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I believe hoarding is bigger than the experts realize since so much goes undocumented. My mother is a hoarder and thinks everything has value. Her home is a mess, (and it smells) and she always feels like a victim and thinks that others have it easier than she does, more time than she does, and better living conditions, making it easier for them to keep things organized. It's just not true. She cannot let anything go and is in constant search for more. If any of us say we are getting rid of something she is the first person who needs it and thinks she must have it. She laughs it off like it's cute, realizing we all know she has no room for anything. Growing up, she was poor, but since she married my father at 17, she has always had more than enough, yet still feels poor. We had a good childhood and things didn't seem out of control until these last 20 years or so. In our large family, we all have a tendency of "collecting" and when I mention I have to get rid of things, she tells me she is concerned about my concerns! There is one brother in particular who has a very serious problem. His home should be condemned and it's unlivable. There is animal feces on the floor. We all have to pretend he is normal and our mother thinks that because he is religious, he is just a good person that should be left alone. She has babied him and I'm afraid of what he will become of him when our parents are not around. It is sickening; everything from his 5 cars, filled to the roof with stuff, to his home, which is no longer livable because he uses it for animals. He doesn't really live there and stays with our parents. He hoards animals and has something like 30 goats, several horses, numerous dogs, and several cats. He feeds them, but nothing gets cleaned up. His pasture is nothing but mud and manure; hardly sanitary conditions. He also has no hot water there because he considers that a luxury. It's so disturbing.I know the day will come when it's in the paper or on the local news. I may not be able to help him but how do I stop thinking about it and move past it? Please don't say it's not my business because it's so very hard to see all this and look the other way.
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