Getting Help with Hoarding for a Loved One

Because of the social stigma, it can be challenging to get help with hoarding. Often, family and friends are the first contact for support, but you can use other resources too. If you are in a support position, you can try various methods, from finding counseling to using local resources.

Note that the following post offers suggestions and is not medical advice.

Seek Professional Clearing Services

It can be hard to even get someone to agree to have a home cleared when they have a hoarding problem. Hoarding is a genuine mental health condition that requires treatment in many cases. However, you can begin the process by calling local junk removal services if you can get your loved one to agree. Explaining the health hazards and how their life will be improved by removal can help get them on board with beginning the process of help they need.

Help with Hoarding through Counseling

As a caring relative or friend, you are in a unique position to help. Hoarding can be very destructive and causes many severe hazards to someone’s life. While hoarding isn’t that common at around 2% to 3% of the population, it can be serious. However, it can be treated with cognitive behavior therapy and counseling. Of course, convincing someone they require treatment is challenging enough, and getting them to volunteer is often even harder.

Clear Out One Room at a Time

If you can get someone onboard with clearing out the home when they have a hoarding issue then you are doing well. This can be very stressful for someone who suffers with hoarding problems though. Many hoarders feel a strong emotional attachment to the most trivial of things. So it can be hard for them to let them go. With some agreement, start small and work from there. It is often a good start to clear one room and work on a plan for the rest of the property.

Immediate Tips for Help with Hoarding

Time is of the essence when someone has a hoarding problem. Every day, they could be adding more to the mess. But a clean home is a safe home. So, here are some immediate tips:

• Ensure there isn’t an immediate danger to environmental health and safety.
• Check your loved one isn’t in a position to hurt themselves or others. 
• Also, check the welfare of any pets your friend or relative might have.
• Bring up the possibility of helping them with their hoarding problems.
• Don’t remove items from someone else’s home or push them into it.

Some people hoard so much that they don’t even know what is in a room. Very often, there are health hazards such as chemicals and pet droppings. So, it helps to get started ASAP.

Encourage Social Activity

Anyone suffering with a hoarding disorder runs the risk of becoming isolated and many indeed do. This in turn makes hoarding worse, which isolates them further. And it’s a vicious cycle. Social interaction plays a key role in many mental health problems and hoarding is no different. When someone stays social, they can turn to family and friends for support. This can reduce the chances of the negative consequences of hoarding and alert others of an incoming issue.

Use Local Resources for Help with Hoarding

Hoarding can become an extremely disruptive force in someone’s life. We often associate hoarding with older people, but it begins in the teen years and accelerates in the 20s. Fom there it only gets worse. CBT is an excellent treatment for hoarding. However, it can cost. But don’t worry. There are usually local services you can turn to for counseling for hoarding. These costs much less than private CBT services and might even be free in some local communities.

Understand This is a Recognized Condition

It can be difficult to see a loved one hoarding when you know they are damaging their mental and physical health. There are community resources you can use if there is a danger to health and safety and counseling might even be available. However, hoarding disorder is a recognized health condition that should be treated as such. Any attempts to interfere can be met with fierce resistance and make things worse. Expert treatment, and patience are a good start to helping.

Summary

Professional clearing services can help with hoarding problems by removing dangerous junk from a property. However, you can also check that there isn’t an immediate danger to your friend or relative. Hoarding is a genuine mental health issue, so you need a medical-based approach.