Hoarders have been good for business, Powell said, expanding his company's niche beyond crime scene clean-ups and graffiti removal. "We handled seven hoarders last month," he said, noting that the increase in such jobs has coincided with the popularity of two reality shows, on A&E and TLC, dedicated to pack rats. "The more those shows are on, the more calls we get."Well, isn't that nice, that someone's mental illness is so popular as to be a meal ticket for someone else? Okay, I know, I'm biased, but still...
I know that families think they are helping when they hire some group to come in and clean a hoarded home out, but especially if it's something dictated to or without the real involvement of the person, it's likely to do emotional distress (and I don't mean minor distress) to have had all their stuff gone. Hoarders place emotional value on things other people see as trash. By removing those articles without regard for those emotional ties, it could have a disastrous effect. I've heard of people in court-ordered cleanups throwing themselves into the dumpster as the stuff is carted away. Plus, her struggle with hoarding was exposed to the media, and I have to wonder if her consent to do so was given. It's one thing to hoard. It's another to have total strangers know. I have a real concern for this woman and I hope the family has also pursued mental health care for her. But in my mind, her right to privacy was violated in the pursuit of public fascination for hoarding.
PS I'm not saying they shouldn't have done anything, mind you. Her place was obviously across a line for safety and security. But it rather sounds like they whisked her away so they could get down to business. I may be wrong in that. If so, I apologise for jumping to a conclusion. But decluttering only works, in my opinion, if it's either by the hand of the hoarder or with the hoarder as a participant; otherwise in a few months it could be just the same again.
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