Death By Clutter?

This happened a while ago, but, being somewhat behind in my odd news consumption, I just heard about the woman who was found buried under clutter in her home in Las Vegas 4 MONTHS AFTER HER DEATH. Wait - it gets worse - search dogs had already gone through the house, and her husband was still living there! GAH! Read about it here.

Clip from "Hoarders"

If you've ever watched the show "Hoarders" (and if you haven't, you totally should), it's easy to see that there's a thin line between your eccentric Aunt Dolly and her creepy marionette collection (that takes up four rooms and a quarter of the kitchen), and compulsive hoarding worthy of reality TV. Like any other mental illness, it manifests itself in varying degrees of severity, ranging from an irrational refusal to get rid of outdated documents to full on every-room-crammed-so-full-of-stuff-the-house-is-condemned compulsion. Here's a website that explains the ins and outs of the disorder.

I was surprised at how common it is - some experts believe it's about 1% of the population (that's a lot, ya'll!). I know at least two hoarders personally - one even sleeps on a small piece of foam beneath their desk because they can't open the door to their bedroom for all the clutter. I actually lived with a hoarder for two months while rehearsing a show in Boston (that was fun), and vividly remember having to inch through the small paths carved through mountains of papers, magazines, and other clutter to get from room to room. She also liked to talk. A lot. Fun.

I suppose I'm like the "anti-hoarder" - I'm readying bags for Freecycle as I write this. It must be truly awful to be so deeply attached to stuff that you can't tell where it ends and you begin.