Hoarding is often sensationalised and misunderstood – but it can be a symptom of deep trauma.  One woman shares how hoarding impacted her life – and her road to recovery.  Click on the image to hear her story.  Read below Carol’s own words.

There are several reasons I helped with this film.

1. To encourage more people, including those who suffer from/with it, to view Hoarding Behaviour differently. Behaviour can change, IF given the opportunity to have the right understanding & appropriate support.
2. I wanted more people like me to realize they are not alone.  Help and support is available from people who understand how we can begin to alter our thinking patterns and “habits” and live a safer, and “easier”/less complicated/happier life.
3. For even more professionals, than already do (e.g. local enablement & fire services, medical, housing, environment,) and friends, and relatives, to really SEE the person/human being BEHIND the “PILES OF BELONGINGS and “STUFF” including/as well as the difficult, sometimes hazardous living conditions and restrictions resulting.  To have a more meaningful understanding of why and how someone might develop this behaviour over a number of years.

Trauma in a person with HB may have been buried deep/locked away for years.  It can lie there, the impact growing larger – just like the layers and piles of accumulated belongings do.

Like an onion – as we peel away the outer layers and get nearer to the “heart” – many tears may flow.  The “weight” shed/lifted with those tears can open us up to new ways of thinking.  That may not mean forgetting, but putting things into a place that recognizes it is part of “who I am today” and realising that we are survivors and strong.  (We might not feel that way, sometimes.)

Our aim – “to no longer just exist” but “to begin to enjoy our  lives, on a different and freer level.”

Without a voice, or recognition and help, the trauma becomes the “stuff” – limiting a person’s life and sometimes turning into, for me, a “protection barrier” against the outside world.

My very limited space became a “nest” to feel safe in.  The reality was a serious fire hazard, not just to me but to others.

A “pull yourself together”, organizing a mass clearance and then expecting the “problem” to be sorted, is not helpful, in my experience.

Thankfully, this is changing, because professionals who want to help by doing things differently, are seeking expert assistance from Megan, HUK, and other professionals who are like minded.

It is more successful to actively encourage a person like me, with HB, to work through and understand why/how this behaviour has developed, and to recognize it can be changed for a more comfortable and sustainable future.

I have been fortunate to be helped through this process by Megan at HUK, and a pilot project in my local area.  This has sparked interest not just from the wider local area but to other areas of the UK.  Support groups have also been set up too.

Support Groups – meeting up with others who have HB has an important part to play. The groups allow people to feel safe discussing any issues, if they wish, or to just listen too.  They also allow facilitators to point people to helpful services/organisations too.  There are Online Support Groups too.

Learning to change HB is not an overnight process.

People who have used drug and alcohol as a coping strategy, are not expected to change overnight.  It takes time. It is a process.

Tackling HB is a process that involves Work from both sides.

Trust, Being Listened To, Understood & Encouraged – Real Positives; rather than the Expectation/Fear Of Being Judged, Dismissed, Damned Or Being Seen/Feeling Hopeless.

I shouted for help for years. When it came, I was given Hope, Patience and Understanding.  I learned to Trust individual people, working With me, to help me Change My Behaviour/Thinking.  I am not “cured”,  I still have things to sort out, but my living space is so much easier to Live in.

Change Is Happening.

Help Is Out There.

Keep Looking and Asking For Help !!

Don’t Give Up !!

I hope this short film helps people, directly and indirectly.  If so then it will be one of the ways I can say “A Sincere Thank You” to Megan, HUK, and all the people in the local pilot project, and others who helped me address my HB.

Thank you to the film makers too for their sensitive approach, and production.