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our possessions and save things other people wouldn't. So we all share some of the hoarding orientation. The passion of a collector, the procrastination of someone who hasn't taken the time to put things away, the sentimentality of one who saves reminders of important personal events—all these are part of the hoarding story. How, when, and why do these otherwise commonplace and normal experiences develop into hoarding? What compels these compulsive collectors to create unlivable conditions for themselves and often for others? Why do they go too far? This is what we seek to explain in this book.
    About fifteen years ago, I received a desperate phone call from a woman named Irene. She'd found me by contacting the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation (OCF) and asking for someone who might help her with her hoarding problem. (In recent years, the OCF has experienced a dramatic increase in requests for information about hoarding.) When she learned that I was researching the problem, she literally begged to be included in our study. Irene was fifty-three and had just separated from her husband. She had two children, a thirteen-year-old daughter who was away at boarding school and a nine-year-old son who lived at home. Irene worked part-time as a sales associate for a real estate company. She had lived in her house for more than twenty years. Her husband, an engineer, had been after her for years to get rid of the clutter, which waxed and waned but never went away. Finally, he told her to clean it up or he would leave. She couldn't, so he did. Now she was worried that she would lose her children in the upcoming divorce.
    Many people with hoarding problems have a predominant theme to their hoarding, such as fear of waste, the allure of opportunity, or the comfort and safety provided by objects. Irene possessed all of these traits. She is the first of many hoarders you will meet in this book (see chapter 1), all of whom helped us better understand the forces that drive them—and us.
    It is no coincidence that most of the people described in this book are highly intelligent. Although hoarding is considered a mental disorder, it may stem from an extraordinary ability. For hoarders, every object is rich with detail. We disregard the color and hue of a magazine cover as we search for the article inside. But if we paid attention, we might notice the soothing effect of the colors, and the meaning of the object would expand in the process. In this way, the physical world of hoarders is different and much more expansive than that of the rest of us. Whether we look at them and see limitless potential, limitless information, limitless utility, or limitless waste, the people in this book are undeniably free of the usual rules that affect how we view and treat our stuff.

    HOARDING CARRIES WITH IT an agonizing stigma. We thank the people who so courageously shared their lives with us for this book. We have changed their names and other identifying details that were not germane to their stories in order to protect their anonymity and privacy.

1. PILES UPON PILES: The Story of Hoarding
I attach meaning to things that don't need it.
    â€”Irene
    I spotted Irene's home immediately. Despite its commanding view of the countryside from atop a hill, it was dark and gloomy. Overgrown trees and bushes hid much of the house from the street. The paint was peeling, and the fence needed mending. A car parked in the driveway was packed with papers and clothes. I had brought along my student assistant, Tamara Hartl, and as we walked toward the house, we could see boxes, newspapers, clothes, and an assortment of unidentifiable objects pressed against the windows.
    We knocked on the front door but got no answer. We found a side door and knocked. Something stirred inside the house. Behind us, a door to the garage opened, and out stepped Irene, slightly overweight and rumpled, with straight brown hair and a friendly smile. She introduced herself with a nervous