[Music]
i'm ellen
and i'm a retired school teacher
i am a hoarder with a capital
age
on a bad day i sit in my everything room
and i feel it closing on me and i feel
that
it's suffocating
i'm mark and ellen is my mother the
everything room is
her bedroom living room dining room she
eats
there sleeps and watches tv
i'm doug and ellen's my mother
i live in the basement 99 of the time i
stay downstairs
because going upstairs is like an
obstacle course
there's piles of clothes piles of boxes
it's just depressing she buys things
from
thrift stores she's fascinated with
butterflies
and orders things online i'm scott
and ellen is my mom we tried to clean up
and every time that we've tried to clean
up it's just always been oh no you can't
throw that out
no no no not that oh well this one no no
i need this for that
it's a lot of tension i feel helpless
because there's nothing i can do
without leading to an argument my oldest
should say
mom hey just keep commandeering
the refrigerator she has refrigerated us
upstairs that's full
so my mother brings stuff downstairs to
my refrigerator
and it is a constant battle for her to
take it upstairs
it's frustrating because she impedes on
my space
makes me sad to see what's happened to
my mom because this is not the house
that we grew up in
the shoplifting has been a problem and i
continue to struggle with it
and i know that it doesn't make the
situation any better
and it is part of a being
obsessive-compulsive
and not being able to control it
[Music]
i just try to get into a position where
no one can see this is slipping into my
pocket
i would say 20 of the things are things
that
i shoplifted
[Music]
when i go shopping i thought that
this kind of bag is my bad bag
taking a big bag it's definitely going
to
be more motivation to say oh i can take
something
maybe i have the paper and then i just
so i don't go out like i used to with
the big bag
if i take a smaller bag then i'll be
like i'm making that conscious
effort not to continue the pattern of
shoplifting
the last time i used the big bag
was at least two weeks ago i
feel like it's it's something i
definitely can't help because if i could
help
i wouldn't do it it is a compulsive
disorder that contributes to
the hoarding situation
if i don't clean up the house i would
jeopardize my home owner's insurance
and then i would lose my mortgage i
could lose my house
it's coming to a boiling point where
this something has to be done
i believe it's a do a die situation for
my mom
i know that it's a better way and i know
that i deserve better
and i know my family deserves better
good morning you guys good morning my
name is corey chalmers an extreme
cleaner specializing in biohazard and
hoarding
ellen one of the first things we need to
address is we need a staging area
okay but to do that we got to go through
this stuff first
you all ready to do this yes yes yeah
this is such a small property that we
need somewhere to move somewhere to
breathe so if we can clear off this back
patio
that'll work perfectly as a place we can
bring everything out and start to sort
through it
the plan is should stay okay yeah the
planter stays
yes from the beginning ellen began to
struggle
she started with the plants and didn't
want to let any go i see something
i am not getting rid of all my plans
things are going pretty slow for the
first day leave it
leave it leave it she's having to look
at everything talk about it think about
it
i never said for that to go it just went
hopefully
we can talk to her and really start to
multiply our efforts and get moving
because at this point we're never gonna
get done
this still works
look at this this shouldn't even be back
here i already know that
but you don't even know what it is yes
it's pictures these are no
that's why i wanted to have to go
through this but i knew it was just
those pictures are sentimental and
that's all they have to hold on
family is digging up a bunch of memories
as they're going through the stuff
including the death of ellen's husband
doug became very emotional
i don't put no more than what we can
bear remember that okay
it's now coming to the reality of how
serious her hoarding disorder is
and the reality that if she doesn't get
treatment now she's not likely going to
be successful
things are coming up buried secrets
that are contributing to ellen's wording
behavior
one of which is she revealed to me on
the very first day
that she has a problem with stealing
basically she has no financial problems
to speak of
the stuff that she was taking was very
minimally priced items
i told the family that ellen is a
kleptomaniac
and the family was completely blindsided
how long this been going on you say
that i don't know so i've been sort of
holding off
to talk to you guys and then i think we
should all go and talk to her together
no i can't do that what's what's going
on
there's never been a time that there
wasn't a meal on that table and
we didn't have clean clothes
[Music]
that's the problem because she's trying
to provide
it's right disease it's a sickness it's
right it's a process
it's not that easy scott i hand you dude
i get it i get that it's not that easy
but you can't ask for help and then
decide on which help you're gonna
receive
so now you're gonna choose what help you
want the hell we got all these
boxes out here for but she's asking for
help i need time
i need your time okay you got it she
wanted this
she wanted this my nephew scott he is
absolutely right
you don't pick and choose you want us to
clean out i understand that and we will
help you do that
but i did not realize our sickness was
that bad
when i first met you you were very open
with me
and you shared that you have some other
issues going on
yes the shoplifting no one else knew
about it
what is fueling that why has it
continued up until two weeks ago
you're as sick as your own secrets i'm
aware of that
it was something i did from the time i
was in elementary school
but i continued on and i know it took a
lot for you to
come out and admit to something like
that
[Music]
we just want to see you get help
whatever she needs me to do
i'm going to do it the family reacted in
a very supportive manner
they basically said we're glad we know
about this but at the end of the day
you're our mom and we will do anything
we can to support you
all right ready to get back to work all
right okay
after the meeting with dr zazio the pace
started picking up
we got a lot done in a short period of
time
[Music]
when you see ellen go in and she just
starts crying those tears of joy like
that's what we do this for
and i knew this was coming just needed
to get to this point and their family
was so happy
i think this house would be perfect for
them to start over
wow wow speechless
just really really speechless really
didn't think it was possible
it's going to be a struggle but it's the
happiest i've been and it's long overdue
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