Central Wisconsin Health Agencies Target Mental Illness Of Hoarding

Health professionals in central Wisconsin are reaching out to people affected by what they call the mental illness of hoarding. They say the behavior can put lives at risk.

The outreach campaign is being coordinated by Wood County and the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Portage and Wood Counties. Nancy Eggleston, a supervisor with the Wood County Health Department, said hoarders can put themselves and their families in danger.

“By the time one of us gets to these folks, they’re in a crisis situation. Either they’re on the verge of being evicted from their home, or there might be a health crisis,” Eggleston said. “The ambulance may be trying to get a stretcher in, and they can’t get anything in. They may have kids in the home that they may lose because the situation is considered to be unsafe.”

The groups are scheduling a series of meetings and forums in Wisconsin Rapids and Nekoosa to reach out to those with a hoarding problem, and help them overcome it.