Jasmine Harman tearfully recalls mother’s struggles with hoarding

Hoarding disorder impacts around three million people in the UK

TV presenter Jasmine Harman became emotional as she opened up about her mother’s struggles with hoarding – and how it adversely impacted their relationship for years.

The host of Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun, Harman, 47, said she “refused to bring people home” and was “really, really embarrassed and ashamed” about her mum Vasoulla’s condition, on Wednesday (25 October) during an appearance on This Morning.

“In fact, when I started working in television, it was my biggest fear that someone would find out about the way I’d grown up and the way that we lived at the time,” she told Dermot O’Leary and Allison Hammond.

Reflecting on how things had changed since then, Harman teared up as she affirmed her priority is “having a loving relationship” with Vasoulla – and not “focussing on the hoarding” anymore.

Addressing her mother, Harman added: “She’s helped me to become a much more compassionate person. We used to fight, didn’t we?

“But now we have a relationship that’s outside [of the hoarding].”

Hoarding was recognised as a mental health disorder in 2013. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), it is characterised by “an accumulation of possessions due to excessive acquisition of, or difficulty discarding possessions, regardless of their actual value”.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) outlines detailed criteria that psychologists can use to diagnose hoarding, including cluttered living spaces where the room’s intended use [of cooking, sleeping, or sleeping] has become impossible.

These behaviours usually appear during a person’s early life, with Vasoulla explaining it was triggered by “the trauma of loss” in her case.

“We moved from Cyprus when I was about three so I left my baby things back home and started collecting trinkets in bombed-out houses that were still about in the early Sixties, after the war – trinkets that I treasured,” she explained. “Then we moved back to Cyprus for a couple of years and those things all got lost. Then we moved back to England and all my new ties got lost – so I just had lots of upheaval, lots of loss.”

Vasoulla, whose father was killed in Cyprus, added: “It’s more the loss, like a bereavement. Losing your father is a big thing, moving country ...you lose everything and you get a new place to live. The trauma of loss [is] something that a lot of people have as the onset of their hoarding behaviour.”

The mother-daughter duo previously opened up about how hoarding affected their lives in a 2011 BBC documentary, titled My Hoarder Mum & Me.

Speaking about the “cathartic experience”, Harman on Wednesday confessed:“I genuinely had no idea how many people were affected by this.”

Around three million people are reportedly impacted by the mental health condition, according to Hoarding Disorders UK.

Jasmine Harman (Getty Images for Warner Bros UK)

The organisation’s director Jo Cook, who joined Vasoulla and Harman on the This Morning couch, explained that hoarding is neither a lifestyle choice, nor “about poor housekeeping”.

When asked about supporting loved ones who might struggle with hoarding, Cook recommended joining a support group and approaching the anxiety-based disorder with empathy.

“It’s really important that that person that you’re helping, feels safe in their home with you. Because, essentially, you’re unpicking someone’s nest, so you need to make sure you’re doing it slowly and surely,” she added.

If you have been affected by this article, you can contact the following organisations for support: actiononaddiction.org.uk, mind.org.uk, nhs.uk/livewell/mentalhealth, mentalhealth.org.uk.