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CNN Live At Daybreak
Look at People who Hoard Things
Aired February 17, 2004 - 05:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Are you one of those people who hoards things -- magazines, letters, bills, clothes that don't fit anymore? Well, taken to the extreme, such behavior is considered a psychological illness.
CNN's Jeanne Moos has a story that may make you feel less guilty about your own messy home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you think you have trouble throwing stuff away, try finding your remote in this living room.
DR. RANDY FROST, CONSULTANT, NEW YORK CITY TASK FORCE ON HOARDING: This is where they sat during the evening and watched TV.
MOOS: And Martha Stewart wouldn't approve of this kitchen.
FROST: Every surface is covered.
MOOS: Psychologists call it hoarding.
FROST: The woman whose home we toured saved the inside cardboard of toilet paper rolls.
MOOS: Dr. Randy Frost was the keynote speaker at a conference on hoarding at Cordoza Law School. The conference held just weeks after a Bronx man was buried under his belongings, trapped for two days until neighbors found him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All I seen was the guy's head covered with old books and everything, pile on pile of stuff on top of him.
MOOS: New York's most famous hoarders were the well-to-do Collier brothers. Both brothers were found dead in 1947. One was trapped under junk, the other starved. New York firemen still refer to any call to a junk filled apartment as a Collier.
And then there's animal hoarding.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's hard to walk in this apartment.
MOOS: This woman faced eviction, along with her nearly 100 cats.
(on camera): Some people are going to say there's that like nutty cat lady. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I know. They always say, you know, there's the weirdo going, the one that likes the cats. Well...
MOOS: Hoarders think they're saving animals. They tend to be in denial about the squalor they live in. True hoarders find comfort in their possessions. The occupant of this house started to cry when she tried to throw away an old ATM slip with errands scribbled on the back, saying...
FROST: If I throw this away, I'll lose this day.
MOOS: Hoarders tend to be intelligent, yet unable to make decisions. They think spatially.
FROST: So if we were to ask her where her telephone bill is, she might be able to say well, it's about a foot down in the pile and a little over to the left.
MOOS: This hallway holds a decade worth of wrapped gifts that the occupant bought but couldn't part with. Hoarders' homes tend to be laced with goat trails.
FROST: A small pathway through the home about one foot wide.
MOOS (on camera): But just because you can't bring yourself to throw out a pile of magazines doesn't necessarily make you a hoarder.
Hi, Mike.
(voice-over): The difference between a hoarder and a clutterer?
FROST: When the clutter begins to interfere with the ability to function. So if you can't cook because your stove is covered with things.
MOOS (voice-over): Clutter like the cat in a hot tin pot.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 17, 2004 - 05:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Are you one of those people who hoards things -- magazines, letters, bills, clothes that don't fit anymore? Well, taken to the extreme, such behavior is considered a psychological illness.
CNN's Jeanne Moos has a story that may make you feel less guilty about your own messy home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you think you have trouble throwing stuff away, try finding your remote in this living room.
DR. RANDY FROST, CONSULTANT, NEW YORK CITY TASK FORCE ON HOARDING: This is where they sat during the evening and watched TV.
MOOS: And Martha Stewart wouldn't approve of this kitchen.
FROST: Every surface is covered.
MOOS: Psychologists call it hoarding.
FROST: The woman whose home we toured saved the inside cardboard of toilet paper rolls.
MOOS: Dr. Randy Frost was the keynote speaker at a conference on hoarding at Cordoza Law School. The conference held just weeks after a Bronx man was buried under his belongings, trapped for two days until neighbors found him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All I seen was the guy's head covered with old books and everything, pile on pile of stuff on top of him.
MOOS: New York's most famous hoarders were the well-to-do Collier brothers. Both brothers were found dead in 1947. One was trapped under junk, the other starved. New York firemen still refer to any call to a junk filled apartment as a Collier.
And then there's animal hoarding.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's hard to walk in this apartment.
MOOS: This woman faced eviction, along with her nearly 100 cats.
(on camera): Some people are going to say there's that like nutty cat lady. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I know. They always say, you know, there's the weirdo going, the one that likes the cats. Well...
MOOS: Hoarders think they're saving animals. They tend to be in denial about the squalor they live in. True hoarders find comfort in their possessions. The occupant of this house started to cry when she tried to throw away an old ATM slip with errands scribbled on the back, saying...
FROST: If I throw this away, I'll lose this day.
MOOS: Hoarders tend to be intelligent, yet unable to make decisions. They think spatially.
FROST: So if we were to ask her where her telephone bill is, she might be able to say well, it's about a foot down in the pile and a little over to the left.
MOOS: This hallway holds a decade worth of wrapped gifts that the occupant bought but couldn't part with. Hoarders' homes tend to be laced with goat trails.
FROST: A small pathway through the home about one foot wide.
MOOS (on camera): But just because you can't bring yourself to throw out a pile of magazines doesn't necessarily make you a hoarder.
Hi, Mike.
(voice-over): The difference between a hoarder and a clutterer?
FROST: When the clutter begins to interfere with the ability to function. So if you can't cook because your stove is covered with things.
MOOS (voice-over): Clutter like the cat in a hot tin pot.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
