These people collect things because of some underlying, unfulfilled need. It is a sickness, like alcoholism. They have to want to change in order to do so. My grandmother is a hoarder. Looking back on my childhood, she started 40+ years ago. My mother, her daughter, didn't realize how long she had been hoarding until I pointed out things I remember as a child. I didn't have a name for it then, but knew it was a problem. Several years ago, my extended family got together and cleaned out her house (a rental), and put my grandmother in assisted living. She checked herself out within a month, rented another house and started over. She turns 90 this year and a couple of the family go to her house and clean every few weeks. It really makes her mad, but it is the only way. The only saving grace had been that now she can't see or hear well enough to drive or restock from QVC.
