Hoarding disorder gets prime-time treatment

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — For years, no one on Crest Drive paid much attention to the little white house with pink trim.

The front yard was overgrown with shrubs and three cars sat motionless in the driveway. Neighbors on the quiet street knew the owner, a retired psychologist named Carina DeOcampo, was an odd, private person — even her family would leave bags of food on the front steps, then quickly drive away.

But folks here were shocked in early October when police forced their way into the home and discovered the 72-year-old DeOcampo dead, surrounded by six feet of garbage that packed the house.

DeOcampo was a hoarder.

"She had trails throughout the house, from her chair to the kitchen to her bedroom," said neighbor David Collins, who peered in the front door after DeOcampo's body was removed. "It was unbelievable."

This year, compulsive hoarders are in the spotlight. Books, movies and TV's "Hoarders" — a popular A&E reality show that begins its second season Nov. 30 — have all brought the disorder out of its shame-filled past.

Some hoarding experts worry that the media sensationalizes the problem while making solutions seem tidier than they really are. But they concede any attention may entice people who suffer from the disorder to obtain help.

Stories like DeOcampo's spring up around the U.S. with regularity; some hoarders are fined tens of thousands of dollars by local authorities for zoning or health code violations, while others are arrested on animal abuse charges after collecting dogs or cats. Hoarders' family and friends often give up in frustration, unable to help clean out a dangerous living space.

On the Hoarders TV show, people with the disorder recognize they have a problem, then work with psychiatrists and organization experts to help clean up. Viewers are fascinated; the show is the number one "freshman" nonfiction series on cable for people ages 25-54.

"There's just a core relate-ability that people feel for this subject," said Robert Sharenow, A&E's senior vice president of programming. "People look at this show and see themselves to a degree, or see people they know."