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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Amelia Hill

‘I just didn’t see mess’: help emerges for children of parents who hoard

Room full of belongings including a large teddy bear
Children of parents who hoard learn to do without basic comforts including anywhere to play, learn and relax. Photograph: Adrian Sherratt/The Guardian

“I don’t remember ever having had a home-cooked meal,” says Richard, crunching over the food wrappers and crushed cardboard boxes that cover his mother’s kitchen floor.

He glances at the broken cooker, cracked microwave and windows blocked by piles of unwashed mugs, some inexplicably tightly wrapped in cellophane. There are no clear surfaces. Blackened, disintegrating cabinets sag under yet more wreckage. Not an inch of floor can be seen.

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