Compulsive Hoarding Famous Hoarders

Compulsive Hoarding

(Hoarding as a Disorder, Famous Hoarders Case Studies, and Solutions)

Regrettably, for several years, hoarding has been an out-of-sight disorder. Very little research was conducted on hoarding in the 1980s. However, since earlier 1990s, research scientists, psychologists and clinicians have shown a dramatic interest in the subject. Awareness concerning hoarding has also increased due to up-to-date media exposure. Sufferers, family members, and human service workforce who frequently deal with the compulsive hoarding disorder have also become aware of the problem and its solutions (Steinfatt, 2010).

Compulsive Hoarding: What is it?

Compulsive hoarding can be described as the attainment of and failure to thrust away huge bulks of goods or belongings. This kind of obsessive hoarding is often linked with considerable physical condition peril, working mutilation, and financial impediments. No pragmatic investigation has been conducted to examine the mentioned destructive effects although there are crystal-clear suggestions that hoarding has a negative and damaging influence on people living with or near someone with a hoarding dilemma (Tolin, Frost, Steketee & Fitch, 2008).

Very little attention has been given to the meaning and value of possessions in our daily lives. In 1978, Furby researched on the importance of possessions. It was found out that there are two motivations that derive people to collect stuff. The first motivation is the need to fulfill a desire or purpose with the possession of objects. This is known as instrumental saving. The second motivation is sentimental saving in which the saver thinks of the possessions as an extension of the self. Furby came to the conclusion that 'control' is the central aspect that makes a person own objects in a large quantity. People collect objects because they want to fulfill their desire using something or having control over its use. It is inculcated in human nature to control the environment and possession of objects allows them to do so. The instrumental motivation is high when the availability of object in time of need is uncertain. When an object is always available, the possessor doesn't worry about its unavailability in the time of need. Furby suggested that people acquire things so that they don't have to be in situations when they need something and it's not available (Frost & Gross, 1993).

Hoarding is a unique case of acquisition propensities. It is the attainment of unimportant and useless objects and the failure to discard them. In 1947, Fromm suggested that acquiring things is the central aspect of an individual's character. He describes people with "Hoarding Orientations" to be obsessive, introverted, doubtful, isolated, over anxious and orderly. Some theories consider compulsive hoarding as an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) (Frost & Gross, 1993).

In 1940, Bender and Schilder described hoarding as a warning sign of impulsions, precursors to compulsive behavior in children. In 1973, Salzman proposed that people with obsessional behavior tend to collect things to gain control over their environment. Adams, in the same year, studied the behaviors of 49 obsessive children. His conclusion suggested that children with obsessions have an inclination to hoard stuff whereas children who are not obsessed but have experienced material deprivation tend to hoard material in large quantities (Frost & Gross, 1993).

It was in 1988 that the most extensive account of hoarding and associated behaviors was given by Warren and Ostrom. Their observations were based on personal experiences and the interviews they conducted with students, colleagues and relatives. According to them, there were four reasons given by majority of people to justify their saving things in excessive numbers. The first reason given by people is that they will need the object in some time in future. Second reason was that the object is so good that it can't be thrown away. Third reason was that holds value and will hold value. The last reason given was that the objects hold sentimental value and can't be replaced or rejected (Frost & Gross, 1993).

Significant disability and poor global functioning have been observed in the compulsive hoarding patients. Considerable higher levels of family, social and work-related disability was found in OCD hoarding patients. On the other hand, non-hoarding OCD patients do not have similar inappropriateness of improper functioning (Sanjaya, Ayers, Maidment, Vapnik, Wetherell & Bystritsky, 2011).

In short, obsessive hoarding can never be considered as a collection of some sort. It is the acquisition of objects which have no value at all or have very little importance. Regardless of how unreasonable that may be, hoarders collect objects with the sense that they might be used or happen to be valuable someday to themselves or others. One of the most authentic examples of such an obsessive state of mind can be best proved by the case of Collyer Brothers. Langley Collyer held on to years of newspapers so that someday his blind brother, Homer Collyer could read them after repossessing his sight. The disposophobia disorder (the fear of disposing off things) is often called "Collyer Brothers Syndrome" (Bobb, 2009).

What the house of a compulsive hoarder looks like?

For a hoarder, saving items and objects is the guarantee of security and an alternative for kith and kin. It is the isolation and intense unconventional behavior that makes the life and dwelling of a hoarder terrible (Bobb, 2009).

Piles of trash, stacks of newspapers and enormous clutter are common sights in the home of a hoarder. The pathetic condition of the rooms makes it impossible for the sufferers to carry out their daily chores including bathing, eating and sleeping. This results in jobs undone and health damage. It is out of the question to invite guests at such places where nothing is on its place. This type of living standard is unfathomable. It is difficult to understand that how can a person choose to live in such depressive conditions where one is plainly buried in the junk (Layton, 2011). The houses of compulsive savers give the impression of being turned upside down. It is too strange a fact that a lot of sufferers who save things compulsively use or look at the collected stuff once in a blue moon. The only thing that keeps them satisfied is to have the things cluttered around "just in case" (Penzel, 2011).

The remarkable point is that it does not take an overnight to fill homes with trash. It takes years for a sufferer to pile up one's house with invaluable possessions. The issue here is not the cleanliness of homes but the cleanliness of mind. It is exceedingly important to change the mindset of the hoarder for whom none of the collected stuff is trash (Layton, 2011)!!

What to Expect in a Hoarder's House?

Hoarders tend to save a lot of invaluable stuff to be accumulated in their houses. This stuff include stationery objects (pen, pencils etc.), rubber bands, old greeting cards, empty boxes, lists, plastic containers, newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, junk mail, old appliances, obsolete books and even assorted labels, string, bottles, and bottle caps. In the majority of severe cases, stuff such as old cigarette butts, old cars, used aluminum foil, paper towels, empty match boxes, feathers, fur, used tissues, hairs and useless paper cups were present in the hoarder's house. It is also astonishing that several obsessive hoarders even poke around to find something in other people's trash and take from it whatever appears valuable or repairable. Uncontrollable savers tend to accumulate stuff in large amounts that either creates storage problems, causes conflagration or health risks (Penzel, 2011).

The Most Famous Hoarders of All Times: Case Studies

The Collyer Brothers

Langley and Homer Collyer, also famously recognized as "The Collyer Brothers" were born in New York City in a very prosperous family. The hoarding disorder is also associated with them which is related to the fear of throwing things away and is given the name of "Collyer Brothers Syndrome" (Steinfatt, 2010). The brother-pair is also renowned as the "Hermits of Harlem" who had hoarded their Fifth Avenue Home with possessions, newspapers, and just plain junk. More than 130 tons of material was removed from their house after their deaths in 1947. The little value of the auctioned items piled up in their house fetched only $1,800.

They belonged to a prosperous family with their father and mother working as a gynecologist and an opera singer respectively (Steinfatt, 2010). The brothers spent nine years of their lives (1909 to 1918) in their 2078 Fifth Avenue home with their parents. After their father's death, the brothers lived with their mother who died and left the brothers alone in 1929. Her death disturbed the brothers so much that they confined themselves in an autonomous world of books, pianos, memorabilia and imports for the next eighteen years. In order to simplify their lives, the Collyer brothers stopped using the telephone in 1917 and gas and electricity in 1928. It surely suggests that the brothers deliberately cut off all the links with the outside world. This isolation in the house dissociated the two brothers from the people. They were targeted by the burglars several times so Langley, being the older brother, protected and secured the house by boarding up the windows and setting up booby traps for the burglars and thieves (Steinfatt, 2010).

It is also astonishing to know that Langley was a concert pianist and Columbian graduate in engineering. On the other hand, Homer was a lawyer by profession. Surprisingly, their hoarding problem had made them so involved in collecting junk that they forgot using their abilities in a fruitful activity. Langley was used to of roaming around at nights and collected things in a carton that he dragged using a rope. Homer stayed at home as he had lost his eyesight and also suffered with arthritis. Thus, he was totally dependent on Langley for all his needs.

It was in 1947 that the Collyer brothers gained the attention of the public after the police received a phone call that there was something wrong with the Collyer House. The police went there, investigated and found out that there is no way to get inside the house as the doors were blocked by the debris and junk. At last, the police managed to enter in the house via a second-floor window and found Homer's dead body but they couldn't find Langley anywhere. After three weeks on investigation, the police found Langley's body inside the Collyer house, buried under a collapsed tower of baled newspaper. After examining the body, the police derived to the conclusion that Langley lost his life due to the suffocation as he got crushed under the toppled newspaper tower (Steinfatt, 2010).

Not only was the house full of massive amounts of obsolete books, newspapers and magazines; it also contained peculiar items like a Model T. Ford framework, an X-ray machine and 14 grand pianos including piles and heaps of trash (Steinfatt, 2010).

Edmund Zygfryd Trebus

Edmund Trebus gained the attention of the masses when he was featured on a BBC television series named "A Life of Grime." He was an obsessive hoarder he liked to collect vacuum cleaners, cameras and any record of Elvis Presley he could buy (Toothman).

Edmund Trebus lived a very miserable life as he not only endured personal tragedies after his father's death but also faced harsh realities of a global catastrophe when Poland, his country, was invaded by Hitler. After the end of the war, he moved to New York where he got married and in the due course, became the father of five children. It was after he moved to Crouch End along with his family that he became a serious collector of items that were of no use. His Victorian house was filled with trash and spoils of skips and junk shops that he used to hunt following his obsession for the spare parts of all sorts. After his children made their own ways to the world, he started piling up his house with more and more junk. He has a small cart that he used to push through the streets of the town and collected building materials. The garden was so full of debris that he had to use a ladder to go in and out of it. His obsession made him reach to the point that he had just a corner of kitchen for him to share with his dog. He also collected wood, motorcycles, washing machines and bicycles. He also managed to retrieve an old synthesizer that belonged to a musician named Dave Stewart (Staff, 2002).

Surprisingly, he had good relations with his neighbors. However, due to the condition of his home and garden, the neighbors had a good reason to complain about him to the Haringey Council.

After several legal threats, Trebus was arrested and was made to evacuate the hazardous material out of his house and garden. However, Trebus refused to do so and argued with great exasperation that whatever he possesses has great value and worth and nothing owned by him is insignificant. He also had several verbal conflicts with the council's workers and police officials who tried to make him clean his house to get free of the unnecessary items he possessed (Staff, 2002).

The uncontrollable and compulsive saver, however, gave up fighting with the council and spent the last days of his life in a residential care home. He died at the age of 83 (Staff, 2002).

Alexander Kennedy Miller

Alexander Kennedy Miller was known for his obsession with cars and aircrafts. However, it was after his death that the people came to know that he was a genuine compulsive hoarder who had acquired 50 vehicles over a course of his lifetime and surprisingly, he never drove any (Toothman). He possessed Stutzes, the most luxurious cars of that time including Bearcats, Superbearcats, Blackhawks, 32's and DV16's. He also bought a Stanley, Locomobiles and a Springfield Rolls Royce in addition when the manufacturing of Stutz stopped. He used to hide the cars from other peoples' prying eyes inside the storage sheds after wrapping the vehicles in burlap (Frank).

The collection didn't stop here. He also owned innumerable (as in thousands) gaskets, engines, shock absorbers, radiator cps and other related car accessories. More surprises astonished the officials who were given the charge of combing over the Miller state. It was discovered that Mr. And Mrs. Miller had accumulated millions of dollars in the form of gold and silver bullions. Not only that, their fortune consisted of money in the form of promissory notes and invested in the stock market. The gold and silver bars and the currency was found in the hidden metallic cabinets, safes and even under the ground (Toothman).

Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale

Also known as "Big Edie," Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale ("Little Edie") lived luxuriously but in an unpleasant way for many years in an East Hampton, N.Y., vicarage popularly recognized as Grey Gardens. The mother-daughter pair had an obsession with cats. It has been reported that the ladies possessed about 300 cats. Their house was littered with empty cans and fecal matter. When the two ladies and their cats were publicized, they got instant fame owing to the fact that the women were the aunt and cousin of the 35th First lady of the United States, Jackie Kennedy (Toothman).

It is important to note here that Edie Beale cannot necessarily be regarded as a compulsive hoarder. She had an obsession with cats. Her house was not hoarded with stuff but an animal species. With what we have discussed about compulsive hoarding in the earlier part of the paper, Edie Beale cannot be regarded as an individual who suffered with obsessive-compulsive disorder. However, her strange collection makes her a strange personality. She lived a life in nastiness and squalor and this is significantly not a symptom of being a compulsive hoarder.

Bettina Grossman

Bettina Grossman is a very inexhaustible and creative artist. She has been creating and exploring all types of mediums related to art such as paintings, photographs, drawings, sculptures and films. And she has creating them for decades. Though her creative art has never been sold much but this has not stopped Grossman. She lives in an apartment in Chelsea Hotel and the place is stacked up with her work. Her obsession became known to the world when Sam Bassett, a young filmmaker, became her friend and filmed her life in a documentary. Due to this film, her art was brought to light and her extensive stock of art was put in order (Toothman).

Tracy Pickering

Tracy Pickering lives in Britain and is considered as the country's biggest hoarder. She is a compulsive hoarder who cannot throw anything away including used tissues, junk mail, old clothes and magazines. Since 1993, she has been saving all the newspapers. Her problem of disposophobia started in 1989 when she began to keep her used tissues inside a big plastic bag. According to her psychiatrist, Tracy's disorder is the result of a flood in 1984 which destroyed all her possessions. Since then, Tracy's life has been upside down as she has acquired the obsessive-compulsive disorder. She bought her own house in 1994 where she is still living and the place is a mess. Due to her disorder, Simon, her husband is facing a depression. However, the couple is trying to cure Tracy's problem which is a good sign ("Your Health: Help! I'm Addicted to Clutter; Tracy Pickering, 40, Hasn't Thrown a Newspaper out since 1993 and Even Saves Up All Her Used Tissues. Meet Britain's Biggest Hoarder," 2004, p. 22).

An Overview of Compulsive Hoarders

Statistics reveal that there are millions of people in the world right now who are affected by compulsive hoarding; 2 million in the U.S. alone. Hoarding is a type of OCD and patients who suffer from anorexia, dementia, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's and mental retardation can also suffer from compulsive hoarding at the same time. The mentioned cases of the famous compulsive hoarders easily help us to conclude that each individual had an uncontrollable desire to acquire and collect things and stuff that was absolutely useless and insignificant to them ("Obsessive Compulsive Hoarding Disorder"). Langley used to collect newspapers just because he wanted his brother to read them once he regains his eye-sight. Trebus used to collect building material though he had nothing to do with that stuff. He was an extreme collector. Similarly, Miller collected valuable vehicles though he had no passion to drive them. The only passion he had was to possess his favorite cars in a large number. This makes Kennedy both a compulsive shopper and an obsessive collector. These cases help us to understand that compulsive hoarders have a yearning to collect and own unimportant things which they not even use.

The Collyer Brothers, Edmund Trebus, Bettina Grossman and Tracy Pickering are the similar-in-nature compulsive hoarders who acquired stuff and filled their homes with junk to such an extent that they left no space usable.

Some compulsive hoarders do instrumental saving while some practice sentimental saving. Instrumental savers believe that their hoarding fulfills a specific desire and is reasonable, advantageous and helpful. They also believe that the items they are collecting would be profitable for them in the future if they sell them ("Obsessive Compulsive Hoarding Disorder"). The best examples of instrumental savers we have here are Bettina Grossman and Alexander Kennedy Miller. Both of them collected and sold stuff and got profit in return. By selling stuff, they make themselves believe that whatever they are doing is justifiable and totally sensible. However, selling some items out of their collections doesn't mean that their obsession with favorite stuff is wisely and correct. On the contrary, sentimental savers firmly believe that the hoarded belongings are a representation and portrayal of their personalities ("Obsessive Compulsive Hoarding Disorder"). The examples of Big Edie and Little Edie are the best examples. Though they are not specifically considered as compulsive hoarders but their sentimental association with the cats they had as pets signifies them as sentimental savers who like to be surrounded with cats and had no issue with the nastiness and offensiveness that prevailed in their home environment.

Several other compulsions lie in other types of hoarders. Most of them have extreme concerns that certain objects must not be thrown away ("Obsessive Compulsive Hoarding Disorder"). Langley Collyer is the best example of such a saver. Other kind of savers cannot decide what items to save and what items to get rid of. Tracy Pickering is the best example in this regard as she finds her severely indecisive about what to keep and what to throw out.

Old clothing, notes, obsolete books, bags, notes, newspapers, tissues, junk mail, magazines are the most common items that are found in the houses of the hoarders when their obsession grabbed the attention of the world. Such obsessions have never helped any hoarder ever. Instead, almost every hoarder was found to be notably impaired in social and occupational performance (Saxena & Maidment, 2007).

Hoarding is in all probability a phenomenon that is widespread. The mentioned case studies reveal that compulsive hoarding may have a connection with considerable psychiatric morbidity of the individuals discussed. Despite of the frequent incidents that now and then reflect a compulsive hoarding disorder in the individuals, this issue has received little research attention. Due to the negligence, many of the questions related to the disorder and its supervision remain unanswered. In order to understand the various symptoms of the compulsive hoarding, it is necessary to assess the family history and treatment approaches of hoarding (Stein, Seedat & Potocnik, 1999).

Treatment

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)

In present times, behavioral therapy and medication help in the treatment of compulsive hoarding. These treatments help make sufferers learn how to clean up their houses and get rid of the unnecessary items they are collecting for a very long time. They also learn how to control their obsessive compulsions (Penzel, 2011).

When OCD is treated using the cognitive-behavioral theory, sufferers are motivated to slowly but surely confront such situations that cause them to undergo trouble. They are asked to resist their compulsive thoughts at the same time. This makes them relieve their anxiety by deliberately experiencing compulsive situations. This behavioral treatment approach is recognized as Exposure and Response Prevention (Penzel, 2011).

The problem of compulsive hoarding can be treated little by little sorting out and throwing away unimportant stuff that have been accumulated in the past years. This treatment is possible when the direct supervision of a therapist is taken. The sufferer can also be given regular or weekly assignments to accomplish at home (Penzel, 2011).

The therapist carries out a lot of investigation and thorough behavioral analysis before the actual work of therapy starts. His analysis concerns what is saved, how is it saved and where it is saved. The therapist either visits the hoarder's house to observe the sight or he asks for the photographs of the place where the hoarded material is accumulated. The junk and trash is sorted out either by location or category. First of all, the things that are easiest to pick out and get rid of are thrown away. Then the turn of the difficult stuff comes. For example, the therapist chooses a specific room, cabinet, or any other place for the hoarder to start the clearance. Gradually, the therapist assigns different tasks for the individual to accomplish the discarding process. On the other hand, some hoarders only save particular items and stuff so it is easier for the therapist to help in the clearing. Thus, wherever the collected items are seen, they are removed from that place to evacuate the house. A good example of such a scenario is observed in the houses of the people who tend to save unnecessary quantities of newspapers, books, magazines, etc. Or who amass large amounts of clothing. It is easier to give away these materials to the libraries or donate to the poor. Moreover, the healer and the patient work together to formulate a set of rules for what should be kept and what should be thrown away. They also work out how to arrange the saved items in a neat and organized manner. Many therapists ask to keep an item and decide later whether it should be kept or not considering its need in the future. Some discard items on the basis that they have not been used in the last three years. However items such as family heirlooms, antiques, expensive collections, family pictures, personal diaries or useful tools and accessories, etc. are kept as they all are old but important. All these rules are exceedingly important because they help to organize the higgledy-piggledy houses and disordered lives of the hoarders. They also facilitate sufferers to abstain from their previous compulsions. In short, the cognitive behavioral therapy helps the uncontrollable saver to forget his/her obsessive compulsions and to take personal responsibility for the state of their mind and house. It also helps them to realize that they really are facing a problem and must take necessary steps to change the mode of their lives (Penzel, 2011).