Therapist! Can you answer a question?I know this lady who is very lazy and a pack rat is there a name for this

Question

I have to stand up for her, I mean she has to have a mental illiness, no one would want to live in this filth! It is not just clutter but pure filth! It has to be much more than being lazy! She has been evicted from her apt. She had a very pretty apt. in a nice part of town. You would think she would be proud and take good care of it but she didn't or couldn't. But when the manigers did an inspection they could not believe the filth! This lady keeps her body clean and her clothing clean but I saw with my own eyes the filth! I know that she had her children taken away from her when she was younger because of the filth! She is a senior now, she will never again be able to live in a senior apt. complex!

I must stress that this is not just clutter but filth beyond words! They will have to throw away the stove and fridg. O.M.G.! I cannot put into words the filth!

Answer 1

I am not a therapist although, I worked with a lady who had a very similar situation. She was in a home where you had to walk side ways to get around. She only ate a nuts and had one coffee a week in which she would only drink sips of it each day until the next week. She had many different types of animals that she fed but never cleaned. She had sores on her face I am assuming from the filth. It's not that is was all garbage laying around, it was many newspapers, unopened paper towels, bags full of clothing. Her fridge was filled with everything but food. It was just wild. I had never seen anything like it. My co-workers and I had a case conference and someone from CCAC said it was a form of mental illness regarding hoarding. Go to this website check it out. Contact a local seniors support agency, or potentially her doctor about it. It is most definitely something that should not be left unresolved. It will continue wherever she moves to next. http://www.la4seniors.com/hoarding.htm