Mum hoarded 6,500 clothing items for self-esteem
Sheeny told the BBC she began collecting clothing and shoes to boost her self-esteem during a difficult relationship, with more than 6,500 items of clothing and 400 pairs of shoes in her home.
Sort Your Life Out catalogued more than 6,500 items of clothing, over 400 pairs of shoes, 39 phone chargers, 28 suitcases and over 1,000 kitchen utensils in the family home. Presenter Stacey Solomon described it as a record amount of clothing for the show.
Sheeny and Sohan agreed to part with around half of their possessions, and the property was given a full makeover, including a new pergola in the garden. Reflecting on the process, Sheeny said, “Buying and wanting something new in order to feel good cannot be the legacy I give over to my children. The habit has to stop.”
Coverage like this raises useful questions for UKHP and for the wider hoarding research community. Excessive acquisition is one recognised feature of hoarding disorder, but it is not the whole picture, and warehouse style resets rarely address the underlying psychology that keeps the behaviour going.
As the UK Hoarding Partnership has argued elsewhere, hoarding is a complex mental health condition that goes beyond clutter or a lifestyle choice.