But how do you know if you are a hoarder? Here are some warning signs that you may have a hoarding disorder.

1.) You have a hard time throwing away things.

2.) You save things because you think you think you may use them later.

3.) You cannot turn down homeless animals

4.) Your parents are hoarders

5.) You won’t get rid of clothes

6.) You have problems focusing

7.) You don’t like wasting

8.) Your possessions embarrass you

9.) You’re indecisive

10.) You collect old magazines and newspapers from years and years ago.

If you exhibit some of these symptoms you might be a hoarder. It is recommended you seek support and counseling for your hoarding sooner rather than later. Late may be too late.

According to Gerald Nestadt, M.D., M.P.H, Director of the Johns Hopkins Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Clinic and Jack Samuels, Ph.D., an assistant professor with a joint appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Department of Mental Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins there are several strategies hoarder can deploy to cope with hoarding.

These strategies include:

1. Make immediate decisions about mail and newspapers. Go through mail and newspapers on the day you receive them and throw away unwanted materials immediately. Don’t leave anything to be decided on later.
2. Think twice about what you allow into your home. Wait a couple of days after seeing a new item before you buy it. And when you do purchase something new, discard another item you own to make room for it.
3. Set aside 15 minutes a day to declutter. Start small–with a table, perhaps, or a chair–rather than tackling the entire, overwhelming house at once. If you start to feel anxious, take a break and do some deep-breathing or relaxation exercises.
4. Dispose of anything you have not used in a year. That means old clothes, broken items, and craft projects you’ll never finish. Remind yourself that many items are easily replaceable if you need them later.
5. Follow the OHIO rule [which apparently doesn't work in Ohio, because I'm from there]: Only Handle It Once. If you pick something up, make a decision then and there about it, and either put it where it belongs or discard it. Don’t fall into the trap of moving things from one pile to another, again and again.
6. Ask for help if you can’t do it on your own. If you feel these strategies are impossible to carry out and you cannot cope with the problem on your own, seek out a mental health professional.

A Junk Removal Service Removes Junk 

This like a “Well DUH!” answer but its obvious. A junk removal service is a service that specializes in removing, recycling, hauling, and disposing of junk. Junk removal services typically remove just about any kind of junk. Household junk, construction debris, trash, garbage, and rubbish. 

Most junk removal services use a big truck with a crew of two people (a drive and a foreman) to haul away whatever junk that needs to be removed.

Junk Removal Services Handle Toxic Chemicals and Electronics

A lot of people don’t realize that they have a bunch of toxic chemicals in their homes until it comes time to get rid of paint leftover from a remodel or an old computer monitor. While not directly hazardous to us, stuff like paint and computer monitors, are considered hazardous by most waste dumps and disposal sites. Many city dumps will only allow a normal person to throw away hazardous materials twice a year.

Most junk removal services are licensed to dispose of hazardous and toxic materials year around. A lot of people who need to get rid of paints, motor oil, car fluids, and computer monitors call a junk removal service to get rid of them.

Junk Removal Services Handle Bulky Items

Especially in large cities bulky items, like old appliances and televisions, can be hard or impossible to dispose of. Most junk removal services have a bulky item pick up service that comes to your house and hauls away large, hard to dispose of items.

Junk Removal Services Handle Hoarders

Hoarding in the United States seems to be on the rise. Every week a newspaper seems to feature a horror story about a house or apartment packed to the roof with junk, trash, garbage and much worse. When someone has to clean up after a hoarder, that someone is typically a junk removal service. Most junk removal services have had extensive experience with cleaning up after hoarders.

Junk Removal Services Also Handle Garbage Removal and Trash Pick Up

Junk removal services also handle garbage removal and trash pick up services. Junk removal services help get rid of garbage and trash from homes, apartments, and buildings.

So these are the basic services most junk removal services offer. Some might offer other services like dumpster rental or disaster clean up, but almost every junk removal service will offer these basic services.

March 14, 2013