There was big news today for victims and families dealing with obsessive-compulsive hoarding disorder. A big Hollywood Star is sharing her personal struggle.
TMZ reports today that Delta Burke checked herself into a Los Angeles-area psychiatric hospital for severe depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and "hoarding."
In an interview that aired today (and bound to hit the Internet any moment), the Designing Women star and wife of actor Gerald McRaney, says the disorder ruined her life, and she’s starting to work through it under medical supervision.
Wait, there is more if you click through…
Interestingly enough, we found post-Katrina accounts of the infamous antique collections by Burke and her husband. According to an article in the Celebrity Collector section of the Southeastern Antiquing and Collecting Magazine, McRaney and Burke have "warehouses of collections." They include:
- 1,500 square feet of sales spaces at the Antique Galleria in Collins, Miss.;
- 20 banks of climate-controlled units in New Orleans;
- Merchandise stored near their home in Studio City, California;
- A 5,000-square-foot warehouse in Collins, Miss.
McRaney’s brother, Buddy, affectionately dubbed the warehouse in Collins "the best little warehouse in Collins."
The Mayo Clinic say that "hoarding is the excessive collection of items that seem to have limited or no value, such as newspapers or trash, along with the inability to discard them. Hoarding creates such cramped living conditions that entire rooms may be filled to capacity, and homes may be left with only narrow pathways winding through stacks of clutter…."
Dr. David Tolin, Director of the Anxiety Disorders Center at The Institute of Living at Hartford Hospital has information on Oprah Winfrey’s website. Certain impulse control disorders (impulsive buying or even stealing,) social anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression and specific personality traits contribute to someone becoming a compulsive hoarder.
It’s all unknown what kind of impact this announcement will bring. Is this just another day in Hollywood rehab? Is Burke’s story finally a public illumination to the people struggling with this disorder– that hoarding should not be shameful and it’s okay to seek help? What do you think?
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