The Norfolk Cleaning Group’s Hoard Clearance Services

The Norfolk Cleaning Group’s Hoard Clearance Services

Hoard Clearance is a specialist service that requires empathy and strict confidentiality. The Norfolk Cleaning Group is trusted by health and social organisations to clear and clean homes that have become a danger to inhabitants. Sometimes, this is the result of a debilitating illness called hoarding disorder. Our hoard disposal service is carried out by trained operators and monitored by experienced checkers.
What is hoarding disorder?
Hoarding disorder (HD) is a mental illness, included in the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD) since 2019. Previously, hoarding disorder was classified under obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), but health professionals all over the world are now recognising HD as a symptom of other mental illnesses, such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and dementia. Physical illness, fatigue, and disability can also lead to serious hoarding.
In the case of psychotic conditions such as OCD and schizophrenia, a person can experience delusions and hold unusual convictions – like a belief in the sentience of inanimate objects or a fear of failing to carry out a compulsion (keeping stuff, for example). The International OCD Foundation reports that 20% of hoarders suffer from OCD.
A symptom of depression can be lethargy and a lack of concern for personal hygiene, so home cleaning is often neglected.
Confusion and forgetfulness in dementia sufferers can lead to hoarding.
In cases of physical illness or disability, sheer fatigue can be a catalyst for hoarding.
How does hoarding affect sufferers and their families?
Fire hazard
Hoarding can be a fire hazard – in fact, fire brigades in England have reported approximately 16,000 homes as a fire risk, due to obstruction, blocked exits, and an excessive amount of combustible materials, like paper and cardboard.
Health hazard
Because a cluttered home is hard to keep clean, it can be an attraction for vermin. Populations of rats, mice, flies, cockroaches, ants, and wasps will thrive where there’s food. Their faeces become a breeding ground for bacteria.
Isolation
People who suffer from hoarding disorder will often feel a sense of shame and embarrassment, which can lead to isolation and loneliness. When friends and family express concern, the hoarder typically resists intervention, withdrawing further from social contact.
Relationship problems
Sharing a home with a hoarder can be distressing and stressful. Their clutter is intrusive, but taking action to clear the home can cause distress in the sufferer. Relationships are strained, adding further stress to people who are already struggling with a difficult situation.
How is hoarding disorder treated?
Talking therapy
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can be an effective treatment for hoarding disorder. Therapists help HD sufferers identify their beliefs about keeping things and their fears surrounding throwing things away. CBT enables people to deal with difficult situations through a focused change of mindset.
Medication
The distress of living with hoarding disorder can often be alleviated with the help of medication prescribed for anxiety, depression, or OCD. As the underlying problems are relieved, patients find it easier to deal with their hoarding. Medication is commonly used in conjunction with CBT.
Intervention
Sometimes, when hoarding becomes a serious risk to someone’s health and safety, intervention by health and social professionals is necessary. Mandatory cleaning of a home can be a traumatic experience for everyone concerned. Family and professional carers want to ensure that the task is carried out with the utmost respect and sensitivity.
This is where The Norfolk Cleaning Group comes in. As a Norfolk Trusted Traders member, Norfolk Cleaning is the first choice of those responsible for the welfare of people who have become overwhelmed by hoarding. Time and time again, our experienced and highly trained cleaning and checking teams have transformed a dangerously cluttered home into a clear, clean, and safe environment, without altering the personal character and feel of the customer’s home.
We’ll take on any kind of specialist cleaning – and as we’re licenced rubbish removers, we can safely and legally dispose of hazardous, chemical, and clinical waste. Our services are carried out in the strictest confidence.
Contact us
If you’d like to talk to us about our hoard-disposal services, please don’t hesitate to call us on 01692 407 690 or email admin@norfolk-cleaning.co.uk. Alternatively, you can complete the contact form. We’ll be happy to provide a no-obligation quote.