Hoarders are some of self storage’s most numerous customers with big collections often winding up in self storage units. Extreme hoarders – those who hoard things like thousands of miniature animal figurines or mountains of clothes – often try to contain their massive collections within their homes, which can be dangerous and disturbing to family members. This hoarding phenomenon is picking up national attention thanks to a popular A&E show called “Hoarders” which tries to help the hoarders learn ways to clear out their homes, such as utilizing self storage.
Its fourth season is set to premier on Monday, June 20 at 9 p.m. EST with ten new episodes highlighting unbelievable stories of accumulation, including tens of thousands of dolls that fill every room in a house, hundreds of mannequins modeled after the hoarder, a man facing $20 million in fines for littering his property with hundreds of junked cars, and a toy collector whose massive stash of games, action figures, books and novelties has made it impossible to move through his home. The show attempts to set the hoarders on the track to recovery, including tossing items, hiring a professional organizer and renting a storage unit.
With American’s obsession with accumulating more items, homes have doubled in size since the 1950s. But the increase in space hasn’t been enough and our main weapon in the battle to stay above the growing mountain of stuff has been self storage. According to the Self Storage Association (SSA) one in ten household currently rents a self storage unit. And now our growing obsession with stuff is being chronicled on hoarding TV shows.
Hyperconsumption appears to land on the shoulders of young republicans. When the number of storage facilities was broken down by state and political party affiliation, it was found that those acquiring the most stuff and renting the most storage units are young republicans. The five states with the most self storage facilities are Texas, California, Florida, North Carolina and Ohio. The 2008 election results were compared with the number of self storage facilities by state per 10,000 people. It was found that more young people equals more storage facilities and Republican states tend to have the highest percentage of young people.
Towns sometimes have to step in when conditions turn unhealthy and unsafe within a hoarder’s home. Sometimes emergency crews can't get into a home, Raymond Mailloux told WMUR News New Hampshire. Mailloux is president of Community House Calls, a company that helps hoarders clean up their homes.
"You don't see a path," Mailloux said. "What you see is just debris and stepping on debris."
Another show, TLC’s “Hoarding: Buried Alive” uses the help of expert therapists and organizers to help the hoarders attempt to unlock the key to their obsessions in hope of reclaiming their lives. Hoarding is considered to be a form of obsessive compulsive disorder in which people get an unhealthy emotional attachment to what others see as junk. Psychologists said hoarding has always been around, but thanks to national TV shows, it's being recognized more now as a mental health problem, and more families are seeking help. Psychologist Dawn Huebner told WMUR that hoarding is associated with three things: the urge to save, difficulty making decisions about what to keep, and distress.
Sources Used:
“Hoarding: Hidden Problem Becoming Increasingly Visible.” WMUR News New Hampshire. May 13, 2011.
“Young Republicans Love Self Storage.” Givmo.com. May 17, 2011.