Hoarder problem growing in Oklahoma
BY MICHAEL MCNUTT
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49
Published: October 25, 2009
Local and state officials are at a loss to explain the recent increase in cases of compulsive hoarding, but say better cooperation is needed to spot the largely hidden phenomenon before it becomes deadly or causes a health risk to neighbors.
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‘Oklahoma problem’
Hoarders accumulate items such as bags, newspapers, books or animals. They keep collecting them until the items take over their living space. The condition is becoming more known because of the "Hoarders” television program on the A&E cable network.
"This is a state of Oklahoma problem,” Humphrey said. "This happens in communities all across Oklahoma.”
Children found living in such conditions are removed, Humphrey said. But not much can be done with adults who choose to live in those conditions, he said. Usually code officials don’t know about such instances because hoarders usually live by themselves and don’t socialize much.
Skow said hoarders learn how not to get noticed: They keep entranceways to their homes clear, they don’t answer the door, and they cover the windows.
Humphrey said one option is to make hoarding a crime, but he cautioned against that.
"We’ve got to get them help and not turn them into a criminal,” he said.
Humphrey suggested a possible law could require code enforcement officers and municipal employees to report to the state Department of Human Services instances of suspected hoarding.
Possible indicators of hoarding include no utilities being used, trash containers not being put out for pickup and entryways cluttered with items left for delivery.
"You can’t arrest them,” Morgan said, "but you can certainly see that they get treatment and if they’re not going in for their treatment somebody needs to be reporting it.”
Steve Buck, deputy commissioner of prevention for the state Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Department, said many hoarders may consider themselves merely collectors.
"Just because we see hoarding doesn’t mean that person is a risk to himself,” he said.
Early help urged
Photographs taken of the Lewis home after she died showed thick spider webs hanging from ceilings and black mold on walls and furniture.
The kitchen sink and stove were covered with items. At least a dozen cats were living with Lewis, 61, in the house as well; feces from the cats and rodents along with the mold made it difficult to breathe, Skow said.
In 1996, 2004 and 2006, the Oklahoma City County Health Department deemed the home unfit for human habitation because of trash and debris, animal feces throughout the house and generally filthy conditions. The house was demolished, at the city’s expense, in August.
Lytle said he called adult protective services to check on Lewis. She was taken away for three days in 1996 and about four hours in 2004.
But she was returned to her home both times, he said.
"If positive help had come early enough we might have had a different outcome. But it didn’t.”
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Hoarders on A&E is casting its second season of the documentary television series that sheds much needed light on this complicated and underreported condition. Each hour long episode will follow two individuals who suffer from this disorder through a crisis situation that is directly caused by their hoarding. We will provide free services for the hoarder, such as mental health support, professional organizers, and professional clean up and/or junk removal services. Each case will be considered on an individual basis, and services will be tailored to fit individual needs. What we are looking for: 1. Individuals willing to tell their story. 2. Individuals motivated to change by a ticking clock, or crisis caused by hoarding that needs to be addressed immediately. 3. We need to show how the hoarding has impacted friends and/or loved ones. These individuals will need to appear on camera and share their side of the story. Please go to our website to learn more information and to apply: [www.aetv.com] You can also email us at Hoarders@sfpseattle.com or call 206-767-1804 Please feel free to ask any questions.
My life without her is so much nicer. My house is 1500 sq ft. I clean half one week, the other half the next. If I find something in a cabinet or closet that I haven't used in the past year or doesn't work anymore, I throw it out. Hey, that's what I did with the ex!!
Neil, as far as hoarding, every situation I've seen has involved pretty significant health risks. Never for a minute think that someone who's a compulsive shopper is representative of hoarders. In most cases, the homes are infested with insects and vermin, and present a very real danger to the person living there and neighbors. As far as danger to themselves or others, the law says that includes when "the person is unable to provide for and is not providing for the basic physical needs of the person." Now if you want to argue that the person isn't at imminent risk of serious physical harm or death, go ahead. Just be as equally willing to stand up and face the music when the person found dead amidst the squallor.
The first is the most wonderful woman I have ever known. She grew up during the depression where every single thing her family owned became a blessing. As an young woman she married a brutal man who abused her in many ways (sexual, verbal and physical) and finally left her with nothing. By this time her parents had died and her siblings were spread about the country. She recalled her childhood, remembering how she felt blessed when they had nothing and resorted to that mentality. She worked very hard her whole life, retiring at 68, yet she was a pack rat who saved every newspaper, button, article of clothing, etc. None of this was trash, at least not in her mind, and it was all worth something to someone.
Next is a man whom, after his father died, decided to research his family tree and learn who his relatives are. He learned to value old newspapers, birth and marriage and death records, hand written letters from 20, 50, 100+ years ago. He searched out headstones and cemeteries, public records, historical societies and any possible way to connect the dots of those who came before him. He wrote books, published many articles, is requested to speak on many occasions about history and genealogy. Within all this study and work he realized the value of most peoples trash.
One man lost his wife and kids. In his depression he walked through the rooms of his lonely house looking through all the items of his family, just so he could know them better, even though they were gone. He had realized that he spent too much time working rather than having a good relationship with his family, yet he was too late and only then became fascinated with who they were. Every item they owned became a treasure. Once he was at that point, all items became a treasure, at least to someone.
The last man does fit into the category most of you understand. He was schizophrenic and a drug addict. When he was on his meds he was great, then he would convince himself he didn't need them anymore and would get bad again. Within this cycle he would destroy his home during the bad times and clean it up during the good. As time went on he started to believe that the items that would build up in his house encased the knowledge and wisdom as to why he would get bad. By wondering what had set him off he would reread through the last bad spell and look for clues. He never found anything. Last I heard of him he was hit by a train and survived.
Now, of those four people, do all of them need to be forced into a mental institution, as Janet has suggested?
Comments made not addressing this issue in a positive and helpful light should be addressed to the toilet where you fished your unhelpful comments from alas again.
Sincerely
Keith Kemp
Just remember, it is what you've made it(and we all see what you've made it).....
When Adult Protective Services is called into a situation where a person is mentally ill without an underlying health issue or cognitive impairment (such as Alzheimer's Disease), by law they are essentially limited to filing a third-party statement asking the district attorney to file a petition for involuntary commitment. The story indicates that APS did all that the law allows, once getting a 72-hour commitment. It's likely that the "four hour" removal was likely a gatekeeping assessment by ODMHSAS emergency services staff, who then declined to recommend an involuntary committment.
of the article,it sez that they found at least a
dozen cats livin' with her including cat and
rodent crap.So I guess she dint have to buy cat food if
mice were included in the grand scheme of things.
From the way this state constantly drops lower in rankings each and every year, it's obvious okies ENJOY being the illiterate, complacent, laughingstock of the nation, cause they sure don't do anything to improve.
The stats prove it, so don't any of you clod kickers try and convince us otherwise....
It is not the same as a compulsive collecting of one thing, usually. This is not a State of Oklahoma problem; it is a world problem.
ONLY in okieland does this make the front page on a Sunday.....what a pathetic place you clod kickers embrace like it's heaven on earth (although for the average okie, this place probably DOES seem like heaven since most of you can't make it outside the confines of this state).....
than to need it and not have it.