When a hoarder is discovered, immediate help must be rendered. It is difficult to do so however as the hoarder doesn’t see anything wrong with what he/she is doing and as such doesn’t think he/she needs to be helped. This mustn’t stop family members and close friends from helping the hoarder in every way possible. There are five different levels to hoarding that a hoarder can exhibit. Where level 1 is what could be referred to as the mild level of hoarding and can be handled by a member(s) of the family and close friends, levels 2-5 normally requires the presence of professional hoarding clean up service. How can you determine which level of hoarding your beloved friend or family might be exhibiting?
The Mild Level
The level 1 of hoarding is characterized by a property in which all doors and exits are still very well accessible. Stairways would also be unclogged and easily used. You only begin to suspect that something is amiss when you discover that the pets that are being kept by the hoarder are not being catered for the way they should be. There would also be insects and rodents crawling and scurrying about on the property.
At this point, while you can call on professional hoarding clean up service, it is definitely a situation that you and other family members can bring under control.
The Advanced Levels
The advanced levels of hoarding consist of levels 2 – 5. At these levels, the hoarder does not only endanger his own health and that of the pets that he is probably hoarding but also endangers the health of everyone that might be living close to his property.
At these levels, there are at least one inaccessible door at best and at least two rooms and a bathroom that is unusable due to it being clogged up with hoarded materials at worst. It doesn’t end there though, as the hoarder moves further along the stages of hoarding, he gets to a stage where his property becomes a home for all type of insects, rodents and even a few wild animals.
If you walk into the home of a hoarder who is at least in the 4th level of hoarding, you would discover that at least two major appliances such as the AC. At this stage, there is also every likelihood that the fridge isn’t working but nonetheless filled to the brim with food that are in different stages of going bad.
The level 5 known as the ultimate level of hoarding is, in other words, an environment created by the hoarder that isn’t safe for either he or the tens of pets he might be harboring. At this stage, the property itself would very likely be partly damaged and in need of immediate repairs. There would also be no water or electricity.
At the advanced stages of hoarding, professional hoarding cleanup services is not only advised but imperative. It should be done as quickly as possible so as to prevent the situation from getting any worse.
Comments are closed.