On retiring, Pat said she found excuses not to tackle the issue, but also became a carer for four people, including her husband and an elderly friend, who was “a prolific hoarder”.
She said she went to her first hoarding support meeting in January 2025 to help her friend, but was not ready at that stage to face up to her own hoarding.
It was following the death of her husband, that the 77-year-old made the decision to seek support, describing her thought process, as: “I need to be happy in my last few years, and not be surrounded with this mess, I want to be in a happy, safe, peaceful environment.”
Speaking to Reaching CIC’s psychotherapist had made her question the reasons for her hoarding.
“She made me think, she made me explore parts of my brain that were hidden under cobwebs and dust and all sorts to try and work out why I was behaving like this,” Pat explained.