
"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 woman has more than 30 sickly cats; a teacher's hoard has already cost her a job.
A hoarding woman may lose her daughter; a groom never moved in to his wife's cluttered house.
A series of tragedies triggers hoarding that causes a woman to lose custody of her son to her ex-husband; Child Protective Services arrives with police at a couple's squalid home to remove their four children.
A 49-year-old woman fears her hoarding will lead to authorities taking away her two children again; a well-educated man manages a successful honey business, but the inside of his home is a nightmare.