终极“储物狂”理查德·华莱士

by Liz Hayes

Knock on Richard Wallaces front door and youll be shocked—even horrified by whats waiting for you on the other side. His home is so crammed full of rubbish that you have to crawl just to get from room to room. You see Richard is a hoarder—its a 2）bizarre obsession thats shared by millions around the world. But whats truly remarkable about Richard is how he faces his demons with a quiet dignity and a firm belief that life will one day be better.

Richard： Ive never regarded myself as a hoarder. I have always regarded myself as basically a collector who simply has run out of space. But when you start 3）clambering over things， and then you need step ladders to clamber over the pile， then， you know， its pretty obvious that its got out of control.

Richard has long been an enthusiastic collector， but the death of his mother six years ago saw things really get out of control. For all this mess， all the 4）mayhem， Richard and his home offer an intriguing study into the human condition—what both mind and body can tolerate， even normalise.

敲着理查德·华莱士的前门，你会吓一跳——但在门后等着你的一切会让你更加惊恐不安。他的家里堆满了垃圾，你得爬着往返于各个房间。你知道吧，理查德是个“储物癖”——这是一种全球数百万人共有的古怪癖好。但对于理查德来说，其非凡之处在于他面对自己的“心魔”时却表现得泰然自重，并且坚信生活终有一天会变好。

理查德：我从不认为自己是个“储物癖”。我总是觉得自己基本上只是个收集爱好者，只不过把地方都用光了。但当你开始要爬过那些杂物，当你需要用梯子来“翻山越岭”，那你就会明白到，很明显，事情已经失控了。

理查德一直是个狂热的收藏者，但当其母在六年前过世后，情况就真的开始失控了。面对眼前的脏乱不堪，理查德与他的家就人类生存状况问题提供了一个引人入胜的研究个案——身心皆能容忍甚至常态化的程度。

Reporter： Where do you sleep？

Richard： Well， I sort of—in this—well， its a 5）commode actually. Its a chair thats there， so I catnap in that.

Reporter： You sleep sitting up？ Youve been living like that for so long.

Richard： Yeah， well， gradually getting worse and worse and worse， thats right， yeah.

Richard Wallace is one of three million hoarders believed to be living in the U.K.， and millions more around the world. Theyre people communities tend to find difficult to tolerate， often because their habit impacts on others. But resolving hoarding issues is not easy. When Richards mess spilled out of the house， then out of his five garages and into the garden， the polite people of Westcott decided theyd had enough—especially when the annual Tidy Town competition came around. The council took Richard to court to force him to clean up his act， and lost， much to the horror of many locals.

Here in Westcott they decided on a simple solution. They built a fence to block the view. Up went the great wall of Richard， and in the process， so began a surprising relationship between this hoarder 6）extraordinaire and the local gardener， Andy Honey， who was brought in to build the fence.

记者：你睡在哪儿？

理查德：嗯，我基本上——在这儿——嗯，这其实是个洗脸台。是那里的一张椅子，我就坐在那儿小睡一下。

记者：你坐着睡？你这样生活了那么长的时间啊。

理查德：是的，慢慢就变得越来越糟糕了，对的，嗯。

据称，在英国生活的“储物癖”有三百万人，全球范围内的人数则更要多出好几百万，而理查德·华莱士就是其中之一。这部分人常常因为他们的习惯对他人造成困扰而使得社区对他们难以容忍。但解决囤积问题并非易事。当理查德的杂物堆散到屋外，接着堆到他的五个车库外面，然后散落到花园时，韦斯科特那些守礼的居民觉得他们受够了——特别是当一年一度的“整洁小镇”评比就要展开的时候。委员会将理查德告上法庭，力图强制他将杂物清理干净，结果却输掉了官司，这极大地引起了当地居民的恐慌。

韦斯科特的居民们决定采取一个简单的措施。他们造了一堵围栏来挡住这片“风景”。在理查德的这堵“长城”建起来的过程中，这位“储物癖”奇人和当地的园丁安迪·亨里却出人意表地发展出一段友谊。安迪是到他家来建围栏的。

Andy： I started doing a few days with him and he sort of basically said， “do you want to have a look inside？” So I said yeah， and I was absolutely—shocked is an understatement. Words cant really say. If you suffer 7）claustrophobia you couldnt have gone in. And it was bizarre. People in Africa， in slums， probably had a better quality of life than his inside. And the danger， it was just—

Nothing more dangerous than Richards cooking arrangement. The local fire brigade decided to assess the danger…and simply couldnt believe what they found. Richard finally conceded that something must be done. So the town that all but shunned Richard， now under the leadership of Andy the gardener， began a colossal clean up.

Theres no doubt this is a battle. Victories are hard won and hard to hold onto. Richards obsession means that for every little thing hes cleared out， he only tries to replace the next day.

Such is the ongoing nature of this 8）tug-of-war that when we arrived， more than a year after the clean up began， and despite 30 tonnes of rubbish being thrown out， theres still a long way to go. But for Richard， it is significant progress.

Richard： Im a bit weak， and I cant—If I can see any sort of a potential in something I cant throw it away. Its just a waste.

Reporter： Will you ever be cured of hoarding？

Richard： Cured， probably not completely， but I want to try and get back to being a conventional individual， really， but—

Reporter： Normal？

Richard： “Normal” in quotes， yeah.

安迪：我和他一起工作了几天，他就那么简单提出说：“你要进来看一看吗？”我就说好啊，我完全——说震惊已经是很保守的了。言语难以准确形容。要是你有幽闭恐怖症，你就不可能敢进去。太恐怖了。那些在非洲，在贫民窟的人过的生活很可能都比他住在里面要好。其危险，那简直是——

没有比理查德的煮食环境更危险的了。当地的消防队决定来进行风险评估……他们简直不敢相信自己的眼睛。理查德最后作出让步，同意有些杂物必须清理掉。于是，那些原来都对理查德避之则吉的居民如今都在园丁安迪的领导下，开始了一场规模庞大的清理运动。

毫无疑问，这是一场战争。胜利难能可贵，也难以为继。理查德的怪癖意味着即使是他清理掉的一丁点东西，第二天他也会试图物归其位。

这就是这场拉锯战的持续本质，所以当我们到这里时——也就是在这个清理运动进行了超过一年之后，尽管有30吨的垃圾已经被清理掉，这场“战争”依旧其路漫漫。不过对于理查德来说，这已经是一个重大的进步了。

理查德：我有点软弱，我不能——要是我看到某些东西的任何一点可能性，我就无法把它丢掉。那就是浪费了。

记者：你的强迫储物症会治好吗？

理查德：会治好的，很可能不会完全好，但我想尽量试一试，然后恢复成为传统个体，真的，但是——

记者：正常人？

理查德：“正常人”，加个引号，是的。

小链接

Compulsive Hoarding Self-Test II Your scores say：

0-2： Although you may be occasionally collecting some useless items， it is not at all problematic.

3-7： You hoard more than normal. Though you seem to exercise some control over hoarding， it is getting problematic.

8-14： You are a compulsive hoarder and this habit seems to be screwing up your life big time.