Did you click on this link, because a friend said that you are a hoarder? Maybe you are that friend searching for more information. Whatever the case may be, you might like to know more about the five degrees of hoarding to watch for. Because hoarding is a condition that develops over a decade or more.
Are You or Your Friend a Hoarder, or Untidy?
We can’t think of a person offhand, who did not allow their home to become untidy once. This may be because they were preoccupied over something else. Although to to be honest we all have a lazy streak in us somewhere.
Hoarding, on the other hand, is a medical condition where people accumulate clutter to the point where they can’t use their homes properly. Hoarders are not just messy, disorganised people. They are trapped in a cycle of collecting clutter, which they have difficulty discarding. This creeps up on them so slowly that they are often not aware this is happening.
The Five Degrees of Hoarding to Watch For
Stage 1: The Early Signs of Hoarding
Light clutter begins to appear in a hoarder’s home. They start acquiring more things than they need, and feel unable to get rid of them. Notwithstanding this, they can use every room in their home for the proper purpose, although the cupboards are starting to get full.
Nonetheless, everything may seem normal to a casual observer, because there is enough room in the cupboards and deep freeze to stuff more in. If there are pets, everything is neat and tidy too, and there are no smells. However, that said, the early signs are there.
Phase 2: Hoarding to the Second Degree
The hoarding condition becomes more apparent to an outsider. The cupboards are full, and so the clutter overflows into a room or part of it. This makes that area unavailable for normal use. The hoarder’s living space is shrinking around them.
The early signs of self-neglect may begin to appear. Food past its sell-by date starts stacking up in the fridge, which develops an unpleasant odour. Personal hygiene and home cleanliness show signs of losing priority. Clutter, dirt and pests have started invading the home.
Degree 3: Personal Lifestyle Takes a Knock
Visible clutter gradually spreads throughout the hoarder’s home, for that is what the evidence now confirms them to be. Several rooms have progressively become unusable. Stuff may begin to pile up in the yard outside. The hoarders personal appearance may come as a shock, to those who are unaware of the five degrees of hoarding.
The hoarder’s accommodation may take a knock too. Unpleasant smells from decaying food and droppings from pets permeate the home. If the plumbing or electricity need repair, they often go unattended. This is because the hoarder is becoming secretive, and may not welcome visitors anymore.
Stage 4: Severe Clutter, Hoarding and Health
The fourth degree signals a more severe stage of hoarding. The clutter is by now clearly out of control, in almost every room in the hoarder’s home. Most of these areas are unusable for anything else. The structure of the home may start deteriorating. If bills are unpaid, services may well be disconnected.
The hoarder’s health may suffer too, as mould, mildew and pests invade their living space. Personal hygiene falls by the wayside. The hoarder becomes increasingly isolated from family and friends that they have chased away, out of embarrassment over what is developing.
Degree 5: Intervention Is No Longer an Option
The hoarder may struggle to exist in the deteriorating space that was one their warm, comfortable home. They have condemned themselves to living in utmost clutter and squalor. Clearing the mess around them is beyond their capability. Their hoarding has a reached the stage when someone must help.
This Hoarder Needs Help (Avery and Associates)
The hoarder is now at serious risk of infection, injury, or gradual deterioration from not eating properly. Their mental health may start deteriorating too, to the extent they can no longer look after themselves. If they are tenants, they may find themselves evicted onto a street where no one cares.
How to Help a Hoarder Move On
Intervention has progressed from a MAYBE to a WHEN, for a hoarder at Stage 4 or 5. If you are the friend of a hoarder passing through the five degrees of hoarding, then Avery can assist.
We regularly clear homes of folk who died, moved to assisted living, and indeed who are, or were hoarders. Your first step is to review the clutter for anything of value, before finding someone else to cart the rest away.
Avery Associates offers a home clearing service in London and surrounds, for deceased estates, beneficiaries of wills, and friends and family of hoarders. Reach out to us whenever convenient and we are sure to be able to help.
More Information
Does My Parent Have Hoarding Disorder?
Symptoms and Causes of Hoarding Disorder
Massive thank you Jeff, to you and your team for the amazing work in organising a house clearance for me. Such professionalism and respect to the property. I couldn’t have asked for better. Thank you – in a time of panic and madness you made everything calm. Louise Alessander
