You may have seen those television shows in which people’s family members have managed to hoard things for years and never clean their clutter or the mess they make. Things get so bad in their family member’s home that it has created safety hazards, environmental hazards, and pest infestations, putting them at risk for eviction by a landlord or legal action by the local government.
Junk removal services are equipped and experienced to help households and properties with hoarders.
Stories like this aren’t mere entertainment for television. Hoarding is a reality for some individuals and families alike and helping them clean up their homes after years of stockpiling junk is quite challenging.
This is because each layer of junk represents some emotional pain you can trigger if you don’t handle such cleanups with care. If you’re dealing with a hoarding family member who needs to clean up their house, here are some tips on how to help them.
Start with Compassion
It’s hard to fathom how someone can collect so much junk that it creates a dangerous living situation, but this happens. In many cases of hoarding, people do so because of emotional issues, not necessarily because of a lack of organization or general uncleanliness.
When helping out a hoarding family member, you have to start by having compassion for the mess they’ve made. Many of them may be holding on to some type of emotional stress from a major loss in the past that caused them to never let things go. As a result, their home is full of things they have collected out of fear of losing things.
When approaching cleaning a hoarder’s home, proceed with caution, knowing they are very attached to the junk they are hoarding. While you may see everything as something you can easily toss out, they may not.
Prepare to Move Slowly
Besides showing compassion, you’re going to have to exhibit a lot of patience since every piece of junk they own may have a specific emotional impact on them. The baby doll they’ve had since they were six years old may be among the things in the pile of junk but tossing it in the trash nonchalantly could cause an emotional episode for your family member.
A backstory could be related to the doll connecting them to a lost loved one or some childhood memory that still impacts them.
As you clean, talk to your loved one and help them understand the need to relinquish these cherished items. While they may be resistant at first, taking time to discuss the junk as you remove it can be therapeutic for them.
Clean One Room at a Time
Another good approach to helping a hoarder clean is to clean one room at a time. Instead of overwhelming yourself and them by trying to tackle the entire house, start with one room and work your way around the room. Clearing one room at a time will help you see progress immediately and encourage you to keep going once you clear the clutter.
Call Out the Professionals in Junk Removal
If your family member has an enormous amount of junk to clean out of their house, you may need help tackling this project. Since you’ll be tasked with helping them to break free from the emotional bonds that keep them hoarding the items in their home, physically removing junk may become taxing for you.
To avoid burnout, it is a good idea to hire a junk removal company to help with cleanup, particularly one that has helped with hoarding cases. Such companies will have the expertise and the compassion necessary to help with junk removal associated with hoarding.
Do you have a friend or family member who is a hoarder and needs help removing the junk and clutter strewn throughout their home? Mitten Junk Removal can help. Members on our team are anchored in compassion for any junk removal service including whole house and estate cleanouts. We are not only fast, but also friendly.
Our junk removal company is in Howell, and we’ve been serving the local surrounding communities throughout Southeast Michigan including Brighton, Ann Arbor and Novi. Let us know what your junk removal requirements are so we can alleviate you from the stress and physical strain of hauling it all away!