8 Signs You Have A Hoarding Problem

While every home is prone to clutter from time to time, it can become compulsive wherein all surfaces of one’s home, including countertops, sink and stairs are filled with items. When the amount of clutter in your home begins to affect your life and health, it may be indicative of a hoarding problem.

Hoarding is an obsessive-compulsive anxiety disorder, referred to as hoarding disorder. Hoarding disorder involves acquiring items and failing to get rid of them, even though they are of no use anymore. Here are some signs you may have a hoarding problem:

1. 1. Cluttered Living Spaces.

This is generally the first sign of a hoarding problem. If certain living spaces are no longer usable (like the inability to access the stove), this can be a sign of a hoarding problem. In some cases, entire rooms will be unusable as well: furniture will tend to be in the middle of the room, while the rest of the room will be stacked with items.

1. 1. You Frequently Lose Things.

Those with hoarding disorder will often lose items due to their cluttered living spaces. In addition, they will have difficulty with organization.

1. 1. Excessive Attachment to Items and an Inability to Let them Go.

Hoarders will be excessively attached to their possessions, even if they are useless. Similarly, they will display considerable distress over the thought of having to part with these items as well. You may display a pattern of simply moving items from one pile to another, without ever getting rid of anything.

1. 1. Your House is Filled with Useless Items.

Generally, those with hoarding disorder will hold on to useless items like junk mail, newspapers or magazines. You may hold on to clothes that you have not worn in years, or broken appliances with the means to repair them at a later date.

1. 1. Your House is Unsanitary.

If you have unwashed dishes that have been in the sink for a long period of time, a build-up of trash, piles of unwashed laundry or toilets that have not been cleaned, this may be a symptom of hoarding disorder.

1. 1. No Organization to the Clutter.

While some people who have a lot of possessions know where everything is, those with hoarding disorder will not. Items will be randomly dispersed across the house and may even simply be tossed into various rooms.

1. 1. Acquiring Useless Items.

You may find yourself bringing in useless items into your home, such napkins from a restaurant.

1. 1. Defensive Upon Confrontation.

You may find yourself getting angry or defensive when family and friends begin to make comments about the state of your home, or you may feel ashamed and embarrassed at the thought of someone entering your home.

If you suspect you or someone you know may have hoarding disorder, contact a professional in the mental health industry for more information. In the meantime, if you or your family member is ready to fix their hoarding issues, our team can help you dispose of excess junk, quickly and efficiently. Contact our team today for more information.

5 Tips For Hoarders To Control Their Habits

Hoarding is actually a diagnosable mental health issue. It is a set of compulsive behaviours which create the need to be continually amassing and storing unmanageable amounts of personal belongings in the home, many of them quite useless, even hazardous. Hoarding is a psychological condition, but fortunately, there are methods hoarders can use to keep their bad habits in check. Here are five tips for hoarders to control their habits.

Take out the trash

One of the many problems with the homes of hoarders is that there is never enough space in the trash for things that need to be thrown away. By regularly emptying the trash and making room, you can throw things away as you need to, instead of keeping them in the pile because you don’t have room in the garbage, recycling or donation bin.

Take back the kitchen

Make an effort to do dishes as you use them. It’s a chore to spend time at the sink, especially after you’ve just expended all that energy preparing and serving a meal, but dishes can quickly get out of hand and take over your entire kitchen. Another kitchen necessity is a clean fridge. Fridges can become backed up with unused produce, jars and plastic containers. Spend some time once a week reorganizing the refrigerator so it doesn’t become overrun with old and unsafe food.

The bedroom

A hoarder’s bedroom is filled to the brim. Clothes, even old, worn-out, ill-fitting ones are everywhere. Hoarders generally feel like many of the things they have are tied to specific memories in a very physical sense. The destruction or loss of an item can be a traumatic hypothetical because it implies destruction of something more abstract that they hold dear. Telling yourself that memories exist independently of the material possessions they are tied to is a good way to rationalize getting rid of something you don’t need.

Hire a hoarding clean-up service

Many junk removal companies offer hoarding clean-up service. These businesses know the areas that typically need tackling, are aware of the potential sanitation and safety hazards that hoarding can create and take care not to throw out belongings that are truly valuable. They do not judge and are there to help you take back your space and your life.

If you’re uncomfortable with having strangers help you with the task, simply rent a junk removal bin and have a trusted friend or family member help with the task. That way you’ll be comfortable as you take back your life.

Start small

Revamping your lifestyle is not something you have to do all at once. Choose a room, or even an area of a room to get the ball rolling and start changing some of the compulsive thought patterns that are associated with hoarding.

Hoarding can be very debilitating and may seem like it is taking over your life. However, if you follow any or all of the above five suggestions, you can make a dramatic impact on your quality of life, your mental health and the way you view and see your personal space and what you keep in it.

Hello everyone. It is shaping up to be a very busy week here in Toronto for junk removal and bin rentals.

As you may already know, Junk It was involved in the massive Cat House clean-up in the beaches where we took away 4 full truck loads of debris from around the house. We were featured on City TV, Toronto Star as well as other media outlets.

During the clean-up, we took video from behind the scenes. Check it out.

Yesterday we were involved in a massive property clean-up in the east end of Toronto. It was a sad situation that involved hoarding. The neighbours have been effected for years and they were very happy to see the clean-up take place. We removed 4 full truckloads from the front and backyard. That is the equivalent of 36 pick-up truck loads.

Check us out on City TV.

http://www.citynews.ca/2013/09/25/beaches-house-overrun-by-cats-gets-long-awaited-cleanup-2/

Most people know of someone that pack their home with unnecessary stuff. Researchers are now just starting to understand this condition called hoarding.

Most scientists agree that hoarding as a disorder is defined by:

1. Excessive acquisition of stuff that have little or no value.

2. Extreme difficulty throwing anything out.

3. The inability to organize stuff in their living spaces which makes it impossible to live in the house.

An estimated 5% of Americans and Canadians suffer from this disorder and it effects people from all walks of life. In fact Andy Warhol was a hoarder. His New York Upper East Side town house was so jammed that only the kitchen and bedroom was accessible by a path.

Here in Toronto, Fire Services, Public Health and Municipal Licensing & Standards are making a concerted effort to work together to deal with these issues. There is still much more work to do but all of these agencies are recognizing that this issue requires a coordinated effort.

We have seen many hoarding situations over the years here at Junk It!. It requires patience and sensitivity while the removal is occurring. Our crews are very understanding of the problem.  We work with relatives and government agencies to ensure that the removal is done correctly. Please let us know if you need help with a hoarding situation. We can make recommendations and coordinate the effort.