Hoarding: Buried Alive

Hoarding has become a secret for many perhaps a million Americans and abroad. Hoarding is the result of a deep psychological problems. Many of the subjects in every episode has issues besides hoarding that are not addressed in the first place. The hoarders are often sympathetic people who have been abused by society or their own families. The hoarders have either suffered extreme losses and hardships. Some hoarders use their possessions as a substitute replacement for people. The hour goes by quickly with a focus on two hoarders in different parts of the country. The hoarding gets out of hand whether they lose custody of their own children or their own home. The clean-up is a last resort and comes when the hoarder could lose their home too. The hoarding isn't just about having a bunch of stuff but the hoarders have trouble throwing it out in the first place. The most severe hoarders often don't even through out garbage.

Lately it seams this show has went from "hoarding" to people who are lazy. Throwing your garbage on the floor and walking over top of it till it piles to the roof is pure laziness not hoarding.

As it stands now, the show spends 45-50 minutes just focusing on the history and stuff leading up to the cleanup. Only 10-15 minutes spent on the actual cleanup and aftermath. Very dull & stupid, I usually put this on when I need something to help me fall asleep.

Somehow, they go from extreme hoarding. Over whelming garbage to clean & uncluttered. Hoarders have OCD compulsive behavior. They can't suddenly clean up tons of trash in a few weeks.

From what I kniw, there I'd medication for OCD that might help reset the brain.

These hoarders are often really nasty and I think borderline personality disorder. They focus on saving items worth a few 100, when they are facing eviction & lose of everything. They need everything. Ignore rat crap & collect urine in bottles.

On Hoarders, they use $100K of help for 5 days. HOARDING. They don't always show the clean-up. It takes teams of 20 with shovels to clean up tins of garbage.

Box of cellphones, even if they work, become outdated & inadequate.

I feared "Hoarding: Buried Alive" would be excessively exploitive but I'm relieved it's only mildly so. Perhaps the exchange is the hoarders agree to be put on the show in exchange for organization and therapy help. I would hope for that to be so. I am only on episode three of the first season and I'm pleased the therapists seem compassionate and reasonable to work with. I doubted this would be at all the case. "Hoarding" has its mix of catharsis and exploitive shock value, but thankfully it leans more towards the former than the latter. I'm impressed by how the family members and other people being interviewed maintain an agreeable sense of love and support rather than outright judgement. Of course the show acknowledges the desperation of these people's situations too and the dire need for them to change. But helpfully the professionals don't just charge in throwing stuff out or encourage that, although some of the therapists and helpers are more qualified than others. Hoarding is a difficult condition to accept or to cause the hoarder to come to trust the professional at all without feeling shamed. Hoarding requires a specific energy to be able to help and as certified as they are not all professionals have those capabilities. But fortunately these professionals at least try. That moment where the hoarder looks in relief at their cleared surroundings and that moment where they can feel the manageability of their situation is a moment I am willing to watch again too. So far pleased, but hesitant to give a better rating because I'm crossing my fingers. A show like this could easily slide into territory I would have misgivings about.