Hoaders are Individuals who meet diagnostic criteria for hoarding disorder experience feelings of anxiety or discomfort about discarding possessions they do not need. This discomfort arises from an emotional attachment to possessions and a strong belief that their possessions will be needed in the future. Possessions will take on a sentimental value that outweighs their functional value.
There is a more common group that could be included in the hoarder’s classification, referring to careless people who accumulate garbage, used clothes and all kinds of waste, due to their unwillingness to organize their environment. Many of these individuals, like classic hoarders, are ultimately diagnosed with schizophrenia. Over time, this psychological disorder worsens, reaching an “incurable” stage, where it is extremely difficult to overcome the abnormality.
x
Hoarders generate serious family and even social problems. Every year hundreds of thousands of families are destroyed due to the hoarding disorder of one or more of its members.
What to do when a family member begins to show hoarding inclinations? The National Psychiatric Association suggests one of three pathways. Either those affected move, or the hoarder moves: or the hoarder accepts his or her psychological disorder and shows interest in healing. If a hoarder’s cure is not achieved, the family nucleus could face serious psychological and health problems.
In severe cases, a hoarder’s home may become a fire hazard (due to blocked exits and stacked papers) or a health hazard (due to mite infestation, excreta and detritus from excessive pets, hoarded food and garbage or the risk of stacks of items collapsing on the occupants and blocking exit routes). Hoarding affects more than just the person who has the strong attachment to possessions, as other people living in the home and neighbors can be affected by the clutter. Individuals with hoarding disorder have a quality of life as poor as those diagnosed with schizophrenia. The disorder increases family strain, work impairment, and the risk of serious medical conditions.
If a hoarder is not treated in time, he or she could become incurably ill, with all the consequences that this scenario has for the patient and their families, especially for the family members who share the home with the patient.
x
Mites
x
Hoarders are mites’ best friends. These extremely dangerous insects find the perfect habitat among the trash that hoarders collect. After a short time, the mites can make the inhabitants of a house decide to move, affected by the invasion and infection of such voracious creatures.
Structural fumigation, also called “tenting” or “whole house fumigation,” is done by Structural Pest Control Operators (SPCOs). A toxic gas called sulfuryl fluoride is used to control bed bugs, termites, and other structure-infesting pests. However, in the case of mites, this method is not 100% effective, since a small percentage usually remains alive that, when reproducing, generates offspring resistant to sulfuryl fluoride.
It is imperative to keep the mite population to a minimum, something that has proven impossible in the case of a hoarder-inhabited dwelling.
Scabies is a terrible and highly contagious skin disease transmitted by mites and which, in people with a depressed immune system or advanced age, can be serious, chronic, incurable, and deadly. The parasite that causes scabies in humans is called Sarcoptes Scabei and is transmitted by skin-to-skin contact. Many hoarders have been found to suffer from this abominable disease.
It is estimated that more than 100,000 seniors die annually in the United States from dust mites.
