hoarding is this part of this illness??

nerak

Account Closed
Jul 4, 2013
180
0
ireland
My mums really annoying thing that drives us all mad is hoarding she has stuff everywhere and if I try and move it she goes nuts??

Is this part of this rotten curse she was always a neat and tidy woman im just drained from picking up things,moving this,shuffling that baskets full of **** everywhere with silly things in it???????????

Shes going into respite and I want to get a skip as all this clutter is dangerous for her.:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
 

sarahp

Registered User
Feb 23, 2013
110
0
Hi there,

Yes I found this when mum lived on her own. My mum was always tidy also pre alzheimers. I made the mistake of trying to help and cleaning things out and she would raise the roof and remember the weirdest of things that had been binned. I actually found that it was not a good thing to do to tidy it up becaue it Caused mayhem for a while afterwards. She hoarded certain things she would buy in the shops over and over again. I found umpteen jars of the same jam. Coffee sachets. I found coffee sachets and cat sachets stuffed in the most perculier of places. just certain things. she became very possesive over her possesions also. she was always searching amongst the clutter for something. so was i!!!! Cat food well I can't tell you how much of that she had!! She would throw nothing away and overstocked on set items. She still does now but as she lives with me it's my stuff she hides! First place I look when I can't find anything ie tonight my life saving tablet bag!! The door key this afternoon!
 

Carara

Registered User
May 19, 2013
283
0
West Mids,Uk
Nerak

Get the skip :eek:

My MIl when at her flat used to empty the wardobe with the intentions of clearing it out
The mess she made :confused:

Asked my hubby why I had made such a mess :mad: I hadn`t even been up that day

Still we found loads of stuff in there :D:D
 

DeborahBlythe

Registered User
Dec 1, 2006
9,222
0
I am a hoarder. I'm not proud of it, it's a constant battle to try and curb it and get on top of its consequences. However, I can't stand the thought of anyone making decisions about my clutter. So I can understand why a person with dementia would feel particularly affronted or threatened. :(

I don't have dementia. My mother did, but the only thing she hoarded or rather collected was paper hankies.

I don't think hoarding is an inevitable part of dementia. I don't have any answers, just sympathy for all concerned.
 

nerak

Account Closed
Jul 4, 2013
180
0
ireland
Sorry to hear that, must be hard! I dont think everyone with dementia does this my mums being doing it over the last 3 yrs when we were growing up she was the opposite my main concern is the clutter is very dangerous for her but she becomes very aggressive if I try and move anything I have bulging discs in my back so picking up and moving stuff is not good for me.

We as a family need to take control of this now as she could fall then and seriously hurt herself. The garden looks like a camping site after a party she flings things all over it was VERY embarrassing when the neighbours asked me in a roundabout way if we wouldnt mind cleaning up the back as they were trying to sell their house:(
 

artyfarty

Registered User
Oct 30, 2009
267
0
London
My nan used to collect cutlery. Her handbag was so heavy we used to call it her anti-mugging device. My grandad used to surreptitiously remove some of it when she was having difficulty picking it up (she was a tiny woman).

My mum has also turned into a hoarder. Plastic food containers are her particular fancy, although she keeps mountains of magazines and newspapers as well.

She also stocks up on the same things over and over again. We are never without at least three blocks of cheese in the fridge or multiple cakes in the cupboard!
 

1954

Registered User
Jan 3, 2013
3,835
0
Sidcup
If you could have seen all the things my MIL had in her flat! Bags and bags of broken glass, bags and bags of stones, broken ornaments and the list goes on and on............all went to the dump :eek:
 

turmoil

Registered User
Feb 3, 2013
239
0
West Yorkshire
I think there is a connection, my Dad had a foot width walkway through the rooms he needed at home, the rest were just chocker full waist high.
I cleared his hose whilst he was in hospital, getting rid of nothing important but slowly he is filling it up again, he needs it I try to stop him bringing things in but he just gets mad.

Every friday my dad is out there on dustbin day and comes back with discarded plants/bric a brac :-( It was a pine bed last!

Turmoil

Turmoil
 

di65

Registered User
Feb 28, 2013
786
0
new zealand
My husband isn't so much of hoarder, more of a 'don't throw that out - we might use that' sort of a person. It has got worse since his Alzheimers took over, but I have manged to dispose of some of the stuff that has either rusted or become unusable. Our rubbish wheelie bin hides a lot of stuff:D, When he is taken to his club once a week for a couple of hours, my 'me time' has become 'clearout time'. My friends have long had a chuckle over my shoe tactic. Never one to get rid of a pair of shoes (he still had his 45 year old wedding shoes until recently) I would take one of the pair and dispose of it. Every now and then I suggest the bottom of the wardrobe needs a tidy up, and he would discover that there would be a couple of mis-matched shoes. He would then throw out the odd ones:D:D
 

referee50

Registered User
Apr 24, 2013
24
0
Torches and Batteries are my Dad's guilty pleasure...we could open a shop! He also has a thing for plastic bags and Mum realised he was taking things out of the bin and putting them in his shed some time ago. At any given opportunity we will throw a few things out but we have to be carefull as I think he finds some comfort in those things...
 

LYN T

Registered User
Aug 30, 2012
6,958
0
Brixham Devon
My OH is a hoarder/collector. When he was at home he used to hoard sticks/leaves/fir cones/stones. He used to make piles of them in every room:confused: I used to call the piles his 'art installations' Then he progressed to collecting all of the above and anything else he wanted by putting the items down his pants.:D No kidding!

Take care

Lyn T
 

Starvin

Registered User
Jan 8, 2013
170
0
N.Wales
I pick up any money I see ! Any where I see it and have a preference for collecting door stops at the moment ! :) and if I go anywhere I want to see them when I get back .
 

garnuft

Registered User
Sep 7, 2012
6,585
0
Starvin said:
and if I go anywhere I want to see them when I get back .

Ha ha! Wonderful! good for you. :)
I collect money too Starvin, never managed to hoard it yet.
 

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