Publication (142 pages).

A&E’s Hoarders
begins working to remove all the items from the space, and
either immediately throw away the items or place them in an
area where the hoarder can sort through them to decide what is
to be kept, thrown out, or given away. There are usually a few
items that are difficult for the hoarder to part with and the audience
is witness to the conversations and arguments between
the hoarder and professionals on how to make decisions about
parting with items. The episode generally ends with footage of
the house much emptier and cleaner than before. The closing
credits mention how the hoarder is doing after the clean-up
and if they have accepted services offered by the television show such as therapy
or professional organizer visits. A reality television episode is often the first exposure
to a hoarding situation for the audience. This means that whatever the
episode portrays becomes a catchall for all hoarders: what is shown on screen
is assumed to be truthful and representative of all hoarding situations. The audience
then believes all hoarding situations are similar to the ones they see on
television. This is risky because television often picks the most dramatic storylines
to keep viewership high, and many of the hoards are at the very extreme
end ofthe hoarding scale. It has been well established that not all hoards are the
same: not all hoards impinge on living conditions or cause health and safety
challenges. Smaller hoarding situations are not
often filmed and thus audiences do not know
they exist. This is detrimental because all forms
of hoarding in real life may be met with an
excessive reaction of fear or emotion due to
an assumption about the severity of a hoarding
situation. In reality hoards exist in different
forms and many do not require immediate
assistance; however the portrayal of hoards on
television prompt audience members to believe
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