When I was much younger, I lived with a guy who collected newspapers, books and magazines and it looked a lot like the "before" picture up there, except everything was stacked really high and there were paths. It was like living in a maze and he was very sensitive about it. If these guys had existed back then, I would've called them while he was at work. He would've had a heart attack and/or murdered me, but it was the weirdest situation I ever lived in.

I've seen what you're talking about Judy. It's some sort of OCD disorder. But for those who just collect crap and pile all about themselves, I don't get that. There seem to be both those who can't stop gathering and those who can't bring themselves to just take the trash out.

Which is why I'm glad for AC. My mom always had tons of bags of papers that needed to sorted out. I have discovered a tendency in myself to also push everything into boxes and put them in the closets. That crap has to go! My last move I was stunned that all that stuff got crammed away to neaten up and it was all still buried away.

Not sure if I'm modeling or if the sickness is inherited. But the goal is to CHANGE that habit this year.

Wow! If nothing else, this makes me feel a bit better about the inter-organized explosion that is happening at my place. It really does get worse before it gets better. I don't think I'm at "needs surgical mask" level just yet!

wow, there's a picture to show my SO when she's irritated with me over a couple dozen magazines . . .
; )

I was thinking of sending it to a friend with the message: "LOOK! Your clutter is NOT THAT BAD."

Do we get the feeling that the AFTER photo represents not trendy retro MCM, but furniture that's been under the pile of crap since MCM was new?

I knew one of these compulsively acquisitive characters whose apartment was crammed top to bottom with stuff. There was a crust of junk on the floor that you had no choice but to tread. Plus a few reptiles had escaped and were at large in the apartment, possibly never to be found again.

Horrible.

Wow.

Just checked out the Disposophobia page.
I'm a packrat, yes, but not to the point where it's a health or fire hazard. Is it mean to feel better about oneself by comparison?

Careful Guido, it all starts with "just a couple dozen magazines"!

AJ, I'm always delighted to discover that my eccentricities have not yet blossomed into full-blown mental illness. Doesn't mean I don't feel for those who've gone the whole way...

AJ, I don't think it's mean...it's a good reality check, especially when you're OCD but in the OTHER way! I find it helpful for myself to take a step back and say "see, even if your stuff isn't 100% organized, and you aren't 100% clutter free, at least you aren't like THAT." Plus, it can serve as a warning...

I had an experience like this at a friend's apartment--though not as bad as the before pic, it was getting there. Before I went up, she said "it's messy, but..." Of course, I brushed this off as just obsessiveness--I say that too...like "oh, it's such a mess, I left some magazines out of order and a stack of bills on the table." But, no, this was a MESS. I was a little shocked, I think...and I think I couldn't hide it. I mean, she had to clear a place for me to walk.

I'm assuming the service could also be used after some kind of disaster. Like if your apt. gets flooded by the tenant upstairs or an earthquake hits...

a good friend of my has OCD she is in the process of clearing out her place due to pressure from her landlord. I dont think going in a removing it all is the ideal answer for people with ocd .It raises their anxitey and they end up very sick. I think its a great idea for those who dont suffer from ocd. Maybe if the OCD person is in danger of losing their houseing then i guess its a good idea. Lets not forget OCD is a medical condition that is more complicated than we know. Its not as easy as going in and getting rid of everything.

I have a friend whose place is like this; I took care of his condo for him after he had been hit by a car and was in the hospital for several months. I wanted desperately to clean it up for him, but he was neurotic and obsessed with all of his scraps of paper, odd bits of string, old newspapers, etc. Every week when I'd be heading over there I would feel physically sick at being in that environment for even a few minutes. I always got in and out as fast as possible and would jump into a hot shower the moment I got home.

Coincidentally there's a piece running on NY1 today (that's a local news channel here in NYC) about a packrat whose neighbors were fed up. The police and fire department were called in. Just awful conditions inside.

My dad has the full-blown, two car garage so crammed with boxes full of other boxes full of crap that you can only slide through a few narrow paths mental disorder. As tempting as it would be to call in the clutter police to just trash it all when he's on vacation, when he'd recovered from the mental breakdown and disowning me, he'd just start all over again. I know because my mother has tried that route. He NEEDS that stuff. It's far from healthy, mentally or physically, but it's the only coping mechanism he's got.

Which is why I'm latching onto AT like it's my only hope of salvation. Whenever I'm tempted to hang onto something, I think of dear old dad & his genes. I can't call Disaster Masters for him, it would be cruel, but I can purge my own space.

"I have discovered a tendency in myself to also push everything into boxes and put them in the closets."

i thought that was being tidy? i am sad to discover that pushing paperwork into boxes and shoving them deep into closets is disapproved of.

and lady j, i am sorry to have besmirched your reputation with insufficiently-founded accusations of being a lotus-tease.

It's always kind of a relief to look at pictures like that. So I'm messy and there's crap on the floor but there isn't enough to swim through and I do reach intolerance points where I start throwing stuff away. This is one of my greatest fears, though, that I'll end up a batty old woman buried by old issues of Domino.

Not when those boxes are full of crap, rasil. Old paystubs and junk mail are not okay. I see that now. And the boxes are taking up valuable storage space for real stuff.

THE HORROR.

I work for a member of the NYC Council, and I'm part of the governmental process when people try to get help for tenants like these. I'm glad to know a service like this exists.

Whenever I look at the Disposophobia website, I start throwing stuff away!

I'd like to hire them for my neighbors - They have so much crap that it fills TWO apartments!

Psh, this is nothing. My grandparents just buy a new house when they fill up the last one. They are on house number 3 and it looks like they are gearing up for number 4.

Don't be confused - that doesn't mean they trash everything and move, it means they simply add to their collection because the earlier houses are no longer livable.

It has been a life-long struggle for my mother to help them clean, and I practically have a heart attack whenever I walk [well, shuffle] into their home. Probably why I'm so anal retentive in my own home.

This gives me the shivers ... like that episode of Oprah with the messiest home in America. I couldn't bear to live all swallowed up with stuff like this.

Did anyone else see that two-part Oprah where she featured this retired couple who crammed their 3200 sq. ft. house with clutter? When sorted and spaced out, the contents took up a 10,000 sq. ft. warehouse!

Also, they stressed that hoarding it IS a psychological condition and sufferers need to work on the root of the problem. Hiring a service to clearing stuff out like this is good, but if you don't address what's really behind it, you can just start hoarding all over again.

Kinda like my brother....sigh.

My BF has this. I can't go to his apartment. It gives me the hives. He has boxes and boxes of junk. He doesn't even know what is in the boxes. He has lovely collections as well, but they are shoved under beds and in closets to make room for the junk that is everywhere!

Also, my house is getting out of control. I inherited two households of stuff plus mine. It has taken me 10 years to clear out all but the best stuff I like, and that is still WAY too much. I am going to have an Estate Sale. I don't see any other way out.

I never thought I'd be the one to have too much stuff. But it can happen to anyone.

I wonder what the disorder is called to be allergic to "too much stuff"? Looking at that picture makes me almost feel physically sick - not quite but I am sure my revulsion is not that healthy either.

Cleaning it out like this doesn't work for hoarders. It doesn't change the mental process and is just a shock. How would you feel if you came home and suddenly all of your valuables were thrown out?! There are other services that go through the house with the person, which helps them see, and helps them go through the process. It also helps because some (many?) hoarders often do have valuable things in there underneath everything, and it helps to have someone who recognizes them instead of heaving it all into the dumpster...

There is another company out there that does this that has been written up, but I don't recall the name/link. Probably a number of them actually.

I have known someone who has a full shipping bay in their place of business to store all their junk (aka "valuable antiques") in a pile at least 15 feet high. There are even dressers up on top, near the roof. I cannot imagine how they managed to get everything piled so high. There is a tiny walkway around the edge, and every time I had to go looking for something, I pictured the whole pile shifting to bury me like an avalanche.

when I see places like this, I just want to tell the homeowner, "give me the key and leave me alone for a day". I am obsessed with organizing and when i see clutter it drives me crazy.

if I did not pursue to become a CPA, I would definetly want to do this as a profession. :-)) and make people happy & live a healthier life.

I flew to Texas last Thanksgiving to do this for a friend over a 4 day period. I love decluttering -- but it was really traumatic for her. Towards the end I had to just walk away from it - it's probably returned back into its stuffed self.