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. The program returned to A&E for subsequent seasons beginning with season eight on January 3, 2016. "Update" episodes continue to run between seasons under the titles Hoarders: Where Are They Now?, Hoarders: Then & Now or Hoarders: Overload. The eleventh season premiered on July 20, 2020.
Overview
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 performed actual cleanups. Two episodes in the first season featured a cleanup with both a psychologist and an organizer: Jill and Patty. From season 2 onward, all hoarders were given a psychologist and an organizer. The final episode of the first season, "Paul/Missy and Alex", featured professional organizer Geralin Thomas, CPO-CD, working with Missy, while a child psychologist, Dr. David Dia, worked with Missy's seven-year-old son Alex. 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 two hours and focused on a single hoarder. 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.
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. 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. 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. 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".
Episodes
Contributors
A number of board-licensed therapists, psychologists, and professional organizers have contributed to the show as on-air personalities. Recurring cast members are as follows:
Therapists
Organizers
Reception
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.
