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News & ArtsThursday, October 8, 2009
TV Today on Oprah: Tons of Rancid Crap Stacked to the Ceiling!
Posted by David Schmader on Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 9:30 AM
That's right: Today's Oprah Winfrey Show is devoted to hoarders—the show and the people—and while it looks like just a hour-long Oprahtization of the A&E series, that doesn't mean I don't want to watch it.
Bonus from the Oprah website: A handy "Are you a hoarder?" quiz!
1
She's had hoarders on before. A few times, years ago. She covers the subject very well, or at least she did when I saw it. Even popped back in on the people by surprise like a year later just to see if they had kept it up. (They hadn't).
She's not hopping on a bandwagon or whatever.
She's not hopping on a bandwagon or whatever.
3
My parents are hoarders. Neither can throw anything away. My dad was helping me clean my garage and was filling his truck with half used paint cans that I knew he'd never use (he's not one for home improvement projects). And my mom can't not buy stuff. If it's on sale, it must be bought no matter how useless. When my parents were together, my dad had to keep building storage for stuff.
4
McSweeney's twitter had a reminder to not fill your TIVO with old episodes to hoarders thinking that you will watch them sometime later. It was the best twitter post I've seen in a long time.
5
I'm guilty of hoarding, try not to go overboard, i think, but at least with me is actually more a fear of throwing away something that i may need in the future. So long as you have a special room set aside only for it and its restricted to important stuff or things that you deemed important, not trash, and so long as you do at least one general annual revision of the inventory, become capable of throwing out what you don't need then its tolerable. And honestly with these bad economic times i think that i can cut myself some slack on this.
7
My cat hoards. He keeps depositing turds in his cat-box like there's some rainy-day or post-apocalypse use for them. I've suggested he institute a regular program of review and de-acquisition, and even hire a consultant if need be, but so far my gentle proddings have fallen on (seemingly) deaf (but cute) ears. So I do it when he's not looking, and so far he seems none the wiser.
8
OK, OK, so I've watched Hoarders twice now, and I'm done. The sameness in these stories makes them just boring after a while. Once I saw Patty literally choose her stuff over her children, and the guy from Mobile choose 90 days in jail over his "60 or 70" (!!) stripped cars, I realized NOTHING will make these people get better. The narrative arc for each and every show is: look at all the stuff! There are mice! Look at the consequences loom!
Hopeless cases all.
Hopeless cases all.
9
Just got off the phone with a psych professor who has also seen Hoarders, and she expressed wonderment that none of the interventions she or I have seen on the show involve medication. Apparently there is some good evidence that modulation of dopamine pathways can ease these symptoms.
Schmader, Sloggers, are there any episodes where people take meds?
Schmader, Sloggers, are there any episodes where people take meds?
10
9: Nope. Never addressed, to my knowledge. (But it might just be swept under the "post-show treatment" umbrella.)
11
i took the quiz and scored 5/12/7 ...
the 12 means that "In all likelihood, I have a serious hoarding-related problem" and i might want to consider professional help.
my house is pretty big with ample storage space, so i'm not impacted by it day-to-day. i don't acquire things too much but i definitely have trouble throwing things away. not like candy wrappers and broken dishes, but reusable things. it's a combination of hyper-environmentalism and a generalized need to rescue things from non-use.
for example, if i get something shipped to me and the box is nice, i just can't can't CAN'T break it down and recycle it. it might come in handy one day! (along with all the other boxes ...).
i am uncomfortable when i watch the show because i can recognize all of the emotions the hoarders feel - i have all the same feelings but to a much less severe degree. i can identify with them, and that is very unsettling!!
the 12 means that "In all likelihood, I have a serious hoarding-related problem" and i might want to consider professional help.
my house is pretty big with ample storage space, so i'm not impacted by it day-to-day. i don't acquire things too much but i definitely have trouble throwing things away. not like candy wrappers and broken dishes, but reusable things. it's a combination of hyper-environmentalism and a generalized need to rescue things from non-use.
for example, if i get something shipped to me and the box is nice, i just can't can't CAN'T break it down and recycle it. it might come in handy one day! (along with all the other boxes ...).
i am uncomfortable when i watch the show because i can recognize all of the emotions the hoarders feel - i have all the same feelings but to a much less severe degree. i can identify with them, and that is very unsettling!!
12
What does it mean if you stock pile toilet paper and toothpaste for the apocalypse?
Insane or just well-prepared?
Insane or just well-prepared?
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