'Hoarding made my home look like hell'

Recovering hoarder Sue James shares her story in a bid to help others secretly suffering from the mental health issue

- WORDS: VIKKI WHITE

Books and toys piled high, shopping still in grocery bags and brand new clothes collecting dust; a narrow pathway through each room and barely space to open a curtain — this was the home of a hoarder. Sue James, 57, from Birmingham, describes her house as "what hell looked like" before she sought help but now after decades of accumulating "stuff", the reformed hoarder opens up about living with the hidden mental health issue.

'I was a hoarder for nearly 40 years and I firmly believe it originated from my traumatic childhood. I had few toys of my own or real possessions to cherish and so when I finally left home at 18 I went shopping.

I bought myself clothes and things for my house and from that day I said, "Right, this is mine. I bought this for myself brand new. No one can make me share it or give it away." That's how my hoarding journey started - I'd had nothing that was purely mine before then and so I didn't want to let anything go.

I was heavily pregnant when I split up with my first husband and my second husband had his own mental health struggles. I went on to be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in my mid-twenties, which added to the stresses and strains of my life. When my house was at its worst, it was filled to the brim with random things piled high, almost to the ceiling. I would buy shopping and didn't even take it out of the bags.

There was nowhere to put anything in any cupboards so I would just walk into the house with my shopping and put the bag down. I'd just get groceries out of the bags as needed.