Television can inspire you to do lots of things, right? You see a gorgeous bag on your favorite character on your favorite show and you set out to find and purchase that bag. You watch The Biggest Loser and before you know it, you’re in your living room in front of the TV, doing jumping jacks while you watch the show (or at least I am).
But does television inspire you to clean and nearly purge all of your useless junk?
That’s what Hoarders does for me.
I know that I am no where close to living in such disgusting filth as these people do, but just looking at their stuff and hearing how they got to this point makes me want to get up, go through every nook and cranny in my house, and throw stuff away.
These people look clean and put together out in public. How can they find their clothes when their entire house looks like this? How could you ever feel clean after showering if you had to walk through a house that looked like this? It makes me feel like I’m suffocating just looking at it.
I’m definitely guilty of buying things that I don’t need and know that I could get by on a lot less than I have. This show is enough to give me a big slap across the face wake up call and stop me from ever bringing anything home without throwing something else away first.
I know that I’m never going to have enough rotting food hidden throughout my house to bring diseases all over my house and kill my family. I can barely keep a stocked refrigerator now. But some of these people have pets that poop all over the floor and no one cleans it up. They have kids that have to get dressed for school, do homework, and eat dinner in houses that look like this.
Have y’all seen Hoarders on A&E? Does it inspire you to get up and clean your house– and consider purging stuff?
{ 52 comments… read them below or add one }
I have wanted to watch Hoarders since I heard about it but I finally saw clips of it yesterday on Oprah.
I agree, it makes me want to empty my cabinets and purge purge purge…
I just can’t understand how these people function or try to live normal lives. I can’t imagine.
That fridge is so gross. You know my fave Designing Woman (after Julia Sugarbaker, of course), Delta Burke, has a major hoarding problem? She came out to help others.
No, it doesn’t make me want to clean and throw things out, but it sure makes me thankful I’m not like that. It’s such a hard disease to understand…esp. that one where the woman wanted to keep the expired food. I mean, seriously, I just don’t get it. It’s a fascinating show, but I still gotta say, Intervention is my fav.
Oh my word. I have never seen that show but I cannot imagine what it would be like to live in that filth! I am really thankful that I don’t have something like that in my life! I get antsy with just a pile of papers on my counter!
I saw Oprah yesterday and it did gross me out. Hard to believe there are people out there that live like that. When my husband and I were living in a small apartment in NYC we had a place for everything and nothing entered the apartment unless something left. Now that we are in a house in the suburbs we have the space and I can see how it gets away from you. We have so much stuff in the basement and keep wondering how we got all this stuff in a matter of 3 years!
I haven’t seen that show yet; I’m fascinated by the concept of hoarders and have always sat in amazement when Oprah covers that issue. It sort of hit me after watching one episode of Oprah that addressed this issue: I’m pretty sure my aunt has this disorder. And I certainly take a shower after I visiit her house!
Those pictures make me anxious just looking at them. I have to have order. I don’t understand the hoarding issue. I haven’t watched the show, but I did see an episode on Oprah and it was jaw dropping. The lady featured was a lawyer and appeared to have her stuff together, but her home was disgusting. There was mold growing in the fridge…..ugh!!
I havn’t seen the show yet (becuase I think it might make me vomit) but I know a family that should go on it. Their house is so disgusting and full of junk…at one point they had 5 computer monitors just sitting in a room.
That show definitely gives me the heebie jeebies, that’s the perfect way to put it!! I cannot imagine ever living in anything like that. You have to wonder how they got to that point, I mean you don’t just wake up one day and have 8 year old yogurt in your fridge. I am a huge neat/organization freak and I’m always “cleaning out the closet” which annoys my husband, so I showed him that series and said THIS is what our house could look like if we didn’t clean stuff out very often! A little dramatic, but he got the point
Hoarders most definitely makes me want to clean house and purge! Especially when I watch it in conjunction with Flipping Out on Bravo. Jeff’s OCD makes me want everything straight and containers in the cabinets and fridge with labels facing out. Hoarders makes me want to clean everything with a toothbrush and white gloves. How can people live when they can’t even walk from their front door to their bedroom without being attacked by mounds of clothes and piles of stuff!
OMG – I watch this show too! I remember this one episode about food hoarders that freaked me out. The woman was actually arguing over keeping a rotten pumpking (…cause it’s seeds were still good??) It was literally in a mooshy pile of stinkiness on the floor. Ick! This show totally makes me want to clean too – and it also makes me realize that my junk drawer in the living room is nothing to sweat over!
I LOVE those shows but we don’t get them here. I only see them when someone like Oprah features them. I’m a bit of a hoarder myself, but not in a dirty, gross way, just an untidy way. Which sometimes becomes dusty. But just readibng your post makes me want to tidy up!
Oh man this show gives me the creeps! I’ve seen it before and sadly I can think of several people/families that I know that are like this (or at least pretty close)! It definitely makes me want to organize and purge. I love doing those things anyway but the show makes me extra ruthless!
Gosh, those pictures a long make me feel sicky! I’ve not seen the A&E show….not sure if I could handle it! I DID watch Oprah yesterday…so darn sad! I just can’t comprehend ALL that stuff and not being clean and not feeling clean…ICK!!
First of all, I think its absolutely hillarious that you do jumping jacks while watching The Biggest Loser. I’m impressed! And I started watching this episode but got busy and turned it off, It makes me so sad for these people to live like that, I hope once they get help they can turly change.
I watched this show the other day. It made me feel so clean LOL How can these people live like that!! So crazy!
i had seen the commercials but i hadn’t paid much attention until oprah yesterday. they were making excuses for these people saying that it was a disease and compared it to schizophrenia. really? i just find it hard to believe. the people were saying how it wasn’t that they were lazy, they just couldn’t clean. therefore, they ate family dinner on their bed. gross. i’m leaning towards lazy.
I couldn’t agree more – it is quite disgusting and I wonder how anyone – especially the kids can even FOCUS on their studies, etc., much less want to EAT in these homes – it is just GROSS!
I cannot even watch that show. I saw those people were on Oprah the other day and I turned it off. So disgusting. I’m like you…I feel suffocated. But also like I need to go over there and clean it for them. Ew.
That fridge makes me want to vomit! I don’t watch the show much but it does make me feel good about myself. Maybe I have too much stuff but it’s not even close to the stuff you see on Hoarders!
I’ve never seen this show, but that refrigerator is disgusting. I could NOT live like that (and I’m SO not overly clean or anal about my house). That’s just awful. It makes you wonder what they are feeling on the inside that makes them do that. Is it their way of control (similar to an anorexics?). My friend’s in-laws are like this and they refuse to go to either of their houses (yes they have two- one specifically for stuff they can’t throw away). It’s not a good life to lead, I would have to imagine.
I have never watched this show, but I am OCD about smells. I worry that someone is going to walk in my house and think it smells bad! That strives me to be neat and organized.
I know what you mean about showering some dirty and not feeling clean. I have been places where the shower was so dirty, I didn’t want to step in it! I get the “heebie jeebies” just thinking about it!
My sister had a friend who was taken away from her mom because of this. Her mom had to clean/fumigate the house to get her back. Not more than 2 months after she was back home, the house was disgusting again.
Those pictures and shows that cover hoarders make me so unbelievably sad. You just know there was something that happened in their lives that flipped some kind of common sense switch in the brain to “off” and they can’t seem to make heads or tails of what to do with “stuff.” Not even regular stuff, like groceries. I’ve seen a show on this where a woman literally stooped down on the sidewalk to pick up everything she encountered — to bring it home!!! She “just knew” she might need to use it one day. It’s just so sad.
As for me, I’m constantly in a state of purging and organizing, though sometimes I can’t seem to keep up. But my overflow would fill a couple laundry baskets — not an entire house. I think most of us are like this, aren’t we?
Yes! I agree that Hoarders does really make me want to keep my house tidy, organized, etc. I keep thinking of the environmental impact – the amount of food that is wasted, plastic that is bought, etc., that could have been spared.
REMINDER: Hoarding is a clinical mental illness, so we should all be sympathetic that these are just “lazy” people or “gross” people. They have a mental disorder than compels them to do this.
the people on hoarders just break my heart! it is so hard for me to watch that show. it is just so sad to me.
I have only seen the trailers for it. Something about it just makes me too sad to watch… kind of like Intervention.
That fridge sent me right back to when my dh lived with this guy that had a fridge that looked like that. I’m not kidding. I never wanted to put anything in there because it was always full and never well organized, let alone clean! How gross!
I watch what not to wear and get the feeling to purge my old clothes that I seem to think I need to hold onto. If I’m not wearing them and haven’t for sometime, I just need to get rid of them. I was holding them thinking that I would wear them someday but I just hate wasting the space to store them. I’m doing that this month. It’s on my planner to do!
Disgusting!! I’ve never seen this show…when does it come on?!
I watched it and it totally grossed me out! I feel the same way when I watch (being suffocated). I recently cleaned out all our closets and stuff, but I’m not done yet and this show has definitely inspired me to clean more!
Oh I have the same reaction – that show makes me want to clean absolutely everything and give/throw away heaps of stuff.
I did a HUGE purge fest while watching Hoarders the other day…. it totally grosses me out and makes me want to get rid of EVERYTHING that I own.
I haven’t watched that episode of Oprah yet (hopefully will get to it this weekend) but I’ve seen the series on A&E and it really is sad to see this problem take over their life.
I will say that I really like to watch “Clean House” on Style. (It’s a little more light-hearted than Hoarders). Clean House always motivates me to clean out a closet or two!!
Happy Weekend!
Those pictures scare me. Seriously seriously scare me. My closet is a mess, and that’s it. And it has been KILLING me… it desperately needs a good cleaning, I just haven’t gotten around to it.
The Husband and I make sure to clean our house from top to bottom EVERY week, and that includes putting things away. It can make such a difference to do it every week, so that the mess doesn’t pile up!
Hoarders on A&E makes me want to BARF..I actually get quite anxious if I watch the show too long. The most upsetting episodes are the one’s with the innocent children. Poor kids!! I don’t really understand the disease, but my grandmother-in-law is quite the hoarder of her childhood belongings. She explains it because she was a foster child and wants to hold onto her childhood. She is also suffering from dementia and wants to keep everything…in piles. Thanks for posting!
ugh. it’s very sad. I saw part of the food episode and it made me sick to my stomache. I actually did start going thru and organizing random rooms! haha
I am somewhat of a compulsive fridge cleaner-outer so its the fridges that REALLY get to me on that show. I usually have to avert my eyes – it makes me totally nauseous.
i agree! we love to keep a clean and clutter free house and especially every time we’ve moved we’ve gotten rid of and donated things. and Hubby likes such a clutter free house that he just wanted to start chucking a whole box here or there without even knowing what was in it, ha!
My mom had the same reaction to the show. My husband has had the same experiences with his own mom, so we are definitely going to be purging through a lot of things before we move into our new house.
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I have seen previews for the show, but have never watched it. I’m sure it would give me the ultra icky heebie jeebies! I used to work for the SPCA, so, I’ve seen my share of this in real life. I’m not a neat freak type person, I’m ok with some clutter, but, I need things to be “clean” overall–i.e., clean kitchen, floors, etc. I need to work on de-junkifiying my closets however, I have more clothing than any person ever needs and I hardly wear any of it. 5-6 rotating outfits. Not good!
Ahh. I agree I do not know how people live like that. Being the neat freak that I am, I always say if its not in its place its going to get thrown away. I hate clutter. Love your blog by the way
YES! And these shows are spreading…there have also been a few episodes about hoarding on TLC (don’t know the name of the show, though). The other reason I’ve started watching these shows is because my husband’s parents exhibit similar behavior – so I made him sit through an episode and he kept saying “my parents have said that very same thing.” But, it’s been helpful to make him more eager to purge his own stuff. Did you see the one where the woman was a FOOD hoarder?! So sad…
I have never seen this show, but I watch Clean House on the Style Channel and it makes me clean out the closets like crazy. I will have to record the Hoarders on my DVR.
This is crazy, and feel so bad for people that live like this. Can’t even imagine!!!
I have seen this show and sometimes can not understand why these people live like this. They were on Oprah this week. I just find it interesting, how they can live like this. It makes me want to jump up and start cleaning my home.
Two words — SCARED STRAIGHT! I’m afraid of every little bit of clutter now. We watched one night and at 10 o’clock at night I went on a cleaning frenzy….I can’t decide if it’s sick or to be pitied…
OMG–See that refrigerator made me want to throw up! That is disgusting! I can’t imagine living like that!
I’ve only seen the show ONCE — and that was enough to put me into a fit of cleaning. I live very minimally as it is, so I’m very sensitive to seeing clutter. Drives me bonkers.
Actually, watching Hoarders made me feel slightly better about the state of my house right now
I’m like, “wow, at least I can see my floor…”
I watched Hoarders just the other day and told my husband that it makes me want to throw away everything! When I read your post today, I couldn’t help but giggle! I’m glad someone else has that reaction too!
Simply viewing those pictures from the comfort of my desk makes me feel uncomfortable. I have seen the show on A&E a couple of times, but I remember when they had people like this on Oprah. It’s insane! I feel sad that these people have so many underlying issues and that this is how they choose to manifest them.
You do know this is a mental illness right? The language you are using is so judgemental.
They are not “these people”, they are people.