ABC Nightline features my family regarding our "Hoarders" episode

This week ABC's Nightline News posted an article about Hoarding and how it affects different people. The article features Dorothy Breninger, the organizer who worked with my mom, Janet, back in November for the A&E "Hoarders" episode. Here is what they had to say about us:

'I Felt Really Helpless'
Janet Lamping, who, with Breininger's help, cleared the overwhelming mess that filled her house, insists hoarding is not a mental disorder. Lamping said she did not consider herself a hoarder, and the problem is manageable. "I can hear [Breininger] saying, 'Do it now, put it in a box, get rid of it, get it out of here,'" said Lamping. Lamping's house still has rooms that aren't clutter-free, but she says she's working on it.

In Lamping's case, as in many hoarding cases, a loved one called for help. Lamping's daughter Amy was desperate. "I felt really helpless, and kind of like I was watching a train wreck in slow motion every time I came home," Amy Lamping said. "It was very painful, and I think I dealt with it just by leaving, staying away as much as I could."

She said she doesn't share her mom's optimism that all the work done cleaning up her mom's house has solved the problem still buried underneath. "I don't know that I could say that my mom is completely better yet," Amy Lamping said. "I don't think you can just jump right out of something like this because it's taken years and years to get to where it was. It's going to take years to get out of it, I think."

To view full article, click here
By NEAL KARLINSKY and ELOISE HARPER
March 3, 2010