HOARDING

What is Hoarding? | How Serious Is My Hoaring Problem?
How to Talk to Someone About a Hoarding Problem | Additional Resources

How Serious is my Hoarding Problem?

The National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization released a scale designed to measure how serious you or your loved one’s hoarding problem is.

FIRST DEGREE

-You are getting behind on tasks that were once normally managed, like laundry, dishes, etc.
-Small piles begin forming around the house and are starting to inconvenience you.
-You may be mildly embarrassed of your mess, but will still allow people into your home.

SECOND DEGREE

-You have lost the use of normal household items like your television, bed, tables, or sinks because your piles have expanded and have partially or totally covered these items up.
-Movement around the house is impeded by piles.
-You may begin making excuses to discourage people from coming into your home.

THIRD DEGREE

-All the signs of First and Second Degree .
-Rotting Food and animal feces and/or urine in the home is the rule, not the exception.
-Coping with the growing mess feels impossible.
-Essential home repairs are completed because you are too afraid to let a tradesperson enter yoru home.
-The thought of someone seeing the mess causes you great stress.

FOURTH DEGREE

-All the signs of the first three degrees.
-There is human feces and/or urine in your home that is not in the toilet.

Whatever stage of squalor you are at, remember, you are not the only person who has reached this degree of squalor! Other people have gotten to this level and survived it to come back. You deserve better than a cluttered, dirty, depressing home.