Hoarder

Comerman

Hi folks, sorry if I'm in the wrong place. My sister in law is living next to a chronic hoarder. They are privately owned houses and they've spoken to the neighbour and her family, Gardai, council and environment and no one seems to be able to do anything about it. There is an noxious odour in her kitchen and bedroom which is coming through the walls and she was always a nervous type and it's gotten so bad we are concerned for her mental health. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Igotadose

There's no public health ordinance that can be used to investigate, at least? Hoarding's bad news, it's an anxiety disorder imo.
Have known several in my life, all required some sort of intervention.

Bigbagofcans

The difficulty is that many people who hoard don't see it as a problem or if they do, they are reluctant to get help.

If I was your sister-in-law I'd be persistent in knocking on the neighbour's door and getting outside help to do it too. I'm not sure what else can be done.

freshpopcorn

Mod NoteMoved from After Hours to Accomdation and Property please follow local rules/etc.

grounderfill

Hoarding can be linked to mental health issues. There is HSE policy or legislation in place where such circumstances, if serious enough, would allow for a social worker to be sent in. If you google hse SELF neglect it will give advice on how to approach it. If possibke it may be better to raise the issue with near family/relatives.

jlm29

Is the hoarder over 65? There’s probably a local social worker for elder abuse in the area, and they should be able to investigate reports of self neglect. Might be an avenue to explore, but tbh, I would say it will be difficult to get anything done about it.

whippet

my mother was a hoarder - she suffers with Dementia and is now in full time residential care.

Her hoarding really got bad around the time that her dementia became obvious.

About 18 months ago we did organise a skip and started to clear the house out - my dad was visibly relieved but my mother was so distressed about it - she was clearing the skip as quick as we could fill it. The next day we went back and the house was twice as bad.

There is no rational explanation for it .. she couldn't deal with anything being disposed of

Comerman

Thanks for all the posts, I suppose it's a serious illness in itself and there's not much that can be done but now we have the other side where it's affecting the sisters mental health.

skooterblue2

grounderfill wrote: »

Hoarding can be linked to mental health issues. There is HSE policy or legislation in place where such circumstances, if serious enough, would allow for a social worker to be sent in. If you google hse SELF neglect it will give advice on how to approach it. If possibke it may be better to raise the issue with near family/relatives.

Have a similar problem with a family member. First the mental health issue is the real problem, the hoarding is the symptom. In our experience a Social worker can do very little without a proper diagnosis and a determined doctor. The individual has be either a danger to themselves or other individuals, this is where many individual fall into a grey area. If the Doctor cannot prove this he could be sued by the client (Trust me when they want to appear sane and lucid they can for an appropriate time).
I am not blaming doctors or Social workers but the law has swung too far the other way now.

headtheball14

Me too, it’s so upsetting to see a home that has lots of memories being turned in to a dump. She smiles and agrees she needs to get on top of it ,tells me she has started and it just gets worse.
In the Uk it seems social workers would be involved along with council environmental help but in Ireland this just doesn’t seem to be an option.
I’ve offered to help, talked to other family,nothing seems to work and everyone just ignores it. It’s only the last ten years or so it’s happened