If you entered the fifth apartment on Philmore Avenue, the last thing you would find is legroom. Piles of boxes, books, bags, and every other entity known to man can be found right in the hallway of this bizarre-looking apartment. Do you think it couldn't get any worse? Just as you thought it was a mess, ducking into the front room couldn't be the most awful experience of entering someone's residence. Suddenly to your left, right and center there is perhaps more than your naked eye can take in. Masses of boxes, piled up objects, shelves full of things you didn't even know existed. Then it hits you. You're right in the middle of a hoarder's house. You didn't think setting foot in a house would ever be this difficult. Belonging to 58-year-old Ralph Gosling, this property is known to be one of the 5% of British homes owned by compulsive hoarders. Hoarding is a symptom of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) whereby a person may be afraid of their belongings being contaminated or taken away. A hoarder usually has difficulty parting with their possessions despite their value. It is an unexpected problem that many people face and that lasts a lifetime. The Oxford Dictionary defines hoarding as “someone who tends to accumulate, collect, or hoard things.” Many people living in England today are not entirely aware that some types of excessive hoarding can be classified as a mental health disorder. You may be clinging to your favorite fashion magazines, grasping shells you collected as a child, even nesting notebooks from high school, however compulsive hoarding is much more than that… it's a serious anxiety disorder. Many fail to realize the severity of this distressing disease. Hoarding can have harmful effects whether ... middle of paper ... Helping someone who hoards means slowly limiting their possessions and, at the same time, convincing them to join support groups with people who are dealing with similar issues. It is important for a hoarder to understand that relapses do occur, so as not to severely distress them if they return to their old habits. One key thing to keep in mind is that getting rid of compulsive hoarding is not as simple as “clearing it out.” Emptying a hoarder's home without consent can have deleterious effects and should not be considered. Not all hoarders may be open about their hoarding, so forcing the conversation or persisting in removing their possessions without approval is discouraged (developing and maintaining trust is the way to go). Hoarding does not necessarily make a person weak, dirty. or poor. It is simply a person's lifestyle.