Last week’s program was provided by Rotarian Randy Gordon.  Randy’s guest speaker was Tray Towles.  Tray Towles is the Code Enforcement Manager for the City of Plant City.  Tray spoke to us about Hoarding Disorder from Code Enforcement perspective. Hoarding is an anxiety disorder in which a person fails to throw away a large number of possessions that have no value. Hoarding is believed to be a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD. Approximately 2 to 5 percent of the United States population is thought to have a full-blown hoarding disorder. Hoarders usually retain a great deal of possessions in their homes and cars and may claim that they have a personal attachment to each item that prevents them from parting with it. Hoarders tend to have so many possessions in their home they cannot move easily. Likely things are preventing or blocking a person from physically moving about the home. Furniture may be entirely covered with clutter that reaches higher up the wall. Eventually, there will only be a pathway to maneuver throughout the home or a person may have to walk over clutter to get through a room – not a pleasant experience. The obsessive-compulsive part of hoarding may lead a person to collect animals such as great numbers of cats. This adds a biological or bacterial threat to an already hazardous situation considering the mess that has already been created in a person’s home. Animal hoarding is dangerous as these animals cannot be safely cared for. Both the animal and the person suffer greatly in these situations. Hoarders may feel embarrassed about their situation, which can cause them to turn away from friends or family members in an attempt to hide their problem. A person who hoards may stop inviting friends over and children of hoarders may do the same for fear of being embarrassed or confronted. Hoarding has been associated with unsanitary conditions, which makes it embarrassing for the hoarder to have people over to their home as it is not clean. Hoarders may also experience other mental disorders such as depression or anxiety. Reducing anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders through the use of medications may help a person discard some of their possessions.  Hoarding often begins in childhood, around age 13.  These people are generally single, have a family history of hoarding and occurs cross cultures.  There is no correlation as to gender or education.  Code enforcement is difficult and limited as most complaints are for people in private homes where Code Enforcement is unable to enter the premises.  Enforcement requires the cooperation of the violator.  Often times enforcement requires involvement of other agencies such as DCF and Animal Services…and eventually a court order.  Plant City currently has about 15 hoarding houses that they are dealing with now.  Most hoarding is reported to code enforcement from neighbors or family.
-provided by Mike Arndt