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Post by CrimsonKat on Dec 1, 2009 6:55:02 GMT -5
Saw it. Was not impressed at all. sn why? the story, the handling of it, or the format? i didn't watch it, and am not sure i will this season. it was sort of inspirational and sometimes made me want to clean, but for the most part, i would become very anxious and sad. i felt badly for them, sometimes saw a lot of myself in their views, but then i would feel paralyzed. i may take a look, but it's no longer programed on my dvr.
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Post by shopgirl on Dec 1, 2009 7:22:59 GMT -5
Tonight's lady was obviously suffering from Alzheimers, she had no emotion and no clue about what was going on around her. No reactions, no idea of the proper response to people (say thank you), nothing there behind those eyes. She seemed like all the ladies who live at my mother-in-law's assisted living, which specializes in Alzheimers. On the surface, you think they're okay, but then you realize they have no idea where they are or what year it is or who is president.
It was kind of unfair and cruel of A&E to profile a lady who has obviously had deteriorating mental capacity for quite a few years. My opinion only.
The photos of her from the 1950s: what a gorgeous lady she once was.
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Post by disorganizeddragon on Dec 1, 2009 12:07:52 GMT -5
Shopgirl, I believe I have to disagree about this woman having Alzheimers. Having three family members that have succumbed to Alzheimers, I can tell you that her short-term memory would not have been as clear as Augustine's was at the time this was filmed. That being said, I think this woman may suffer from some type of schizophrenia. She displays many of the symptoms of a schizophrenic, such as: 1. Disorganized thinking, speech, or actions. (There are the mummified remains of two cats in her home and she's worried about the fact that her books on gardening and crochet have been thrown away.) 2. Delusions such as her comments like "no one loves me" and blaming everyone else for everything that's wrong in her life. (I know people that aren't schizophrenic are guilty of these behaviors as well, but they can be very pronounced among those suffering with schizophrenia.) 3. Social withdrawal. 4. May suffer from paranoia--again illustrated in her comments about people being out to "get" her. 5. Absence of emotion.6. Decreased hygeine and grooming of self and living area. (Again, illustrated by the older daughter saying that her mother was once a beautiful woman that never let herself be seen without makeup or her hair fixed, but now she no longer cares if she even has her dentures in.) 7. Major dysfunction in one or more major life area, i.e. self-care, care of home and surroundings, interpersonal relationships, work, etc. All that being said, this show ticked me off to the nth-degree. This woman is not a classic hoarder-- she is mentally ill. Yes, they did a wonderful job on her home, shoveling out 8000 pounds of garbage and waste, but I have to agree with her son: I don't honestly believe her behavior will change, even with the after-care. Unless this woman receives intensive long-term therapy and is placed on a monitored regimen of meds (something A&E's after-care is unlikely to provide), I believe she will not be able to maintain her home. As they said in the program, her house has been cleaned out before, yet she's never been able to keep it at a remotely healthy level. I'm not surprised that A&E featured this lady's house; after all, the more disgusting it is, the more people will want to watch. (Unfortunate, but true.) However, I hate it, because her behavior is not representative of myself and most people I've met that have issues with clutter and cleaning. I know I have a problem, I'm trying to fix it (and keep it fixed), and greatly appreciate any help I can get. I realize this show is not for us--it is about us. We are now the "problem of the week." And I know I'm not going to like a lot of what I see on "Hoarders" or any other show about our problems. But I watch it in the hope that I might actually learn something about myself or my problem with clutter that will help me now or later. After all, the show did bring me back to this board, so sometimes I get lucky. However, last night was not one of those times.
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Post by bluefrog on Dec 1, 2009 12:17:55 GMT -5
Alzheimers, you think? Or at least some form of mental illness not part of OCD? That makes sense. She seemed quite disconnected from the whole process, unlike the hoarders I know in real life, who would be agonizing over every article out the door instead of sitting on the porch letting strangers shovel out the crud. I thought it might have been a new network strategy, to find hoarders who would just let the work crew do their thing.
I did appreciate that the show only covered one case per episode, rather than trying to rush through two.
Edited to add: I see disorganizeddragon got there first. This doesn't seem like classic hoarding, more like "we love ratings, and this will bring in viewers." At least the lady got her house cleaned out for now.
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Post by sporadic on Dec 1, 2009 12:30:12 GMT -5
I do not believe this woman suffers from Alzheimer's or hoarding. She does suffer some sort of diminished mental capacities....but not hoarding. She could not have cared less about all the stuff being removed - she simply sat in her porch rocking chair nearly the entire time while occasionally poking at the huge piles of rubbish. She had virtually no emotional reaction to the dead cats. The woman is completely unable to care for herself.
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Sapphire G
New Member
Looking for the Upside in Every Situation
Joined: September 2009
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Post by Sapphire G on Dec 1, 2009 12:48:21 GMT -5
Just my opinion but I thought she was mentally ill, squalorous but probably not a hoarder, and in need of home housekeeping help. Someone to come in to take out the trash, make sure that she's taking care of herself, etc.
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Post by disorganizeddragon on Dec 1, 2009 13:01:04 GMT -5
Bluefrog and Sporadic, both of you are soooo right about "Augustine" simply sitting on her porch as they shoveled belongings out of her home. Though they did show her questioning the removal of one or two things in the house, she normally showed no emotion for the procedure whatsoever. A true hoarder--such as some of the folks featured in previous episodes--would have been much more emotional or concerned about the items being taken from their home. If people just walked into my apartment and started throwing things away willy-nilly, I would be swinging from my ceiling fan with my Nerf gun, screaming like a hyena on heroin. Now that would make an interesting episode, don't you think?
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Post by StuffNoMore on Dec 1, 2009 13:21:47 GMT -5
Oh gee, I forgot it was on last night and could have easily set the dvr SNM
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oseagal
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Joined: June 2008
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Post by oseagal on Dec 1, 2009 17:06:53 GMT -5
"swinging from my ceiling fan with my Nerf gun" !! Love the visual!
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Post by binky on Dec 1, 2009 19:28:56 GMT -5
Her house needed much more attention than they were able to give within the time limits. I don't mean just the trash, I mean the fix up part of it. (floors, ceilings, walls, ect..) I feel sorry for her. I was pleased when the clean up crew bought her a new chair, even though she didn't show any emotion over it.
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Post by paperpiler on Dec 1, 2009 22:31:50 GMT -5
As someone with a (now deceased) Alzheimer's parent, I have to disagree as well. The way she acted wasn't the way an Alzheimer's patient acts.
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Post by howardsgirlfriend on Dec 1, 2009 23:02:50 GMT -5
I believe the correct term for the behavior we're citing is "restricted affect," where emotions stay within a narrow range. Restricted affect can be a symptom of a variety of mental illnesses, including dementia and schizophrenia. She is clearly not a classic OCD hoarder. She's only 68 years old, and had the onset somewhere in her 30's, which is consistent for both schizophrenia and some types of dementia, but does not exclude other types of mental illness.
The show's producers have to make the show dramatic and intriguing, so people will keep watching. Even though I felt uncomfortable watching someone obviously mentally ill, perhaps cases like hers will teach others more about hoarding, and how complicated this disorder is. I'll bet very few people will accuse her of being laaazzeeyy.
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Post by shopgirl on Dec 2, 2009 5:46:22 GMT -5
You girls are right. I'll agree that she had some sort of mental disorder, not Alzheimers. Since she went into decline 30 years earlier. That would be when she was just 38, which would be rare for Alzheimers. What a difficult, heartbreaking situation for the family.
Her daughter did a great job of raising the son after CPS removed him from the mom's house. He is really intelligent and so sweet. The way he gently handled the dead cat, he was sad for the kitty and also for his mom and the entire situation. Both he and his sister were moved to tears when the crew brought the new chair. I teared up a little, too. And the cleaning ladies, saying prayers of thanks for having the opportunity to help this lady. What generous, gentle, understanding people all around. It was nice to see so many good people.
Still not feeling it was appropriate for A&E to film someone in such diminished mental capacity. This week's Intervention was also a tough one.
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Post by serenitynow on Dec 2, 2009 10:03:51 GMT -5
I agree that the mother was mentally off but she was crafty as a fox. Her daughter pointed out that the heavy breathing asthma act ONLY occurred when she was confronted about something. I noticed that happening throughout. She turned it on and off like a faucet. Her son said that she always behaved like she was entitled, which was also apparent. She didn't JUST sit in her rocker on the porch, she munched ice cream bars! I guess that was what she lived on without her teeth Also she projected her rage onto everyone around her. I agree that this episode panned to ratings. There was no conflict about getting rid of things. Only afterward, as her daughter expressed, would she negate all that was being done for her by looking for lost items. That woman was severely depressed and a total narcissist yes, but she was also mean and self centered as h***. Her earlier pictures showed that she took immaculate care of her person but didn't extend that same care to her children. She was reminiscent of Jean of a past episode in that she felt her hard life entitled her to do as she pleased without consequence to all surrounding parties. And the resemblance didn't stop there, as Jeans kids also bailed her out numerous times but were at their wits end. And both mothers delivered scathing looks to their exasperated, codependant daughters. How tragic. Susan did a beautiful job with her brother, who was caring and detached but not hateful. He answered his mothers barbs in a mature way. All in all an unimpressive episode because nothing enlightening was accomplished. A bunch of people shoveled out a hovel which should have been ( and eventually will be) bulldozed. sigh.
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Post by gottaproblem on Dec 2, 2009 11:14:49 GMT -5
Bluefrog and Sporadic, both of you are soooo right about "Augustine" simply sitting on her porch as they shoveled belongings out of her home. Though they did show her questioning the removal of one or two things in the house, she normally showed no emotion for the procedure whatsoever. A true hoarder--such as some of the folks featured in previous episodes--would have been much more emotional or concerned about the items being taken from their home. If people just walked into my apartment and started throwing things away willy-nilly, I would be swinging from my ceiling fan with my Nerf gun, screaming like a hyena on heroin. Now that would make an interesting episode, don't you think? I too would have been doing similar things, but I couldn't express it as well as you did. I thought it was nice that the men bought her the chair but I said to someone I was watching it with that it wasn't a recliner. Like they threw out. Next thing Augustine says something about it not being a recliner. She was not grateful for their generousity. These were the junk guys, they did not need to get her anything. This show did show that there were a bunch of kind hearted people trying to help her.
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