Hoarding

~courtesy of [Link]~

Vocabulary:
• to acquire • anti-depressant • eviction • possession
• to avoid • behaviour • flea • seldom
• to force • clutter • generally • space
• to get rid of • disease • hazard • storage
• to result in • embarrassment • increasingly • therapy
• to seek • eventually • mental disorder • typically

by Nancy Callan

1 Up to 6% of adults may be hoarders. A hoarder is a person who is continually 1

2 acquiring things and has great difficulty getting rid of things. Hoarding often begins in 2
3 childhood and typically gets worse with age as people acquire more possessions and 3
4 others who once helped control the clutter die or leave. 4

5 Hoarders usually do not see anything wrong with their behaviour. If they do see a 5
6 problem, they still feel unable to let go of any possessions. Friends and relatives 6
7 commonly think helping the hoarder get rid of the clutter is the answer to the problem but 7
8 this is rarely true. As soon as space is freed up, the hoarder will gradually just fill it up 8
9 again. 9

10 Eventually, there may be nowhere to sit in the living room or nowhere to eat in the kitchen 10
11 or diningroom as the hoarder’s home is increasingly used only for storage. Cleaning, 11
12 moving through the house, and using the kitchen may all become difficult. As hoarding 12
13 worsens, the hoarder seldom invites visitors over, either to avoid embarrassment or simply 13
14 because there is nowhere to sit. 14

15 Hoarders who are renters are frequently evicted from their apartments. Paper hoarding, for 15
16 example, is a fire hazard and can attract mice or rats that can carry fleas, bed bugs or 16
17 disease. Hoarders who are homeowners are sometimes forced to move out of their own 17
18 homes because they no longer have a place to sleep. This eviction or self-eviction may 18
19 result in the hoarder finally seeking help for his or her problem. It is equally likely, however, 19
20 that the hoarder will simply move on and begin filling up another living space. 20

21 Hoarding has been identified as a mental disorder but the reason some people 21
22 become hoarders is generally not well understood. Medications, such as anti-depressants, 22
23 can occasionally be helpful. Therapy can also be helpful but may take years. 23

~courtesy of [Link]~
 Hoarding page 2

True or False Questions:

Mark these sentences true or false. If false, be ready to explain why.

1. A hoarder is a person who is very messy.

2. Hoarding is a bad habit but not a mental disorder.
3. Hoarders usually don’t see a problem with what they are doing.
4. Hoarders rarely invite people to their homes.
5. Teenagers are more likely to be hoarders than seniors.
6. Hoarders use their homes mainly for storage.
7. Hoarding often gets worse after a divorce.
8. Helping a hoarder throw things out usually solves the problem.
9. A hoarder may be evicted because of health or safety concerns.
10. If a hoarder is evicted, he or she will usually stop hoarding.
11. Medications may be helpful for some hoarders.
12. The reason people become hoarders is well known.

Hoarding Adverb Exercise

Use each adverb only once.

• commonly • gradually • rarely

• continually • increasingly • seldom
• eventually • occasionally • sometimes
• finally • often • typically
• frequently • once • usually

1. Hoarders are ____________________ acquiring things.

2. Hoarding ____________________ begins in childhood.
3. Hoarders ____________________ don’t see anything wrong with their behaviour.
4. Hoarding ____________________ gets worse with age.
5. Hoarding can get worse when people who ____________________ helped control the clutter leave.
6. If you help a hoarder clear out in a room, he or she will ____________________ just fill it up again.
7. Over time, the hoarder’s house is ____________________ used only for storage.
8. Hoarders ____________________ invite visitors over.
9. As hoarding worsens, ____________________ there may be nowhere left to sit in a hoarder’s home.
10. Hoarders are ____________________ evicted from their apartments.
11. Hoarders who are evicted may ____________________ seek help for their problem.
12. Hoarders who are homeowners are ____________________ forced to move out of their own homes.
13. Friends and relatives ____________________ think throwing things out will fix the problem.
14. Helping the hoarder get rid of the clutter ____________________ fixes the problem.
15. The reason some people become hoarders is not ____________________ well understood.
16. Medications can ____________________ be helpful to help the hoard stop hoarding.

~courtesy of [Link]~
 Hoarding page 3

Written Questions:

1. Why do hoarders seldom invite visitors to their homes?

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2. What are some common uses of rooms that hoarding may prevent?

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3. Why does hoarding often get worse after the death of a spouse?

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4. What might a hoarder do after getting evicted from their apartment?

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5. What is meant by “self-eviction”? How could a hoarder self-evict?

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6. If you lived in an apartment building and had a next door neighbour who was a hoarder,
how might it cause a problem for you?

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7. Which do you think is more of a problem in hoarding and why—acquiring too many possessions
or being unable to get rid of possessions?

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8. Do you think this is a hoarder’s kitchen or just a very messy kitchen? Why?

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~courtesy of [Link]~