For the purpose of this paper, 2 persons were selected for the interview on hoarding and the interview were conducted at their home to visually understand their difficulties. Both are very different in many ways – age, ethnic group, marital status, family background and current socio-economic status. 2 other persons were also selected for the comparison exercise and both are non-hoarders. The first interviewee is called Mr A. Mr A is a 93-year-old Malay man who currently lives with his adult daughter. He is married and used to own his own house. His house was sold about 15 years ago after his children got married and moved into their own homes. The 3 storey house was too big for the elderly Mr and Mrs A to manage with the help of only 1 domestic …show more content…
He gets upset when asked questions about his children or about getting rid of his items. He was able to joke however, when discussing about the items he found and collected. In contrast, Mr Q only started hoarding items a few years ago but seems to have more items than Mr A who has been hoarding for a longer period of time. This is probably due to Mr A’s children who has stepped in to take control of his hoarding. Hoarding is characterized by the acquisition of and failure to discard a large number of possessions that cover the living areas of the home and cause significant distress or impairment. (Frost & Hartl, 1996) Hoarding disorder is a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them. A person with hoarding disorder experiences distress at the thought of getting rid of the items. (Mataix-Cols & De la Cruz, 2013). Johns Hopkins study show that hoarding behavior is more prevalent among older adults (Samuels et al., 2008). I used the Hoarding Rating Scale and the ICD Clutter-Hoarding Scale to rate both Mr A and Mr Q. Mr A scored 17 and Mr Q scored 34 on the Hoarding Rating Scale. Mr A falls under Level 1/Green/Low category and Mr Q falls under Level 4/Orange/High
Lars Eighner’s “On Dumpster Diving” was hard for me to relate to as I have never been homeless, fortunately, nor dumpster dived, but when my family came back to America, we were very poor. During the first few months back, my mom didn’t have a job yet so we lived off of the money my dad got from his disabilities. Most of the furniture in our house was acquired during that time, so nothing matches since everything was either cheap or free. There were even times where we had to go food pantries because we couldn’t afford groceries. Luckily, this period of hardship didn’t last too long since my mom got her job.
It’s kinda funny how I like the quotes that Nagle quotes… Anyway she included the quote from sociologist Marcel Mauss who thought that “even when an object ‘had been abandoned by the giver, it still possesses some thing of [that person]’”(7). I should read The Gift to get a better sense of what Mauss means by this, but I think it’s a good cautionary observation. It makes me think about the way I have watched people purchase items that they aren’t completely sure they’ll use (which is a major sign that they definitely don’t need it). If they can’t find a use they tell themselves that they’ll give it to a friend or family member, or donate it.
For example, buying things you don’t need like cashmere sweaters, cute shirts and leopard skin beds, it’s a waste of a lot of money. For example, my family and I have a family friend named Stephanie. She has 3 boxers and she buys everything for them like lot’s of food, veterinary care, and accessories. She literally buys so much food for her dogs that she doesn’t buy any food or anything for herself. She has no food in her refrigerator.
Nevertheless, the interviewees frown upon being labelled as someone that values luxury over reasonable spending. Hence, they expressed their emphasis on the importance of needs over wants, and that practicality should triumph over extravagance. They see “limited” consumption as a form of self discipline, where excessive spending was only justifiable when it is spent on the family and invested in the children. If
Everyone has their own opinion on “clutter.” Some may consider it to be a waste of space and others may think that it has value. Author Steve Almond, believes that clutter is something that needs to be treasured; he explains this in his article “In Defense of Male Clutter” published in 2014 in Real Simple Magazine. Throughout the article he argues the importance of (AMJ) accumulated male junk. Almond begins connecting with the audience by using a variety of emotional appeals, logical reasoning, and establishing credibility, thus his argument is strong.
In today's society a lot of people invest so much on materials that they want, but aren't necessary. Once their belongings aren't deemed useful anymore they just throw it out. I found it
There is a sentimental value that is attached to every families’ collection of heirlooms and keepsakes. No matter how long these items remain in storage or are hidden away; their representation always stays the same, they keep people connected to their family roots. Author John Updike’s short story, “The Brown Chest” uses symbolism and imagery and sensory writing to focus on the idea that family memories never fade away and material things can maintain a deeper meaning no matter what they endure. John Updike appeals to the reader’s senses to allow them to connect with what is occurring in the story on a more profound level. He begins the story by writing from the main character’s childhood perspective.
The pressure to address the UK`s housing crisis grows ever stronger with number of radical solution being put forward to ease the strain. One of the solution to free up family housing by offering elderly people tax breaks to move into smaller homes. More than half of over 65s fall in this category which result in hoarding housing. There is some argument that people have work hard to buy their own home, so they lived whatever size that pleasing them. They said that government should give tax incentives to elderly people to downsize and make sure there is suitable homes for elderly.
Imagine living in a world where the air is polluted and most people are afraid to step outside their front door, in the near future, this may be reality for Americans. Americans throw out over 200 million tons of garbage a year, yet recycle not nearly as much. Most people do not realize it but recycling is a vital part of America’s society and if Americans do not perform this action, it will backfire on them. People in America are debating whether Americans are recycling enough and correctly. After analyzing the data, one will definitely agree that Americans need to be more educated on recycling due to the fact that most people do not know what happens after they recycle an item, nearly all Americans are recycling incorrectly, and Am To begin,
“Food waste is an atrocity that is reducible, if not completely avoidable.” -Stephen Hough a famous composer once said. Food is a precious item many people do not have access to. Yes, you may have a surplus amount of food, but one should think about how much of that food do you waste. That food could go to the poor, unassuming and haggard people in society.
Introduction The interview was conducted on Saturday, 5th of August 2017, at 4 pm. This interview session lasted about 30 minutes. My interviewee is a 56 years old Malay male, Mr. Hady (pseudonym). Mr. Hady was born and raised in Singapore who has lived in Bishan for the past 20 years with his family.
Organized people are not born organized. They learned to cultivate healthy habits which helped them to stay organized. Eventually, reading this book will help you grasps tips to start being organized. It will prepare you to the big step. We all know that being organized and managing chaos and stress can be tough.
Freud, Kant and Nostalgia Sigmund Freud never directly tackled the concept of collecting in his psychology but just before he was forced to leave Vienna for London, the photographer ‘Edmund Engelmann’ photographed his 2,000 objects that Freud had kept over the previous 40 years after his father had passed away. These photographs provided a record that served as a replicate to the desk full of specimens that had always dominated Freud’s room in England. He proposed a more pragmatic account for his notion towards collecting while he did reveal occasional hints for his passion towards objects. “The psychoanalyst, like the archeologist, must uncover layer after layer of the patient's psyche, before coming to the deepest most valuable treasures.”
Introduction People tend to consume a lot, when there is consumption, there is waste – and that waste becomes a big problem that needs taken care of, which costs a lot of time, space and resources. If not managed, in turn, the world that we live in will become a hazardous place for all living things. According to the World Bank, people throughout the world, “spend $2.3 trillion a year on food and beverages alone” (Global Consumption Database, 2018), that is quite a lot. In addition to that, the world count mentions that, “we throw out over 50 tons of household waste every second. A number that will double by 2030”
“How am I going to save my money if I can’t go a month without being short on cash?” Is this the question you ask yourself every now and then? Why is saving money that much difficult for you? Saving money needs a hell lot of self-control and self-control is challenging. Not only that, saving is a habit and habits take time and effort to form.