Inside The Shocking Homes Of Britain's Biggest Hoarders With Jasmine Harman | Episode 3 | Abode

[Music] there's a way to make an entrance my destiny it was now a conspiracy of witches download today [Music] i'm jasmine harmon and i've lived with my mother's compulsive hoarding all my life i'm telling you i'm keeping those if that isn't with your agreement then we have to fall out with help my mum's made huge improvements and now i want to help other hoarders around the country who are living in terrible conditions i've been desperate because i can't cope with it this isn't me this isn't me living like this i am shocked it's literally a wall of stuff these are people who have lost their homes and lives to hoarding it's going to feel like you can't make it and that's totally normal oh yeah do you want to spend the rest of your years with this hanging over you sorry i can't do it i want hoarders up and down the country to realise they aren't alone get rid you can't use them so that's a good decision you've made i'm really proud of you ah and that with the right help their lives can improve too really good to have my space back look what i have found the things that i've found that i never actually knew that i had [Music] i've got something wrong with me which lots of other people have got and it can be cured [Music] according to the institute of psychiatry as many as one in 20 people in the uk are hoarders and many of them are suffering in secrecy [Music] jeff lives in plymouth [Music] if you saw him on the street you'd think he was a perfectly ordinary 79 year old but behind his front door it's a very different story [Music] the situation has certainly taken over my life to the extent that i have a sort of dual personality of the me inside the house under me outside the house where i behave as though the house is quite normal precisely like a secret life jeff had maintained that secret life for 20 years until a few weeks ago [Music] a bus driver came by and saw a lot of flies in the window he then told the police and the police thought oh how's the inmate of the house died and so they came along and banged on the door and there wasn't anybody there and obviously i wasn't dead so they then told the council the council told me about jeff's story their environmental health officer has issued jeff with a 42-day order to clear his hoard his secret is out and now he's been forced into a corner clear or be cleared [Music] i can totally understand why jeff keeps his hoarding secret and you know i kept my mum's hoarding the whole family kept it a secret for years because we were totally ashamed i really hope that maybe through me telling jeff about my experiences that he might also find the courage to open up to some of his friends or family by keeping it a secret he's taking the whole burden all the weight of all that horde on his shoulders alone [Music] yes you're vacuuming well yeah people do you know it's uh i know it's wonderful they've been invented about 100 years nice to meet you jeff has made a start clearing but after five weeks he's barely scraped the surface so what kind of things do you collect jeff the things i collect tend to be things with lots of shiny knobs i've got a variety of microscopes i've got a ultraviolet microscope so i mean basically my interests are enhancement of human capabilities so do you think there are benefits to having all the stuff that you've got well it's shades of grey it's shades of grey and how do you does the prospect of other people knowing about this how does that make you feel um it makes me feel so unpleasant that i just don't think about it maybe i can reassure you a little bit because with my mum's hoarding we went to great lengths to hide it from the outside world because we were ashamed and people just didn't understand and eventually when we opened up with it we were incredibly heartened actually to find out how many other people were in similar situations we thought it was just us do you have any other family and friends i've got my sister your sister who i think requires the praise for putting up with me has your sister been to the house has she been to visit you here she's one of the ones who i'm trying to conceal it from jeff's horde has spread across all three floors of his house three bedrooms a loft and two large rooms downstairs all rendered useless when's the last time you were able to sit down in here well i don't think i ever have sat down in here having lived in this house for 25 years you have never been able to sit down and relax in your front room that's right how far does that go through i can only sort of glimpse all the way but you can't even see the size of the room while you see the food museum if i'm doing well it's a tin a day dinner day keeps the council away [Music] what's that room that's the bathroom when were you able to use it last but not least about eight years [Music] jeff you practically have to do the splits to get through here well there you are you see people pay good money to go to health clubs you're getting this for nothing what i think we should do jeff is try and formulate some kind of plan as to how we tackle what you want to do in the house well my plan is to try to make it to the back wall of that room downstairs that will allow me to get out a variety of computer magazines which are must be 10 years old they can be flung my worry about doing it in a very small space and doing it bit by bit is that it's very slow one thing that we did with mum was a warehouse where we took a load of stuff and it gave us space to sort with what you've got to do the task is pretty monumental it makes me sad to think that he's been living like this for a long time [Music] and the fact that he's got no one i think god how tragic that he's got to this stage it's unimaginable really basically i wouldn't have believed it i mean jasmine knew where i was coming from it appears that i've got something wrong with me which lots of other people have got i'm no longer the unique me [Music] hoarding is a condition that takes control of people's lives jeff's horde has forced him to live a life of shame and secrecy [Music] jean's hoard is preventing her from even living in her east london flat she moved out of her flat and in with a friend after a health scare now gene wants to move back in heaven [Music] but she can barely get in the front door like jeff jean's horde has reached the attention of the local council who are concerned that it's a fire risk once this gets cleared here hopefully about to get through sugar jean's daughter jeanette made contact with me in the hope that i may be able to help her mum clear her horde before the council do it for her gene wants our first meeting to be away from the flat your flat is inaccessible at the moment or you can get into the hall i'm just kidding that's all and so does that upset you or worry you or how do you feel about it yes it does worry and upset this is like a bad dream you know my daughter lives in scotland and um i used to travel to scotland on my own every year now it's a bit of a daunting thought so with the flat being full up with stuff that's all a bit disorganized what do you want to do about that well i'm going to sort it it's not rubbish it's not for the dustbin jeans 69 she's had a tough life she brought up her daughter jeanette as a single mum holding down up to four jobs at once to pay the way when's the last time you had anyone round here pudding when's the last time you had anyone come to your flat i can't remember now i've got something that's breakable in here so i don't really want to leave that there somewhere safe doesn't it yeah put it round here do you mind if i peek around the door no fine this is the house that jack built this is the house that gene mapped up i wonder if i move this stuff out of the corner i can go into that corner and shut the door and then i can move those bags from behind the door so we're going to open it what do you think oh yeah let me take that closer it didn't happen are all the rooms filled up like this so you can't not quite as bad but they're not good um oh my god i am absolutely shocked at the state i didn't think it was as bad as it is but it is the situation is bad jean's so consumed by her horde that it's preventing her from visiting her daughter although they do talk every day on the phone i have a word with her yeah i'd love to talk to her actually hi jeanette the moment just talking to your mum this morning it feels to me like she hasn't really accepted that the the problem is as serious as it actually is i still think that's the case yes she has an idea that you can organize what's there and i've said to time and time again it's not possible i totally know what you've been through with this and i imagine it can't be easy at all being away many sleepless nights yeah it's a big worry i can put that in there can i it's good to speak to jeanette i can relate to everything that she's been trying to do for her mum and how frustrating it is i don't think that jean is ready to let go of anything but there's too much stuff in this flat she's in denial there's no other way of putting it [Music] [Music] with jeff's 42-day deadline looming we need to start clearing but jeff has become so used to living with his horde but i'm not sure how ready to clear he really is this is more or less as comfortable as comfortable can be and i i think well supposing i was an edwardian millionaire in a stately home it wouldn't be any more comfy and certainly he wouldn't have anywhere near as good a bedside lamp jeff has agreed to let me move the contents of the ground floor to a local warehouse heather matuatso a professional declutterer who works extensively with hoarders is going to help me clear entree i'll step into here so you can come up where am i going to see so what you've got in here is the bathroom the birth is temporarily full of shoes what do you say what's full of shoes the bath i'm hoping by moving jeff's possessions away from his home he'll feel more able to part with them that's an fm receiving aerial three element which i was intending to use for getting french radio stations to improve my french letting go is not going to be easy but jeff understands that something's got to give i mean basically do i want to get my place sorted out or not or am i going to run a museum for 20 year old magazines with a request in my will that they'd be cremated with me which would present a real a real problem to the crematorium as well as giving jeff the chance to really sort through his possessions clearing the horde from his house should also buy him some time with the council [Music] i can see intellectually that it is a very good idea but then of course there's the thing other people are laying their germ infested sacrilegious hands on all my precious belongings [Music] i mean at some point he will have to face up to it and do it himself and do the letting go but i think he we're slightly pushing him out of his comfort zone this stuff sorted here semi-sword semi-sorted i do want to hang on to those [Music] oh dear jeff's horde is unique scientific machines antique music roles and a vast collection of tins he calls his food museum i just want you to look at the food museum i don't know what it is okay do you know how old it is have a guess have a guess i think probably about eight years more it doesn't matter i mean basically it was cheap because it was done 16 years old yeah but you see my logical mind says there isn't anything wrong with them if there was any doubt about it first of all it would go third third when you shook it this doesn't it makes the right noise secondly that would be slightly conv con complex it's not so there's no way i could persuade you to not really reduce your food museum no oh his fridge freezer is even more disturbing it's been hidden in his horde for years and years the whole time switched on [Music] well that's it what was in that jug i don't know but it's perfect a good jug [Music] in my experience hoarders have a very different relationship with their possessions where we might see junk jeff sees treasure was that hard for you to let that stuff go out of the house that we've put in the car yes i think certainly it is a it is a somewhat somewhat traumatic thing to see the things going out of the door it was a bit like uh having a sort of important part of my genitals taken away that sort of feeling how it feels yes you know i'm sorry that it feels painful but i think you're amazingly brave what will be interesting to see is that whether having that extra bit of space how that balances out against losing that part of you in no way was this easy for jeff even though he's outwardly joking about it he's got this inner turmoil that's going on but he's going to let it go because he knows it's for the greater good the actual feelings are sort of being violated in a small way [Music] it's hard because it's my possessions [Music] but i think probably the real reason is much more deep in the subconscious than that jeff has done remarkably well so far but if he's going to get to the root of his problem he'll need other help [Music] i've asked professor paul salkovskis one of britain's leading hoarding experts to talk to jeff jeff is incredibly intelligent charming [Music] it would be easy to look at jeff and go he's fine he's sorted but he's not it's totally not [Music] there's a lot going on beneath the surface do you know what the you know the technical definition of hoarding is no it's it's actually when when your possessions when the the things you put in in space prevent the space from being used for the purpose it would normally be used for and so the problem in a sense that part of the definition of the problem is that it stops you doing really important things and stops you living in your house important things to you yeah jeff was born in 1933 in nottinghamshire his mother was a secretary and his father ran a local printing department you were only child or we have brothers and sisters i had a sister when i was seven when you were much younger so perhaps from your child was there was there a shortage of money uh i had one up to 1939 i think i was bought a fair collection of expensive toys did you play with them a lot i think so yes but my mother that used to chuck him out when the paint was a bit damaged so what were you left with not very many yeah just talking about childhood in general i was lonely so occasionally i used to go off to other kids houses i viewed these with amazement because they always looked as though i vomited them you know the kids toys all over everywhere the houses we lived in but our house uh that's perfect that's right and it is logical to say well go go go with your heart rather than your head actually i i i i'm ideological the logic is my heart's walled off i think you are very detached from your feelings you're the you're the boy who grew up in the perfect house yeah and here you are now and somewhere between the two very opposite yeah the very opposite this is almost an auntie home isn't it [Music] jeff worked for many years as a chemical engineer in 1966 he got married he was 33 years old 18 years later the marriage ended in divorce since then jeff has lost contact with his two children around the age of 50 you lose your house you lose your wife so you so actually you lost everything [Music] to a first approximation yes there's a number of ways in which i think you've been damaged you probably don't have to be a rocket scientist or even a chemical engineer to work out that there might possibly be a link there a link with hoarding you mean or a link i think with this with this with what what's around you this is a horrible way for you to live and that's what i said to you early on that it's upsetting it's upsetting to to see how you have to live [Music] i wish jeff would be able to open up a little bit to himself sort it out before it's too late [Music] i can't think of anything worse than him living out the rest of his days [Music] in a semi-derelict house full up with stuff on his own jeff has gone to great lengths to keep his hoarding a secret from his friends and family but not all hoarders are able to conceal it from those close to them okay okay jane's daughter jeanette is well aware of her mom's condition all right oh dear yes and she's becoming increasingly worried it's upsetting yeah um there's all sorts of emotions there's you're upset obviously for your mum you feel guilty because you think you should have done more and yet at the same time you know you've actually tried quite hard so you know mag or a cup they're all clean but where they're they're all clean but where are they yeah like me with my mum jeanette's been trying for years to help her mother overcome her hoarder the thought here i'm looking forward to meeting jeanette because she has been in a similar situation to me now there's the coffee right through where's the coffee it's around i mean i know from experience with my own mum that it feels like it's never-ending at times you feel like you're getting nowhere jean visits her flat almost every day to try to sort through her horde so she can move back in hello but she's not making any headway and with the threat of a council clearance hanging over her it's causing great anxiety i mean we're right at the beginning of this now it's not going to be an instant fix as you know it it will take a long time and it will be an ongoing process what would you hope to achieve will be your long-term goal gene peace of mind i'd like to have more of the stuff put in its right place because none of this is in the place it should be gene dates the chaos back to when her belongings were moved by the council from one flat to another following a fire in the block but janette told me her mother's hoarding was just as bad in her previous flat i think we need to clear some space in the living room today yeah would that would that be a good step heather has joined us to try to get things moving if we if we form a human chain up the corridor pass some of that stuff out would that be okay i prefer the stuff to go just in the doorway of the kitchen rather than in the hallway cliff's basement you shouldn't know you don't know [Music] do you think then in in all that stuff there we aren't going to find repeats of things that you have no i don't think you are and this you don't feel ready to let go of anything yet not yet no gene is resistant to letting go a resistance jeanette is all too familiar with do you feel happy with how it's going today or do you think we should be doing anything slightly differently to to adapt to your mum i think you're doing really well she's very difficult you should say so herself i think kitchen kitchen have you ever like tried to help her clearing out with her being there in the past oh yeah in the past i've had to but it's never been very successful it always felt like a battle and that was probably inevitable because because it was just me i had a limited amount of time i had a huge wall of stuff to deal with and a mum that didn't want to get rid of anything does it make you feel resentful in a way that this stuff has sort of taken over or is it yeah that's not me blaming my mom no that's just not wishing that it had not happened it must be a lot of weight on your shoulders have you yeah this is the first time i've ever shared it oh it actually really makes me sad that one and that one could they go i don't know yet but you can take that one okay that's it okay can i take four ten no no one sorry because i want to hang on to it for a while do you feel happy with those bits that you've selected going to the charity shop that's fine can we just put a few more things in here just to pad it out it's not bulging enough no that's fine as it is after six hours work we've managed to clear some space in the living room but jean has only let five items leave the flat those bits yeah five to the reality show okay well done gene right that's all right i'm sorry there's not more but there might be more next time well exactly yeah okay i think today was really really hard for gene it may only seem like a small step but for gene i think it may be quite monumental because jeanette's an only child the whole weight of it has been on her shoulders it was just her and her mum but when it's your mum you can't ever turn your back on her thank you hey well that's amazing isn't it actually we have to sit like this sit in here yeah there's still a lot to sort through yeah i do know that [Music] so what am i going to do take up bowls i could have a rifle range or i could do experiments to measure the velocity of the speed of light it's taken a week to clear the downstairs of jeff's house into a local warehouse everything bar his food museum which he's refused to budge in the process of clearing he's come across some old treasures there is my father's top hat and so it fits me he's also found some unwanted guests i can't afford a vet to do a proper autopsy but i think it's food poisoning the council's 42-day notice has expired but as there's been visible progress he's been granted a stay of execution basically the council gobsmacked i think i'm now in the situation i can say look do you really want to carry on with this clearance notice threat despite jeff's optimism they won't let him off the hook that easily right now his horde is being held in a local warehouse what he can't let go will end up back home oh my gosh there's so much stuff this is actually only from two rooms in jeff's house and it's filling this entire space maybe seeing it all laid out like this will make him realise that actually there's too much stuff even if it was all organized you know just the pianola rolls would fill it more than entire room today will be the first time jeff has seen his possessions since they left his house [Music] i think this is going to be quite difficult for jeff i think he's been putting off and putting off and putting off and i think he's going to go through the same emotions that my mum went through it's like ripping off an arm or a leg that's what it feels like hi jeff hi come in how are you all right thank you considering you know come and have a look [Music] there is a lot isn't there jeff has got some difficult decisions to make about what he keeps and what he lets go including the 1000 music roles they play on an antique self-playing piano called a pianola a device jeff doesn't even own this is going to be the easy place to start isn't it visit look at all those we might even hang on to that i'm not sure that's a super thing if it works [Music] let go oh no i need i need i definitely need that because at the present moment we're not short of them that's okay for tools you see it's actually though it looks a bit fly blown it's actually perfectly good really [Music] i remember the sewing machine i got it for two pounds does it work i think so if it doesn't work i'll mend it that's a cushion i think it's probably worth keeping [Music] ah now just a moment those those are television aerials aren't they oh i need one of them oh right there is always going to be a sort of compulsion to go back to the way that you have lived it's a habit ah is that more pionola rolls oh yes i sort of i appear to have lost control on piano roles you've got a lot and no pianola well i had 14. when was that well well late stages of my marriage so how long ago was that 30 years so what got you started collecting these jeff my ex-wife also like pianolas it all came unstuck because of the divorce there are always going to be certain things that push a button that he'll find it much much more difficult to decide to let go what what we'll do we'll stop because basically i'm getting the stage when i'm not quite sure whether i'm coming or going it's been a tough day for jeff so far he's barely let go of anything i don't want to pile any more pressure on him so i'm taking him back to his house oh entree i've never actually even seen this room i just had no idea what it was like i hope that seeing his home clear might remind him what we're trying to achieve in the warehouse how would you feel now if the stuff that's gone just stayed gone and never came back well it would feel rather sad in that i'd then have to start buying pianola rolls all over again do you feel then instinctively that once the stuff that's coming back from the warehouse arrives you will go through it or do you think it will just lead to more hoarding basically if i get myself back into the hoarded up state in some ways it's a fake worse than death [Music] unlike many hoarders i've worked with jeff can see the hole he's dug himself into question is does he have the strength to dig himself out [Music] i don't want him to take all that stuff back if he's going to take it all back then it just makes the whole exercise completely pointless today is is a big day it's crunch time really this is the first item of many to go in the uh to go box probably charity shop okay so this is your to-go box now that's right keep or get rid get rid what do you want to do with this jeff ditch it did you yeah good almost immediately it seems jeff has had a dramatic change of heart what do you want to do with it get rid i keep that one on the other ones boo hoo that's really good jeff actually you're right boo hoo you can't use them so that's a good decision you've made i'm really pr proud of you bye bye black bits of wood you're understanding that this wood as lovely as you perceive it to be is not helping you i think the ladder stabilizer can go to auction i think charity right whole lot charity i think he's just brilliant he understands what's going on so deeply that is a big big part of the way towards recovery jeff has turned a corner most of his scientific machines are going to auction there's a pile to go to the charity shop and some of the horde has even made it to the skip [Music] the last problem area is the 1000 pianola rolls and jeff has had a radical rethink about them as well so this is no good no well no it's a sixty sixty-five you need a six figure no good for you pianola rolls come in two formats 65s and 88s jeff has decided to sacrifice the 65s in favor of the superior 88s scrap is that 65 65. 700 of jeff's pianola rolls can now go i can't tell you how happy this is making me think i'm weird but well i don't know i mean i'm somewhat weird myself he's done so well you know there's still a long way to go um but so much is going and he just gets it and it's like such a relief [Music] do you think any of that can go no i know it can't why because that's why it's here but it it's here for you okay i last saw jean three weeks ago there's been no breakthrough since then so can that go with this leave it please despite heather's best efforts when everything's put in the right place do you think there will be space [Music] i'd answer that with one word and that would be hopefully it wouldn't be here otherwise so you think it's here because it's got just got to find its place it's here because i've gotten into such a model [Music] what about this can this go [Music] no [Music] something's gone out of sync and an exaggerated attachment has been given to something and an inability to let go jean has an irrational attachment to her possessions that we've so far failed to break i need to try something else so i've asked dr victoria bream oldfield a clinical psychologist to talk to jean i want victoria to try to convince her that she needs to let go you've met jasmine now quite a few times and you know that she has your best interests at heart because of your own experiences that even today maybe being able to practice making making a little bit of progress and maybe kind of taking that deep breath and letting some things go with the goal of this actually being a lovely place to live where you can be free and be happy and do what you want to do rather than it being about this stuff on your mind all the time that is the real waste of time and a waste of your life because you're thinking about it all the time you can't do anything you enjoy you can't even go and visit your daughter because you're thinking about this stuff it has had an impact on your life and what you're able to do and there's an awful lot of things you still can do and you're extremely capable but then you're going to need some help with things i don't know what i want that's that's the sad situation i find myself in i don't know if i ever imagined that i would feel like this that i don't know what i want so what do you think of victoria's suggestion about letting one item go and having a bit of a leap of faith and saying okay take i don't know jerry halliwell's yoga i left a bit left victorious what about that can i take that for safekeeping and just to experiment to see how you feel letting something go no it's not that won't come into it i don't think i'm i'm not you and you're not me over the last week how many times have you sat down and watched the dvd because things get in the way right right that i think says it all that you haven't done the things you want to do things are physically in the way and also they're like emotionally mentally in the way for you because you wake up every day with all this hanging over you up until now jean has only let a few items go that she didn't care about this time she's let me leave the flat with something she wants to keep the point of the exercise of taking something away is hopefully for gene to realise that it's not important and in fact she doesn't want it back because it's not helping her and hopefully if she can decide that about one thing she might be able to decide the same about others then we might start making some real progress it's been a week since jeff and i began sorting in the warehouse and he's been busy working through the remainder of his horde we've got i would think at least 75 of it either ditched or charity shop or auction letting go of three quarters of his horde is a massive achievement for jeff now i want to turn our attention to another aspect of his hoarding the emotional side he said he's built a wall around his heart and i think he just doesn't experience feelings of pain and i think he's still punishing himself everyone has lots of emotion but different people deal with them in different ways now i haven't told my sister yet about what's been happening and i am slightly dreading telling her i still have a little bit of a difficulty in coming out with something that i'm a bit ashamed of if jeff is going to come clean about his hoarding and share his problems with his family there's more work to be done [Music] he's having another session with professor paul salkovskis okay so i'd just like i'd like an update i think i'm doing very very well considering really the only thing that's relevant i think is the feeling of of being uh violated and the feeling of loss so is it obvious is there a matching is there a matching positive feeling with this lot i don't know if it's happiness or is it i don't think there's any such thing as happiness i think it's just the absence of misery [Music] it's quite bleak there's no such thing as happiness there's no matter life isn't we're born we age and we die it's a few bits in between [Music] sometimes people say happiness doesn't exist when they fear not having it [Music] would it be all right if we were to look at yeah look at the photos this is your family home that's that's right that's your mother that's my mother yes [Music] there's a lot of photographs of you some of these are will have been taken by my father you see wow wow what's this so that's my father that's my mother yeah and here's a magnificent toy yes and i had the toy removed from me because i made holes in it to ventilate it yeah this is these are really good aren't they yeah i mean what do you feel looking at this lord well this is the first time i've looked at them for about 20 years actually why is that why is that well that basically and not on the top of the heap the point of those photographs i was watching you as you were going through them the part of those photographs was the memories now i don't think they're entirely happy memories and and i don't think it's disconnected from this idea of of of happiness doesn't exist but let me put it in a simpler way okay but suppose that you have a six-year-old grandchild okay and your six-year-old grandchild comes to you and says i don't think happiness exists do you think that you would turn to him and say well done that's just exactly what you should be thinking that is a good rule to run your life on all right though i think you've met you you've made a point there i give him i i i'm just kind of i suppose the reason i'm saying is because you are that six-year-old but you were that six-year-old [Music] it is hard to talk about that sort of thing but i am opening up a little bit [Music] it's been five months since i started working with jean and so far it's been a real struggle to get her to let go of anything the reality is if we can't help gene clear her horde the local council will clear it for her yeah put your blindfolds in why and we're going to be stunned by loads of space frustratingly though it's not space we find the front room is more hoarded than ever just filled up again no it's not um it's not been anything else but feel full one day there'll be a miracle happen perhaps what would it look like if there was a miracle happen it would be clearer much clearer there's nothing here that's rubbish or for chucking out it's just that it's got to be sorted gene yes do you remember you gave me something to take away the other day you were going to imagine that it was gone forever and see how you felt so how do you feel about that item now well if i knew what it was i might be able to give you an answer i think that is your answer that's your answer it's immaterial what's important in life other people your daughter is worried about you because you are paralyzed by this stuff i'm sad um about it it's i go to sleep when i wake up it's the first thing on my mind this might be radical but what have you said guys i know you've got my best interests at heart and you want to help me to avoid incurring costs and stress by the council taking my stuff and putting it into storage i will trust you to do the right thing with my stuff i trust you but i just don't want anyone the horrible stark unpleasant truth is it's either us or them i think at the present time we've got to put stuff on hold really your whole life is on hold gene you're not able to travel you are stuck here because you can't leave until it's sorted out it's not going to get sorted out on it do you want to spend the rest of your years with this hanging over you with every morning you wake up and it's the first thing that you think about the thing is [Music] it's about six or seven words i believe go for it i've got to do it myself [Music] why because that's me [Music] it's really hard i'm actually struggling to try and keep a lid on everything because i feel like i've let your neck down stupid really but but having been in the same situation as her for so many years with my mum i feel like we were last hope [Music] it's just so tragic i feel like we've reached a stalemate [Music] [Music] in plymouth it's a very different story [Music] look isn't it shiny it's practically new [Music] look how big it is so as i am at the present moment hey where am i going to put it b i need it considerably less than i need a hole in the head i think very much that i'm a recovering hoarder in some ways it has been as though i was in some sort of strange surreal dream i'm slowly sort of servicing a lot has changed in jeff's life since we first met i reckon i'm only about 250 years behind the modern kitchen i got a tea towel now as well i got two of them actually [Music] jeff is acclimatizing to a life less hoarded hi joe but i want to know if he's finally had the courage to tell his family [Music] it's not looking too bad is this the stuff that came back from the warehouse that's the stuff that came back from the warehouse jeff is still a hoarder but he's come a long way even his food museum has been thinned out i've thrown out 80 tins now you've thrown out some tins well yeah most of them have gone down there but so now you know i mean i'm still quite healthy have you been feeling emotionally happier yeah yeah oh yes i mean there's no well i mean i've got all sorts of options that i can do now and have you told other people about what's going on with very great difficulty i told my sister have you and somewhat to my surprise they did not take a judgmental attitude they haven't said you worse than a waste of space you know and what have you done this for all the rest of it that is absolutely wonderful that is almost the best thing to have come out of this whole process [Music] i think it's enormous for jeff the fact that he started telling people about it it's amazing that he's told his sister what's going on and i think he was pleasantly surprised they were supportive and i think that when you've been hiding something for such a long time for fear of being judged to actually come out of the closet and to be able to talk openly oh it's liberating you feel like a massive weight has gone from your shoulders and you know i think that's that's where jeff's getting to now [Music] you

Channel: Abode

Views: 123,545

Keywords: Abode, clean house tips, clutter organization tips, clutter-free home, clutter-free lifestyle, contemporary garden design, declutter challenges, decluttering tips, extreme cleaning, garden makeover, hoarding prevention tips, hoarding therapy, home makeover, interior design ideas, minimalist mindset, obsessive compulsive disorder, organized home, stress-free living, sustainable living, tidy home, urban gardening

Id: ctFN4gGGFmk

Length: 58min 34sec (3514 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 28 2022