VIDEO: Cable TV show on hoarding helps Eastern Iowan learn to let go

SPRINGVILLE - Surrounded by endless piles of stuff accumulated over the years, Jill Rowell felt like a prisoner in her own home.

“I knew it was disgusting and overwhelming,” she says.

The kitchen counters, desk and island were covered with mail, school papers and odds and ends. A mountain of clothes blocked the closet in the master bedroom. Stacks of books, boxes and unusable items kept the family out of the living room in their Springville home.

Rowell, 46, knew she had a problem - she was one of an estimated 3 million compulsive hoarders in the United States.

Compulsive hoarding is considered an obsessive compulsive disorder, says Nancee Blum, a social work specialist in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine.

It can be more difficult to treat than other disorders, she says.

“In hoarding,” she says, “most have been coerced by family members or face eviction. They see it as everybody else's problem. Treatment is impaired if the person doesn't recognize it as a problem.”

A woman of deep faith, Rowell prayed for guidance.

Meanwhile, her sister, Kary Williams of Trophy Club, Texas, nominated Rowell for the A&E cable television program

“Hoarders.” Participants in the show receive help from a therapist, cleaning crew and organizer.

“I didn't want to hurt her feelings,” Williams says. “I wanted to help support her through this.”

Rowell hadn't seen “Hoarders” but agreed to allow the film and cleaning crews into her home the week before Christmas.

“The initial cleanup was a whirlwind - dramatic and quick-paced,” she says. “I was ready for the humiliation and devastation. It was very traumatic, but we were prepared.”

Rowell and her husband, Dean, 48, have lived in their rural Springville home for 20 years. She runs a dog grooming business with her mother. She teaches a weekly Bible class and attends her sons' sporting events.

As the Rowells' sons, Spencer, 17, and Tyler, 13, became involved in school activities, the hoarding worsened.

“Over the years, the busier we became, it just piled up,” Rowell says. “The boys are in every sport. Things just got worse and worse.”

Often, nothing outwardly gives hoarders away to friends and neighbors, says Dr. Donald Black, professor of psychiatry at the UI's Carver College of Medicine in Iowa City.

“They work, they have relationships,” he says. “They are outwardly normal individuals.”

As the Rowell's home continued to fill with clutter, family members started to visit less and the kids didn't bring their friends over. The Rowell family didn't even like to spend time at home.

“I would do anything to not be here,” Rowell says

While the causes of hoarding vary, Rowell considers her disorder an inability to make decisions. Even as a young girl, she says, she became very attached to her personal items.

“She's always tended to hang on to things,” sister Williams says.

Hoarders, the UI's Blum says, form emotional attachments to seemingly meaningless objects, explaining, “throwing things away would be like losing part of themselves.”

Many have information processing deficits in all areas of everyday life, Blum says.

“Making decisions of any sort is difficult for them,” she says. “They view each possession as unique or irreplaceable. Scraps of paper take on the same importance as pay stubs.”

Many people are unable to part with sentimental items. A “pack rat” may be considered a type of hoarder, but on a different level, Blum says.

“I think there are many people who describe themselves as pack rats but don't live in houses that look like those of hoarders,” she says. “Many people collect things; hoarders just collect more.”

Genetics can also play a role in the condition.

“My grandmother was a hoarder but never got help,” Rowell says. Although their grandma recognized the problem and didn't like living that way, she couldn't change, Williams said. “It was a tough battle when somebody came in and tried to help.”

For as long as the sisters could remember, their grandmother barely had a path through her house and couldn't sleep in her bedroom.

“I did not want to be like her.”

After the A&E crews left Springville, they provided the Rowells with after-care funds for a professional organizer.

Susan Wilke, owner of The DeClutter Bug in Cedar Rapids, is helping family members fine-tune their organizing skills.

“Now learning has to take place,” Wilke says. “You don't have to be neurotic to be clean.”

Wilke has set up a calendar for the Rowells to use for time management and also gives “homework” lessons, such as how to efficiently deal with mail and laundry.

“I've had clients who buy clothes every two weeks rather than do laundry,” she says.

The Rowells work daily to maintain their home, which has been orderly for nearly two months.

“I've never had a client as ready as Jill,” Wilke says. “Jill has a beautiful, wonderful spirit.”

Rowell is determined to not let the house fall into disorder again.

“I still have a hard time making decisions,” she says. “I never want to go back to where I was. It's not something you're cured of. It's something you manage.”