Episode 78: houseplant hoarding
So many beautiful plants: but is your houseplant collection getting out of hand? Photograph: Jane Perrone.
We’ve all been there: the moment when that must-have houseplant leaps off the shelf and into your basket (real or virtual) and you have absolutely no idea how you are going to fit it into your home. In this episode I hear from a couple of listeners - Ehren Wessel and Letty Reynaldo - about their plant addictions, and I chat to hoarding expert Jo Cooke about how to know if you have a problem with hoarding houseplants, and what you can do to improve the situation.
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Here’s some key information from this episode:
Guest Jo Cooke founded the Community Interest Company Hoarding Disorders UK, which provides practical hands-on support as well as expert advice to those affected by the varying levels of Hoarding Disorder, ranging from the chronically disorganised to an extreme hoarder.
Jo is the author of book Understanding Hoarding, published by Sheldon Press, and she wrote this comment piece about hoarding for the Guardian last year.
This NHS page lays out the signs and symptoms of hoarding, and explains some of the possible treatments.
If you are in the UK, helpforhoarders.co.uk is set up to help provide information, support and advice and create awareness about hoarding, for hoarders and their families: the UK mental health charity Mind also has resources to help.
If you are in the US, The Hoarding Project is a great place to start looking for help. Anxiety and Depression Association of America has a page on hoarding with info and advice, and the International OCD Foundation has lots of resources on this topic, as does the American Psychiatric Association.
Credits
This week's show featured Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops and Rashem Pidity, Pokhara by Samuel Corwin, both licensed under Creative Commons. Logo design by Jacqueline Colley.