Day 12- Hoarding and Tallys

I began yesterday by attending a "Hoarding" meeting with my supervisor. By defintion, hoarding is a debilitating disorder characterized by the acquisition of a large volume of possessions that clutter living areas to such an extent that they can not be used for their intended purposes, causes impairment of normal life functioning and the environment. In other words, a hoarder is someone who keeps junk in their house to the point that it is a safety hazard. Some cases are so bad that you can not even see the floor because there is junk laying around all over. Yesterday's meeting specifically focused on Animal Hoarding. An officer from Las Cruces Animal Control presented a power point on the increase number of cases of animal hoarding and what needs to be done about it after the hoarders have been located.

Since animal hoarders accumulate large numbers of animals and fail to provide minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, or vet care, many animals tend to die or fall sick. Out of 100 animal hoarders, 80% have dead or sick animals yet most deny any problem. In the presentation, one woman had over 300 albino RATS living in her house. We saw clips of mice all over her kitchen, living room, bathroom, and even bedroom! I distinctively remember seeing 4 white rats come out of the woman's pillow cases! She also had two dogs, one which had died. Since she did not see the need to dispose of the dog, the mice eventually ate the dog and all that was left was the dog's carcass and hair.

I learned about the profile of an animal hoarder, the mentality of an animal hoarder, and how to recognize one. We went over the environmental concerns of animal hoarders including the transfer of diseases and deterating strucutres. Lastly we discussed "How to Manage a Hoarder" and the use of various agencies to help hoarders get cleaned up and stay clean, not only for their safety, but for the safety of those around them.

My supervisor and I left the meeting early so that I could be dropped off to Sunset Clinic, which is also a part of MHMR. My help was needed to tally up the 1,300 patients and their diagnosis. These were the same patients that starting October 1st will have no treatment, medication or any sort of service because no extra funding will be given to MHMR. As a result patients with bipolar, major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, and other mental disorders will not be seen or treated. 1,300 people. Suicide rates are going to go up. There will be an increase in imprisonment. More space will be taken up in ER rooms. All health related agenices will be affected. Family members of these untreated patients will be affected. The result will be a sad domino effect.

As I was tallying up the diagnosis of every patient, the scary truth was so evident. Every tally represented a person in need of mental healthcare who will be left on the streets...untreated...unmedicated.