Why Hoarders has Ruined my Life

When I was younger, I had a minor bout with Juvenile OCD. That acronym was attached to me years before it became trendy.

(I was totally diagnosed...not like all you fakers out there).

It's been a good 15 years since I "grew out of it" (Doctor's term, not mine) and although I still have a few obsessions (Hello, Ryan Reynolds), I'm as next to normal as the average awesome girl.

That was until I watched a marathon of "Hoarders" on netflix.

My god.

There should be a warning before that show that explicitly states: May trigger or cause any and all forms of mental illness. May cause sleepless nights and extreme needs to clean. May be the root of itching, twitching and nausea. May ruin your life.

I feel for these people, I really, really do. I don't understand it, but I know what a struggle fighting your mind can be.

Still, after viewing a mere 15 episodes, (The more I think about it, the more I wonder why in the hell is this a TV show???) I literally had to cut it from my viewing cue. As overused and cliched as it sounds, like a train wreck, I couldn't take my eyes off this damn show.

And it really got to me.

I started to obsess over the tiniest bits of dirt. I tore apart my closet, I swept under my bed. I even cleaned the stove (which hasn't been used in over a year. I'm never home, don't judge.).

I facebook updated that I was "Spring Cleaning" a normal, respectable beginning of the year activity. What I was really doing was purging, tossing and getting rid of everything I considered excess.

If you've ever seen my apartment, you know I don't own a lot. With one closet, I don't have the space for stuff...yet I was able to get rid of 4-13 gallon bags of trash/recyclables and 5 or 6 bags of belongings.

It's amazing how much you can get rid of, yet when you look around after wards...it looks exactly the same. To give you a better idea of my struggle:

My Living Room Pre-Hoarders:




My Living Room Post-Hoarders:


Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I think there needs to be a reality show focusing on people who aren't Hoarders, but have convinced themselves that they are.

It's an illness.

I'm being serious.

Seriously.