
"Hoarders" is an often painful look inside a disease that can bury its sufferer -- literally at times -- in its symptoms. Each hourlong episode profiles two people on the verge of a personal crisis, all caused by the fact that they are unable to part with even the tiniest possessions, and the cumulative effect becomes a mountain of junk and garbage overtaking their home or apartment. If they don't respond to professional help, the consequences sometimes involve eviction, kids being taken away, or even jail time.

Eileen's son threatens to turn her in to the health department; Judy loses the majority of her inheritance on hoarding.

A woman's family has been ripped apart due to her hoarding; a man's girlfriend threatens to leave him if he does not clean up the hobby items he has been collecting since childhood.

A woman's life crumbles after her husband of 32 years dies while awaiting a heart transplant; a former psychologist is literally suffocating under her things.

A woman's house is falling down around her, but she can't make repairs because the house is packed full of her stuff.