
"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.
A food hoarder's property is overrun by chickens and rotten eggs; the wife of an incarcerated murderer claims that loneliness caused her to become a hoarder.
A woman racks up $50,000 in credit-card debt as she fills her home with mounds of clothing; a woman's collection of cardboard boxes forces her out of her own house.
A man who suffered brain trauma in an accident collects items that he thinks may trigger his memories; a woman hoards items that belonged to three late family members.
A hoarder loses his four young grandchildren to Child Protective Services and can't get them back until he cleans up his act; a thrice-divorced woman fills up three homes with clutter.