Hoarding: Buried Alive

Hoarding: Buried Alive is a documentary series that addresses the severe illness of being an excessive hoarder. Hoarding can become a real issue in today's world. It can be how some people tend to deal with suppressed past issues and leads to nothing good. I've helped hoarders move, and it's a nightmare because they don't feel they have a lot of stuff. Hoarding: Buried Alive helps people overcome their hoarding tendencies. As well as helping individuals clear their houses it also provides the individuals with a therapist to help deal with the underlying issues. This show is an eye-opener. You will be surprised at what some people hoard and how their houses look before and after. I know of a lady who can't even live in her own house it's gotten that bad. She lives in her car and her car is full of stuff. My heart cries out to these people and this show could also reach out to hoarders letting them know they are not alone and that there is help out there. My only wish is this show would spend less time chatting about the hoarders situation and spend more time showing the house being cleaned up. - Asif Zamir

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.

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.

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.

This show is at the top of "My "Hate this show list" Hoarding, Buried Alive is the same story, just different houses and people. Please, if possible, replace it with more episodes of "ER" shows. Thank you for your attention to this post.