Cleaning and clearing away clutter in a hoarding environment is a difficult task, often requiring professional assistance. Hoarder cleanouts come with not just the physical challenges of removal and organization, but emotional distress as well. At TurboHaul, our team knows how to handle these demanding situations efficiently and with compassion. We offer hoarder cleanup services that are budget-friendly and good for the environment — recycling and donating as much as possible to minimize waste.
What Is Hoarding?
Hoarding is a complicated mental health disorder or behavior pattern characterized by collecting and accumulating a large number of items, often regardless of value. The severity of hoarding varies depending on the person and situation, though hoarded items commonly include newspapers, articles of clothing, personal mementos, paper products, household goods, electronics, and food.
Parting ways with any of these things often brings high levels of distress, even if the items seem unnecessary to other people. For this reason, hoarding involves the sometimes severe accumulation of possessions to the point where household spaces and storage units are overflowing with piles of things. In our survey on hoarding, we found that 39% of respondents have little to no free storage space in their homes and 28% say the potential need in the future is what keeps them from discarding these items.
In some cases, hoarding comes with serious health consequences for the people involved. For example, an increased risk of fire hazards, pests, bacteria, air pollutants, and even the risk of structural collapse. The symptoms of hoarding won’t be the same for everyone, though in any case, it’s a delicate territory especially when loved ones or family members step in to help clear things out.