Hoarders, My Plump White Rear!

I just saw a bit of a show on television about hoarders. A woman's house was so full of junk and trash that her children had been removed by the state for their own health and safety. A psychologist who specialized in hoarding was working with the woman ever so gently as the hoarder handled each piece of trash an agonized over whether or not to throw it away. This woman evidently had no other serious illness.

What the heck! Cleaning house isn't one of my favorite things either, but living in a messy house is one of my less favorites, and I would guess (although it's never happened) that being on television and having a team of people come in with scoops and trucks to clean my house would be horrible. When did being a lazy slob become a mental illness?

I reckon it was about the same time that all undisciplined brats became children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, ODD. If a child doesn't do well in school he is taken to a psychologist who can explain it with some alphabet soup. Any child who doesn't like to sit still has ADHD, any child who doesn't learn as quickly as someone thinks he should has LD. Then they can get medicated and therapized, but most of all they have an excuse to not behave and not learn.

It's no better for adults. So many people who don't control their temper (possible because they were ODD as a child and never had to learn) are told they have Intermittent Explosive Disorder. And if someone has is moody, they can probably find a shrink who'll tell her she has Bipolar Disorder. She may even get disability income.

Well, grow up people. If my Papa were in charge, I think about 80% of those kids with ODD would be cured. Their little hinies might be sore, but they wouldn't have a label. And if they didn't clean their rooms, they dang sure wouldn't be pampered for it and told they were hoarders.

I'm not saying that these diagnoses don't exist. I know they do. I just think they don't apply to everyone who has the label. And what are we creating when we label someone who doesn't actually have a mental disorder? A lazy brat with no self esteem, that's what. And likely a lazy brat we'll have to support with our tax dollars.

What really burns my butt is that there are so many people with real disabilities - real mental illnesses - who can't get help because all the resources are being taken up by people who just lacked a kick in the rear at the right time.