Grundy County Health Department offers program to help with hoarding

MINOOKA – When in her teens and 20s, Belinda Coley of Minooka was physically active and always on the move.

Her favorite activity was roller skating, and she frequented the rinks in Coal City and Morris. Coley also took pride in her home.

“I was an immaculate housekeeper.”

Somehow things spun out of control, and her home slowly grew more unkempt. Finally, Coley admitted she was a hoarder. In December 2010, her family was profiled on the A&E TV series, "Hoarders."

“I don’t know how it all started,” Coley started.

The story is common with hoarders. Once a hoarding situation begins, according to Grundy County Health Department mental health therapist Melissa Wasko, it can snowball into an unmanageable situation.

“As it develops,” Wasko said, “it can become isolating, and when that happens, their things become even more important to them.”

Wasko said no one knows exactly what causes hoarding disorder. It may have a genetic component, she said. A traumatic event may be another trigger, she said. Other risk factors, according to the American Psychiatric Association, are having a brain injury and other psychological disorders.

At the health department, Wasko conducts a weekly group therapy session for hoarders called, “Caged by Clutter.” Therapists at the health department also treat the disorder, she said.

The health department is in the process of organizing a work group to examine the area hoarding issue from both a clinical and legal standpoint.

“We’re asking ourselves how we can offer support in the best way possible,” Wasko said.

That includes helping hoarders in a medical setting – as well as in their homes – and working with first responders to train them how to recognize signs of the disorder when a hoarder needs emergency care.

Entrances may be blocked with boxes or stacks of items, gurneys may not be able to pass through cluttered hallways and responders themselves might be in danger of falling or having items fall on them.

Hoarding disorder is recognized as a diagnosable psychological condition. According to the American Psychiatric Association, a hoarder will excessively save items that others may view as worthless and have persistent difficulty parting with possessions. The resulting clutter disrupts their ability to use their living or work spaces.

Wasko said an estimated 1 to 2 percent of the population has significant hoarding issues, which would mean 500 to 1,000 people in Grundy County. It’s usually a hidden condition, one kept behind doors. Hoarders don’t often seek out care, she said, and experience guilt and anxiety as a result.

For Coley, hoarding began with an accident that left her in severe pain. Prescription pain medicine was little help.

“I was a complete vegetable,” Coley said. “I couldn’t even drive.”

Coley eventually discontinued the medicine, but by that time, the condition of her house had deteriorated, she said.

“I couldn’t even sleep in the bed,” Coley said.

Her daughter, Shania, now 17, said she’s not a hoarder, but she is accustomed to clutter in the house. Right now, she added, her bedroom is clean except for clothes on the floor.

“I’m not a hoarder,” she said. “I don’t keep things I’m not sentimental about.”

On “Hoarders,” a psychotherapist and a professional organizer worked with Coley to get rid of the stuff that had accumulated in her five-bedroom, 100-year-old house. Coley said things have gone slowly back to a hoarding situation.

“We tried,” she said, “but when you’re not taught anything. ... It’s getting bad again. But it’s nowhere near where it was.”

Wasko said she wasn’t surprised. For someone who is just depressed or overwhelmed, a good cleaning out can do the trick. But not for someone with compulsive hoarding disorder.

“You haven’t dealt with the root of the problem, which is the cause of the hoarding,” Wasko said. “They need ways to adjust or modify their thinking patterns.”

Know more

Risk factors for hoarding include:

• A family member who is a hoarder – the condition may have a genetic component

• A brain injury

• Other psychological disorders, such as depression, anxiety disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder or alcohol use disorder

• Stressful life event, such as the death of a loved one

Onset: Usually in the teen years, with the average age of onset of first symptoms at 13. Hoarding tends to worsen over decades, as clutter accumulates, causing more and more dysfunction. Early recognition, diagnosis and treatment are crucial to improving outcomes

Source: American Psychiatric Association, www.psychiatry.org