A HOARDING specialist from Bolton has warned of the damaging effects that lockdown has had on people with hoarding problems.

Lynsey Grundy is a hoarding specialist at Southway Housing Trust, working across Greater Manchester to tackle the issue.

And the tenancy officer has dispelled rumours about what hoarding is.

The NHS defines a hoarding disorder as when someone acquires an excessive number of items, often of little value, and stores them in a chaotic manner, usually resulting in unmanageable amounts of clutter.

But many believe hoarding to simply be someone who is messy or untidy - it is classed as a legitimate mental health problem.

Lynsey said: “Ever since I began working in hoarding a few years ago things have gone crazy and I now work all over the North West.

“Hoarding is a very valid condition and it can make people feel very isolated. They might stop having people round or just stop leaving their homes completely.

“It’s not just clutter and not just the stuff. It’s the story behind why they have the stuff - the trauma the person has gone through. It can be a huge health risk too - if paramedics or someone needs to get into a house in an emergency but doors are blocked, it can be a real problem.”

One case in Liverpool saw two elderly hoarders’ house burn down, claiming their lives.

Lynsey believes lockdown has exacerbated hoarding problems and added: "I’ve seen an increase in hoarding over the last few months. People have been stuck inside more and have been ordering more and more things online from places like Amazon. People haven’t been able to go out but we also haven’t been able to go out and help people and that has set them back.”

Mental health problems linked to hoarding include severe depression, psychotic disorders, like schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

In some cases, hoarding is a condition in itself and often associated with self-neglect.

These people are more likely to live alone, be unmarried have had a deprived childhood, with either a lack of material objects or a poor relationship with other members of their family

They may also have a family history of hoarding or grown up in a cluttered home and never learned to prioritise and sort items.