Hoarding
Hoarding
Hoarding
~courtesy of www.ESLjigsaws.com~
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
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 www.ESLjigsaws.com~
Hoarding page 2
~courtesy of www.ESLjigsaws.com~
Hoarding page 3
Written Questions:
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
2. What are some common uses of rooms that hoarding may prevent?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Why does hoarding often get worse after the death of a spouse?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
5. What is meant by “self-eviction”? How could a hoarder self-evict?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
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?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
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?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
8. Do you think this is a hoarder’s kitchen or just a very messy kitchen? Why?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
~courtesy of www.ESLjigsaws.com~