Hoarders

### Executive Producers

Dave Severson, Andrew Berg, David McKillop, Elaine Frontain Bryant, George Butts, Jessica Morgan, Matt Chan, and Mike Kelly

## Seasons

Season 1
Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

Season 10

Season 11

Season 12

Season 13

## Psychologists Featured

Dr. Zasio
Dr. Chabaud

Dr. Green

Dr. Tompkins

Dr. Pfeffer

Dr. Tolin

Dr. Hannan

Dr. Reinardy

Dr. Moore

Dr. Hale

Dr. Cutts

Dr. Fields

Dr. Ludwig

Dr. Deibler

Dr. Miller

Dr. Wilson

## Cleaning Specialists Featured

Matt Paxton
Cory Chalmers

Dorothy Breininger

Standolyn Robertson

Geralin Thomas

Darnita Paydon

Brandon Bronaugh

Sara Bereika

Erica DiMiele

Brenden McDaniel

***Hoarders*** is an American reality television series that debuted on A&E. The show depicts the real-life struggles and treatment of people who suffer from compulsive hoarding disorder. The series premiered on August 17, 2009 and concluded its original run on February 4, 2013, after six seasons.

Over a year after the program's original cancellation in 2013, Lifetime began airing a series of weekly "Update" episodes on June 2, 2014. Each broadcast presents an episode from earlier seasons, ending with a present-day visit to a featured hoarder by the therapist or organizer who worked with him/her. Interviews with the hoarder and his/her family reveal how their lives have progressed since their first appearance on the show. This led to the production of a seventh season,*Hoarders: Family Secrets*, which aired on Lifetime from May 28, 2015 to July 30, 2015.

* **To see the full episode guide by season, click here.**

## The Concept

Each 60-minute episode profiles one or two interventions. During most of the first season, the hoarder worked with either a psychiatrist/psychologist, a professional organizer, or an "extreme cleaning specialist," each of whom specialized in some aspect involving the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorders, anxiety disorders, and/or hoarding. A crew of professional cleaners (usually a local franchise of the series' major corporate sponsor) performed actual cleanups. From season 2 onward, all hoarders were given a psychologist and an organizer. Beginning in the second season, each hoarder had a psychologist-plus-organizer/cleaning specialist team assisting them in their cleanup. This specialist combination leads a group of cleaning professionals, family, friends, and relatives of the hoarder in conducting a two- to three-day decluttering session. The cleanups aim to teach the hoarder new ways of thinking and patterns of behavior, and to make the home a liveable and usable space. In most instances a crisis prompts the intervention, such as the threat of eviction or the removal of minor children from the home.

At the end of each episode, on-screen text indicates the short-term outcome of the cleanup effort, including the subjects' decisions on whether to seek further assistance from organizers and/or therapists. The show provides six months of aftercare funds to pay these professionals and, occasionally, to carry out vital repairs to the home.

Beginning with the season nine finale, episodes were expanded to about one and a half hours (two hours with commercials and advertisements) and focused on one single hoarder. It has now been this way ever since.

Each of the "Update" episodes revisits hoarders from previous episodes, showing clips from their original appearances followed by newer footage detailing the progress they have made since they were featured.

## Audience Reactions

At the time of its premiere, *Hoarders* was the most-watched series premiere in A&E network history among adults aged 18–49 and tied for the most ever in the adults aged 25–54 demographic. The premiere was watched by 2.5 million viewers: 1.8 million adults aged 18–49. In 2011, *Hoarders* won a Critics' Choice Award, in a tie with *The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills*, for best reality series.

## Official Description

""Hoarders" is an often painful look inside a disease that can bury its sufferer -- literally at times -- in its symptoms. Each hour long episode profiles two people on the verge of a personal crisis, all caused by the fact that they are unable to part with even the tiniest possessions, and the cumulative effect becomes a mountain of junk and garbage overtaking their home or apartment. If they don't respond to professional help, the consequences sometimes involve eviction, kids being taken away, or even jail time."

## Hoarding Disorder

With the release of the DSM-5 in 2013, hoarding was classified as a separate disorder. During the show's original run, hoarding behaviors were considered symptoms of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Hoarding does show links to obsessive and compulsive behaviors; however, it also shows connections to major depressive disorder as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Hoarding could have simply remained a symptom and been included under multiple disorders. However, treating the comorbid disorders in a patient often does not eliminate hoarding behaviors. Another significant factor in the disorder's reclassification was the discovery that more people could be diagnosed with hoarding behaviors than could be diagnosed with OCD. This showed that hoarding could not be a subtype of OCD. Rather, it had to be a separate illness with similarities (the fear of letting go being the obsession, and the hoarding of unneeded items as the compulsion). These similarities are recognized in the DSM-5, as hoarding is classified under obsessive compulsive related disorders. Other disorders in this category include body dysmorphic disorder, trichotillomania, and excoriation. These disorders share common features such as "obsessive preoccupation and repetitive behaviors."

The role of documentary shows like *Hoarders* in this change of classification is unclear. However, some believe the rise in awareness caused by such shows was a significant contributing factor. When hoarding became a buzzword, it "commanded a significant amount of professional…attention". Studies that may have been prompted by this may have helped reveal the disorder as the unique and complex illness it truly is.

## Trivia

* TLC aired a spin-off titled Hoarding: Buried Alive.
* The show has very well edited opening preview sequences.
* Many cleaning crews are used during the show, two of the most featured are 1-800-Got-Junk? and Steri-Clean.