Documentaries I Like: POSSESSED

POSSESSED is a short documentary (21 minutes) by director Martin Hampton, showing the private lives of compulsive hoarders -- people who collect or save things far beyond reasonable limits. It's available online in its entirety (see below), and it's worth a look both for general interest as a documentary, but also for people who are curious about compulsive hoarding -- hoarding being a topic we flossers seem to blog about quite a bit.

The film is not too shocking -- these folks don't seem in imminent danger of death from their hoarding, and there aren't any animals involved -- but it's well worth twenty minutes of your time. Watch the film for a look into the lives of four hoarders who allow cameras into their rather cramped apartments.

POSSESSED from Martin Hampton on Vimeo.

Representative quotes:

"You've got no choice but to buy it. ...It's just so overpowering, the need to own something. It's almost like I recognize that I can't trust myself. The temptation of something is so much that I'm just going to give in to it." "I don't feel I could actually ever get out of this flat on my own. I mean, I just don't think it's achievable. Actually, if my girlfriend moved to America tomorrow, I'd probably stop. The actual goal of breaking free from the possessions wouldn't be enough to actually get rid of them. The contentment of having them would be enough to just keep them." (Ed. note: this is from a man who reports spending £5,000 collecting Sony MiniDisc players -- a format that's effectively obsolete.)

"I think...what happened? Because I mean, the clutter -- I see it, but I don't see it, in a way."

If you enjoy this film, you might dig the new show Obsessed on A&E -- it deals with OCD patients of all kinds (including compulsive hoarders) who are going through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. A few episodes are available online, although not the two which feature compulsive hoarders.