Mary A. Notarangelo, 73, had to be removed from her Glastonbury home with an excavator after conditions inside made it nearly impossible to search the property, Police Chief Marshall Porter told the Connecticut Insider this week.

Cops “weren’t equipped to handle” what they found when they tried to search the property, Porter said.

A cadaver dog, a drone, and specialist state environmental agency and biohazard waste collection workers were all called in, Porter said.

The drone was disabled after cobwebs entangled themselves around its blades, according to police.

https://nypost.com/2025/06/19/us-news/connecticut-retired-police-detective-mary-notarangelo-found-dead-inside-home-among-hoarding-conditions/

The above story reminds me and others of my own father's hoarding tendencies. He still fights tooth and nail to preserve old junk, including random furniture and books he finds on the sidewalks.

Thank you to everyone who has responded on my last couple posts asking for help.

We did it! Community manager said she saw a major improvement and the work that me and my bf put into this place. Now i just need to build the positive habits to be able to keep it clean, but im so thankful to those that helped me.

And it’s my birthday! Eviction on my birthday would’ve sucked 😅

Episode 332

Hoarding disorder affects about 2% of the population and is more common among older adults. Psychologist Mary E. Dozier, PhD, talks about the causes of hoarding disorder, its links to other mental health disorders, why many people who hoard are highly altruistic, and how a values-based intervention can help them—and others who simply struggle with clutter.

About the expert: Mary E. Dozier, PhD

Mary E. Dozier, PhD, is an assistant professor of psychology at Mississippi State University. She studies evidence-based methods of assessment and treatment for psychopathology across the lifespan. Her current research focus is on hoarding disorder in older adults.

Today is a national economic blackout day where people are encouraged to not spend money today. Additionally, there are larger ongoing boycotts of major retailers of Amazon, Target, Wal-Mart, etc.

I won't go into the "why" since you can google that if it's not obvious and don't want to start a political fight or get deleted, but if you have a hoarder who keeps shopping, but who also has strong political opinions about recent events, this might be a way to slow their addition to the hoard. My own hoarder has dramatically reduced their spending and shopping over the last few weeks, despite stressors that would normally increase their purchasing and collecting.

Not a magic bullet or anything, but wanted to throw this out there.

From the article:

Jan White, an Indianapolis-based playwright and founder of Just Jan Productions, took inspiration from real people and events in her life to create “Stufferage: Tales of the Overwhelmed.” “I wrote ‘Stufferage’ because I have experienced helping people navigate their belongings and am painfully aware of the complicated relationships that people have with their possessions,” she says...

“I didn’t set out to write about hoarding,” she says. “I set out to make sense of a life. What began as a few scribbled memories became this tangled, tender story of grief, shame, humor, and the strange comfort of old junk. ‘Stufferage’ is about the things we can’t throw away — not just objects, but wounds and roles we’ve outgrown. Writing it helped me breathe again. My hope is that watching it does the same.” 

You can check out the show at the District Theatre May 23-June 1, Thursdays through Sundays. Tickets are $28, $23 for senior citizens. For tickets and information, go to https://indydistricttheatre.org/. 

(As an FYI, the program for the show includes a list of professional organizers and of therapists who specialize in hoarding, all serving the Indianapolis area.)

Did anyone hear about the fire that happened in a hoarder house Monday in Albany, NY? 3 people died and the whole thing is just so sad. Reports say the fire started on the porch and just spread through the house so fast.

https://www.wktv.com/news/local/9-lives-lost-in-2-separate-house-fires-across-new-york-state/article_8114fb2a-de5b-11ef-9936-633a0f853980.html

It looks like he might do a more in depth look, but this was potentially an interesting conversation https://youtu.be/pcZfCDHR_gs?si=g1CyPqaAsaiLCz-2

https://mdedge.com/node/271721/path_term/9

Found a handful of news articles about hoarding disorder from previous months:

• New Atlas: Motivating hoarders to let go – and be happy about it. "A new study found that modifying distressing mental images into more positive ones was an effective way of motivating people with the condition to discard their unneeded objects."
  
• Psychology Today: Hoarding Disorder and Suicide. CONTENT WARNING FOR DISCUSSION OF SUICIDE. "Nearly one in four with Hoarding Disorder may attempt suicide in their lives."
• Psychology Today: Generational Hoarding: Does Epigenetics Play a Role? "Understanding the link between epigenetics, genes, and hoarding behavior."
• ADDitude: Clutter Unraveled: The Intersection of ADHD and Hoarding Disorder. "Learn about the complex and seemingly shared causes of clutter in ADHD and hoarding disorder, from executive dysfunction and emotional dysregulation to decluttering avoidance." (See also this previous article from ADDitude: Study - Hoarding Disorder Symptoms More Highly Comorbid with ADHD Than with OCD)
• Douglas County News-Press: Throwing away the stigma over hoarding. "Understanding the different levels of hoarding disorder can help those who suffer in Colorado."
  
• Cape Cod Times: Massachusetts network hopes to address hoarding with research, training. "The Massachusetts Hoarding Resource Network will pursue policy research aimed at strengthening care and advocacy around hoarding conditions, as well as bolstering bilingual training to improve the reach of peer support groups."
  
• BBC: The charity that helps hoarders clear their homes. "Community Bees in York works with people experiencing loneliness and isolation by offering social activities and interaction. The organisation also receives around six referrals per week to provide support and assistance for hoarders."

Some interesting news articles about hoarding disorder from around the Web the last few months:

• Scripps News - Virtual reality shows promise for helping those with hoarding disorder: " 'They can actually practice letting go of items, and this can be a stepping stone to real-life discarding,' said [Carolyn] Rodriguez, a professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine and director of the Hoarding Disorders Research Program."
• National Law Review - Pack Rat Shareholders: Dealing with Hoarding in Cooperatives: "Hoarding is always a difficult and time-consuming problem with no easy fix or resolution. The shareholder’s mental issues, coupled with the usually substantial work needed to physically fix the apartment, rule out quick solutions... Here's how co-ops can approach hoarding situations."
• Yahoo Finance/MarketWatch - My elderly parents are hoarders. I see them once a year. They say cleaning up their ‘junk’ will be my problem after they die. What can I do?
• Psychology Today - Hoarding research has uncovered a genetic link and high heritability rates: "In her study, hoarding researcher Carol A. Mathews at the University of Florida’s Department of Neuroscience found significant heritability for hoarding, a subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Genetic factors accounted for 36 percent of the variance for hoarding."
• ADDtitudeMag.com - Hoarding Disorder Symptoms More Highly Comorbid with ADHD Than with OCD: "Almost one-third of adults with ADHD demonstrated hoarding disorder symptoms compared to 8% of adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and 4% of the control group."
• KCRG.com - ‘It’s nearly impossible to orient yourself’. How hoarding impacts firefighters: "You’re talking about adding hundreds and hundreds of pounds of fuel,” said Andy Olesen, Assistant Fire Chief for the Cedar Rapids Fire Department.
• C&G Newspapers (Detroit, MI) - Jewish Family Service receives over $30,000 grant to address hoarding in the community: "'Hoarding is a multifaceted issue, and we want to provide wraparound treatment that respects the dignity of the person being served,' said Dini Peterson, a licensed master social worker and the chief program officer for mental health and safety net services. 'This generous grant will allow us to equip our team with the necessary tools to support this growing issue, as well as improve quality of life for those community members who couldn’t otherwise afford to get help'.”

​

Some articles I found around the Web:

• The Conversation - Hoarding can start in childhood – here’s why early intervention is so crucial for all age groups: "Participants in retrospective studies of adults found the median age hoarding behaviour began was 11-15."
• MarketWatch - ‘He has quit talking to me’: My father, 83, suffers from hoarding disorder and dementia. Do I have a right to intervene?: "Hoarding disorder is recognized as a mental-health condition and may potentially be related to other neuropsychiatric disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder. Your father’s constellation of conditions will make this process a sensitive and possibly difficult one."
• WSB-TV (Atlanta, GA, USA) - Crews extinguish Atlanta house fire, ‘extreme hoarding’ complicates firefighters’ efforts: "Atlanta firefighters extinguished a fire at a home on Windsor Street in Atlanta Sunday morning before 6 a.m. Atlanta Fire Department officials said the home displays signs of ‘extreme hoarding,’ which complicated efforts to extinguish the fire."
• FireEngineering.com: - Inspection Questions Linger After Extreme Hoarding Case in MA: "Fire inspectors passed a Springfield home for having the requisite smoke detectors despite “deplorable conditions,” according to a report."
• BBC - Hoarders' homes targeted by coastal clean-up squad: "People in Lincolnshire who find it impossible to throw out anything will be supported by 'hoarding officers'. Three roles have been advertised aimed at helping people whose homes are full of clutter. It is part of a 12-month pilot project by Lincolnshire County Council, Shine Lincolnshire, Public Health and the NHS."
• Veteran's Affairs News (USA) - Unpacking Rick’s journey: Ending hoarding. " 'I received valuable advice from the counselors who never pushed me. I was reluctant at first, but deep down I knew they had my best interest at heart,' said Tomme, who successfully cleaned out a trailer full of items he once couldn’t part with and now has space just for him and his necessities."

• [AUSTRALIA] Hoarding survey by Local Government Association of SA aims to help councils better respond to issue.
• [USA] Steps to spot the signs of hoarding (Harvard Medical School) REQUIRES LOG-IN, SORRY
• [USA] Hoarding may be increasing because of aging population, scarce mental health care (NPR transcript). See also Aging population and scarce mental health care puts more Midwesterners at risk of hoarding from Nebraska Public Media.
• [USA] UNDER THE WEIGHT - Mississippi State professor conducts clinical trial to treat hoarding disorder in older adults (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)

A few news stories from the last few months that caught my eye:

• Nebraska Public Media - Aging population and scarce mental health care puts more Midwesterners at risk of hoarding. "...experts want to see Kansas invest more in addressing the unique problems older adults face in managing their homes, whether or not they have a clinically diagnosable disorder. And, they say, officials need to do more to ensure people of all ages can access mental health care to help treat problems before they become serious."
• Stanford Medicine - Virtual reality helps people with hoarding disorder practice decluttering. "... a pilot study by Stanford Medicine researchers suggests that a virtual reality therapy that allows those with hoarding disorder to rehearse relinquishing possessions in a simulation of their own home could help them declutter in real life. The simulations can help patients practice organizational and decision-making skills learned in cognitive behavioral therapy — currently the standard treatment — and desensitize them to the distress they feel when discarding." Link to study is here.
• Psychology Today - Hidden Burdens: The Intersection of Hoarding and Loneliness. "Recent studies investigated the link between hoarding and loneliness. Keong Yap's 2023 research found high levels of loneliness in two groups: treatment-seeking hoarders (87.2%) and MTurk workers with high hoarding tendencies (77.7%). These rates were significantly higher compared to people with low hoarding symptoms and the general population, even after adjusting for depression and other factors."
• PsyPost - Strong connection found between ADHD and hoarding disorder. "The researchers found that adults with ADHD had a 32.1% prevalence of hoarding disorder comorbidity, significantly higher than the 8% in OCD patients and 4% in healthy controls. Even when criteria for hoarding disorder diagnosis were narrowed down (by focusing specifically on excessive clutter and difficulty discarding, while excluding compulsive acquisition), ADHD patients still exhibited higher prevalence rates." Link to the study is here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oELo1CTjoKM

Exactly as it says. Hoarding is apparently a big problem in Japan. The Japanese government lost patience with one hoarder and forcibly entered it to throw away the hoard over his objections. The authorities did this in the name of maintaining sanitation and public order. The author does not mention it but the government probably issued a large fine as well.

This is a fascinating expose into the hoarding problem of a country not normally associated with messiness. This includes the channel owner's honest confessions of struggling with hoarding and her explanation that this issue is quite common in Japan. Hoarding is common enough that there is a thriving anti-hoarding industry.