean and

team, recruiting the

“spaghetti,”

spouses of hoarders and cleanup

Stage 1 (Clutter Cleaner Scale)

cleanup

defined

Stage 2 (Clutter Cleaner Scale)

cleanup

defined

Stage 3 (Clutter Cleaner Scale)

cleanup

defined

Stage 4 (Clutter Cleaner Scale)

cleanup

defined

Stage 5 (Clutter Cleaner Scale)

cleanup

defined

starting the conversation

state of mind of hoarders

staying clean

backsliding

born-again mentality

boundaries, setting

“chore” charts

church as support network

denial

emotional triggers

“everything has a home” rule

follow-up rules

habits of hoarders

“hoarder hangover,”

hope for hoarders

ignoring the rules

notes for positive reinforcement

“old habits die hard,”

in = out

“outside” friends for

personal space

reminders

rules, ignoring the

setting boundaries

shared space rule

social workers

success rates

task reminders

ten-minute sweep

triggers

uniqueness of every hoarding situation and

See also
cases of hoarding; hoarders; success, elements of

stereotypical hoarders

stonewalling by hoarders

stuff vs. individual's physical and mental health

success, elements of

accepting responsibility

desire to change, importance of

family and friends support

finances, management of

medications for hoarders

network

“no quitting” rule

positive reinforcement for hoarders

professional organizers

quitting, stopping

recognizing self-worth

replacement behavior

responsibility, accepting

therapy

trying, starting

volunteer work

See also
staying clean

success rates

supplies for cleanup

support groups

talking to hoarders

task reminders

team, recruiting the

advocate for the hoarder

animal control

appraisers

auctioneers

building inspectors

Child and Adult Protective Services

city, county, state officials

clergy

colors (team)

community support services

coworkers

effective teams

family members

friends

introducing to hoarder

neighbors

pest control

police

professional cleaners and junk removers

social workers

therapists

“trust swapping,”

uniqueness of every hoarding situation and

See also
cases of hoarding; cleanup; hoarders

television shopping tactics

ten-minute sweep

Thalia's case

therapists

staying clean and

team, recruiting the

timelines for cleanup

Timothy's case

toxic waste

trash hoarders

“trash” piles

treatment centers

triggers

trust, importance of

“trust swapping,”

trying, starting

ultimatum approach

unhappiness of hoarders

uniqueness of every hoarding situation

volunteer work, staying clean

“we” goals

wellness goals of cleanup

Wendy's and Sam's case

what hoarders hoard

animal hoarders

clothes hoarders

collectors

compliments (perceived) of DIYs

do-it-yourself (DIY) hoarders

food hoarders

future plans of DIYs

information hoarders

memory keepers

shopping hoarders

trash hoarders

See also
hoarders

“what if” scenarios and ADHD

where hoarders hoard

where to begin

ambush approach

collaboration: case with a somewhat happy ending

interventions

secret cleanups

ultimatum approach

See also
hoarders; planning the cleanup

who are the hoarders?

why people hoard

abuse and hoarding

addiction and hoarding

anxiety disorders and hoarding

attachment to possessions

attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder (ADD/ADHD) and hoarding

avoiding reality

boundaries, struggling with

children of hoarders

children who hoard

cleaning, when not to

co-morbid disorders

“compulsive disorders,”

dementia and hoarding

depression and hoarding

easy love

emotional triggers

fake future

“false triggers,”

family pattern of hoarding

fear and hoarding

financial mess from hoarders

future, fixated on

genetic theory

hunt-and-gather rush

involved, getting

legacy of hoarding

limits, struggling with

mental disorders and hoarding

obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and hoarding

past, fixated on

personality and

psychiatric issues

reality, avoiding

relationships (strained)

schizophrenia and hoarding

social phobias and hoarding

state of mind of hoarders

triggers

See also
hoarders; where to begin

Will's case

written plan for cleanup

yard hoarders

Zasio, Robin

Matt, between jobs!

W
ith his company, Clutter Cleaner,
Matt Paxton
is a featured hoarder specialist on A&E's
Hoarders
. He appears regularly on radio and television, where he speaks on hoarding and senior relocation.

Paxton has been, variously, a research analyst, a database manager for Caesar's Palace, a triathlon wetsuit designer, a professional gambler, a volunteer grief counselor for children, and a housecleaner. He has started three companies, traveled around the world, and run five marathons. When Paxton started Clutter Cleaner in 2006, it was intended to focus on organizing and cleaning houses for grieving widows and relocating seniors, but he quickly found himself sought out by extreme hoarders.

Paxton went to college at the University of Mary Washington, where he earned a degree in business administration. As a teenager he spent time with his great-aunt, who had a serious hoarding problem. He estimates he cleaned her house at least twenty times while he was growing up. Today, he and his wife, Sarah, live in that house in Richmond, Virginia, with their son and dog. It is very clean.

To learn more about hoarding and to follow Matt, visit his website at
www.5decisionsaway.com
.

 

 

Phaedra Hise
has covered subjects including entrepreneurship, small aircraft accidents, big problems raising kids, and what it feels like to rev a motorcycle around a racetrack at over 100 mph. She is an instrument-rated private pilot, a triathlete, a competitive cyclist, a scuba diver, and the cofounder of a growing literary nonprofit, and was an insider on two company startups.

Her award-winning work has been anthologized and published in national magazines including
AARP
,
Salon
,
Popular Mechanics
, and
Ladies' Home Journal
, and she has covered the world of entrepreneurship as a staff writer for
Inc.
and contributor to the
Wall Street Journal
and
Fortune Small Business
. She has written four other books and lives with her very messy teenaged daughter in Richmond, Virginia.