If you are the hoarder consider getting help for your condition. No money? Try reading anti-hoarding self help books and watching the reality shows about hoarding. Read books that dive into why you hoard.
Neal S. (45 year old man): "I am a trash hoarder. I don't know how to get the help I need to clean up my problem. I feel paralysed when I think about cleaning up my mess. I can't ever seem to motivate myself to clean. I don't know what it is. I feel like I am stuck in a downward spiral once the hoard gets to a certain tipping point. The whole thing feels so hopeless and I just give up."
Trash hoarders
Food hoarders
Clean hoarders
Animal hoarders
"Collectors"
Altered brain function: hoarding can begin after brain damage.
executive functioning disorder
complusive shopping
childhood deprivation and/or abuse
mental illness
neurodiversity
cPTSD and other traumas
Hereditary or learned: people who hoard often have relatives that also hoard.
reseller
Reasons hoarders give for hoarding
emotional attachment to stuff
guilty about throwing 'good stuff' away
I can sell it (spoiler they don't sell it)
trageties
grew up or currently in poverty
Realize you cannot make the hoarder change; they have to decide to change.
But you can defend your territory. Do not allow them to hoard your personal areas and/or common areas. Your success with this may depend on your age and relationship to hoarder.
Underaged child: try to defend your room from hoarding. You may be able to clean and defend other areas depending on the temperment of the hoarder and/or your motivation.
Spouse/significant other or roommate of the hoarder: do not let the hoarder trash the whole house. This goes double if you have children. You have a right to at least half the living space (more if you have kids). You have the right to clean up and police unsafe and unsanitary conditions. If you have children you have an obligation to keep your kids safe and clean!
Animal hoarders: please report animal hoarders and try to remove animals to safe conditions. If you are an animal hoarder GET HELP and rehome the animals.
Maria A (57 year old woman). "I am a recovering hoarder. I believe that people who hoard should not be spoiled and kow towed to. Hoarders need to be called out and held accountable by the people in their life.
Hoarders have no right to force their children, other dependent adults or defenseless pets to live in unsanitatory and dirty house packed full of trash and junk!"
*Barb L. (26 years old): "Shame. I felt a lot of embarrassment as I got older due to living in filth and clutter. I was always worried about being stinky. Even though I would shower every day my house smelled so bad it stuck to everything I wore and followed me around.
Nobody could come into our house. My friends were not allowed over. I was constantly surrounded piles of stuff and trash bags higher than my head. The trash bags were filled with my mom's precious belongings that we were not allowed to touch.
My mom did not let me get rid of anything in my room. There were 4th grade clothes packed in my room when I was a teen. I was not allowed to throw away broken or unwanted toys. Our room closets were full of a random assortment of her junk.
Living in that mess was overwhelming and stressful. I had zero control over my environment. The worse was I never learned proper habits and cleaning so I still struggle with that as an adult."