So sorry you comment was for jennifer

Nikita are you still out there I'm from buffalo NY too and really looking to talk to someone close to home dealing with the same issues as myself

Nikita, are you still out there? Please come post if you can. I'm concerned about you.

Hi Nikita,

Yup, you sound like a hoarder to me. I am and we have a lot of the same behaviors.

I had a really strong reaction to the article you posted. I couldn't even finish it. It was accusatory and judgmental and practically guarantees to make a hard core hoarder defensive.

Hoarding is a mental illness. It can be genetic, or caused by a trauma. A sin is voluntary. A hoarder doesn't choose to be that way. We are not slothful. We are not evil. We are in a situation out of our control, not lazy. We can tell ourselves all these negative things all by ourselves, our families and strangers will be more than happy to point out your faults. And if you listen to them, and accept their views then the situation is hopeless, because you are accepting that you are a bad person and wow, that's really going to make you shape up, right? Lack of self esteem is one of the causes, so no, that kind of input is toxic to us.

I bet you never woke up in the morning and said to yourself "What a beautiful day! I think I will spend it totally trashing my living areas and isolating myself from everyone I love. Man, I just LOVE living in filth and chaos!"

Hoarding is as real as a broken arm or a genetic defect. No one chooses to be that way. Like any addiction, we can only choose how we react to it, and the research (and my own experience) shows that it isn't something we can do alone. Yet we tend to be people who help others but can't ask for help for ourselves.

Oh and for the record? Sloths have developed a super efficient adaption to fit in a ecological niche. A sloth is slow, not lazy.

Come to the "chat" group tonight.
Many friendly and helpful people there. :)

It starts at 5pm Pacific time so that would be 8:00pm in N.Y.

Just click on the red "online support group" box directly to the right of this page.

Hope to "see" you there.

I am a hoarder and got kicked out of my last apartment. I do not have bugs or feces and most of my things are usable. Alot of books and DVD and things like that is what I have. I need help and want help but do not know where in Buffalo NY there is help. Also I do not have alot of funds to get help but there is no one out here that helps with this problem that I know of.
If you have no room and your living spaces have trails, most likely you are a hoarder. There is help, but sometimes it is hard to find.
I want the help and I have stopped acquiring things. Sometimes I would spend $399 a day at a thrift store buying clothes and things and did not know where this was coming from. I paid for it on a credit card. I could not stop myself and I sort of went into a fog the hours I was at the thrift store. I forgot during that time that I have a small apartment not a house. I was eventually asked to move, when a repair needed to be done.

Hi I am going by the name of Nikita on here to keep my identity private. I have always been known as a "sloth" "lazy" "pack rat" etc but since the show Hoarders and my apartment manager wanted to evict me for how I keep my place and accusing me of being a hoarder and my mom calling me a hoarder like my dad .. I started wondering if I am.

So then I started to read this:

When Clutter Becomes Hoarding
It doesn't take long for clutter to accumulate and if you're not careful it will creep up seemingly over night. But ask yourself, is there always at least one closet or one room that you don't want anyone to see in your house?

A cluttered garage, backyard, kitchen, closets or any other room means your home is bombarded with doodads, trinkets keepsakes and plan ole' junk that will over time provoke several health issues. Most often people don't realize their accumulating junk and what seems like a nice item on the fireplace mantle turns into a box full of figurines, cups and clutter.

Before long the home is disorganized and finding something at moment notices is much like a treasure hunt among junk. Consider these health issues that clutter causes and learn how help with clutter will make you much happier.

Slothfulness- When a home is overran by clutter more than likely the homeowner is in no hurry to correct the problem. Allowing more clutter to build up overtime until the junk becomes a way of life.

Depression - disorder is the cousin of depression. Your home is a sanctuary and a place to rest and recover your mind from daily activities and work. When the home is as disorganized as everyday life, depression sets in, because there's no place to clear the mind.

Anger and Anxiety - Typically people with clutter in their lives often have explosive personalities. This means their quick to get upset, confrontational and easily stressed. This is because their use to confusion and clutter much like their home and organization irritates them.
Dependence - Most often someone who accumulates junk and clutters their home are dependent on the clutter to fill a void. Compulsive shoppers have a dependency that breeds clutter and disarray.

Alienation - Most people with disorganized home or living amongst junk are hermits. They have few friends and hardly any family. That is unless they share the common thread of clutter. People with clutter are embarrassed about their living conditions and rarely have friends that visit.

Allergies and Illnesses - Debris accumulation is the perfect habitat for rodents and pest. Rats and roaches carry bacteria and infections that cause disease. And because clutter is unmoved for months at a time, this means dust settles on everything causing allergic reactions and breathing problems, to name a few.

http://www.charlesandhudson.com/archives/2009/12/7_deadly_sins_that_lead_to_hoarding.htm

I think I am a hoarder come to think about it because I have been trying to clean up my place so I won't be evicted but I just can't seem to get it clean enough .. I have no where to put everything and I have tried to throw out everything I can part with. it isn't as bad as a friend's mom I know as only my bedroom has a pathway where as the rest of the apartment is easier to walk around in. Just the kitchen table is covered and the coffee table in front of the couch. I have pillows on the couch blocking sitting only to keep my cat off because she sheds a lot. When people come over they are free to move the couch pillows. I realize I have too much stuff when my closets are packed full and I have no where else to put things that would normally go in closets .. doesn't help the cat litter box is in the storage closet because I didn't see anywhere else suitable in such a small apartment. Also I got this coffee table which I love because it has doors underneath which helps because I put all my magazines in there. I have so many though and now tend to just throw all papers in there that I have no time to go through when I need to clean in a hurry. I also have many clothes that don't fit me anymore but that is because with my health my weight changes a lot. I am now almost 200 lbs when just a few years ago I was 113 lbs... my weight changes a lot so I have learned to have more than one size ... sometimes need 3 .. and stick with stretchy clothes. The clothes I tend to have the most sizes in are ones that are dressy and less stretchy for special occasions and family days. I also hate to throw out free things I get because it feels like such a waste (like free keychains or magnets). I know I have to let go and I have started to get rid of those and old frames I kept for years as well as old clothes including I am planning to go through old laundry baskets as I realize those clothes probably are not even washable anymore but I just had too many to wash all at once and don't go down stairs enough because I hate running into my apt manager because she hates me and wants me out and always picks on me about everything and even makes up things about me to make me feel bad. I realize it is bad enough that every room has become my storage closets (not just the closets but the whole rooms) especially my bedroom but what is worse is that I have even moved things to my car trunk to get them out of the sight of my apt manager when I don't really want to get rid of them. I have no more room to hide things in my place.. I have piles of clothes on an old computer chair when I got a new one as well as on the clothes hamper at the end of my bed. I can't even get to the clothes hamper to clean the clothes .. Extra clothes go on the floor... I have found little golden skinny long bugs which I do not know what they are .. kinda like miniature long centipedes but I don't know what they are.