Interview Questions

8-minute read time.

Today’s post is a guideline for the questions I asked during the interviews I have given recently. When approaching the topic of hoarding, I think transparency is of the utmost importance, and if posting these questions helps my sources feel more comfortable talking to me, I am happy. Of course, the conversations usually don’t follow a linear structure, and I tend to ask more spur-of-the-moment questions, but this is usually how it goes. My question for my readers is this: Am I missing anything? Are some of these questions inappropriate?

For adult children of hoarders who grew up in the hoarding:

1. What is your name?
2. What are your pronouns?
3. Where are you from?
4. Where did you grow up?
5. Which parent are we discussing today?
6. What is your parent’s name?
7. Is your parent still alive today?
8. Does your parent work/did they work?
9. Did you grow up in the hoard?
10. What do you define as hoarding?
11. How early do you remember noticing that your home was different from others?
12. Was there a specific moment or event that made you aware of your parent’s hoarding?
13. What sorts of things did your parent hoard?
14. Were there any safety concerns like fire hazards, structural damage, or pest infestations?
15. Did they have pets, and how were the pets affected by the hoarding?
16. What was your social life like as a child?
17. Were there specific situations where the hoarding caused you embarrassment or stress?
18. What emotions or labels did you initially associate with your parent’s behavior before understanding what hoarding is? How about now?
19. How has the hoarding affected your day-to-day interactions with this family member?
20. At what point did you realize that hoarding is more than a behavior but a mental health disorder?
21. Did you ever experience conflicting feelings toward your parent? Did you reconcile these?
22. Do you cherish aspects of your family member’s behavior or personality despite the hoarding?
23. What strategies did you use to cope with living in a hoarded space? What tools/practices help you cope?
24. Did you create any safe spaces either at home or elsewhere?
25. Have you ever experienced any health issues from the hoarding?
26. Did you try to find information on hoarding or mental health as a child or teenager? How did that search go for you?
27. Have you ever felt compelled to contact outside help, such as Child or Adult Protective Services, for either yourself or your parents?
28. Were there ever legal or community issues related to the hoarding (e.g., housing violations, complaints)?
29. How did you balance trying to help or clean versus respecting your parent’s attachment to the clutter?
30. Were there any moments when you tried to discuss the issue with them directly? How did they respond?
31. What would your ideal resolution or progress look like if your family member were open to it?
32. How did other family members respond to the hoarding? Were there disagreements among family members about how to address the situation?
33. Did your family ever try to intervene as a group? What was the outcome?
34. How has your relationship with your parent evolved?
35. What are the biggest misconceptions about hoarding, especially from outsiders?
36. What do you wish more people understood about the emotional and mental toll of hoarding?
37. How has growing up in a hoarding environment shaped your identity or values?
38. Have you ever sought therapy?
39. When did you first join the Facebook support group?
40. What advice would you give to others experiencing similar challenges with a hoarding parent?

For adult children of hoarders who did not grow up in the hoarding:

1. What is your name?
2. What are your pronouns?
3. Where are you from?
4. Where did you grow up?
5. Which parent are we discussing today?
6. What is your parent’s name?
7. Is your parent still alive today?
8. Does your parent work/did they work?
9. Did you grow up in the hoard?
10. What do you define as hoarding?
11. How early do you remember noticing that your home was different from others?
12. Was there a specific moment or event that made you aware of your parent’s hoarding?
13. What sorts of things did your parent hoard?
14. Were there any safety concerns like fire hazards, structural damage, or pest infestations?
15. Did they have pets, and how were the pets affected by the hoarding?
16. What emotions or labels did you initially associate with your parent’s behavior before understanding what hoarding is? How about now?
17. Were there specific situations where the hoarding caused you embarrassment or stress?
18. How has the hoarding affected your day-to-day interactions with this family member?
19. At what point did you realize that hoarding is more than a behavior but a mental health disorder?
20. Did you ever experience conflicting feelings toward your parent? Did you reconcile these?
21. Do you cherish aspects of your family member’s behavior or personality despite the hoarding?
22. What strategies did you use to cope with the hoarding? What tools/practices help you cope?
23. Have you ever experienced any health issues from hoarding?
24. Did you try to find information on hoarding or mental health? How did that search go for you?
25. Have you ever felt compelled to contact outside help like Adult Protective Services for your parent?
26. Were there ever legal or community issues related to the hoarding (e.g., housing violations, complaints)?
27. How did you balance trying to help or clean versus respecting your parent’s attachment to the clutter?
28. Were there any moments when you tried to discuss the issue with them directly? How did they respond?
29. What would your ideal resolution or progress look like if your family member were open to it?
30. How did other family members respond to the hoarding?
31. Were there disagreements among family members about how to address the situation?
32. Did your family ever try to intervene as a group? What was the outcome?
33. How has your relationship with your parent evolved?
34. What are the biggest misconceptions about hoarding, especially from outsiders?
35. What do you wish more people understood about the emotional and mental toll of hoarding?
36. How has growing up in a hoarding environment shaped your identity or values?
37. Have you ever sought therapy?
38. When did you first join the Facebook support group?
39. What advice would you give to others experiencing similar challenges with a hoarding parent?

For adult family members of hoarders:

1. What is your name?
2. What are your pronouns?
3. Where are you from?
4. Where did you grow up?
5. Which family member are we discussing today?
6. What is their name?
7. Is this family member still alive today?
8. Does/did this family member work?
9. Did you spend time in the hoard?
10. How do you personally define hoarding?
11. How early do you remember noticing their behavior or that their living environment was different?
12. Was there a specific moment or event that made you aware of their hoarding tendencies?
13. What types of items did they hoard?
14. Were there any safety concerns like fire hazards, structural damage, or pest infestations?
15. Did they have pets, and how were the pets affected by the hoarding?
16. Before understanding hoarding as a condition, what emotions or labels did you associate with their behavior? How has your perspective changed?
17. Were there specific situations where the hoarding caused you embarrassment or stress?
18. How has the hoarding affected your day-to-day interactions with this family member?
19. At what point did you recognize hoarding as a mental health disorder rather than just a behavior?
20. Have you ever felt conflicting emotions about this family member because of their hoarding? How have you processed or reconciled those feelings?
21. Do you cherish aspects of your family member’s behavior or personality despite the hoarding?
22. What would your ideal resolution or progress look like if your family member were open to it?
23. What strategies or tools have helped you cope with the challenges of being in their environment or supporting them?
24. Have you ever experienced health issues related to hoarding?
25. Did you try to find information about hoarding or mental health? What was that process like for you?
26. Have you ever felt the need to seek outside help, such as Adult Protective Services, for them?
27. Were there ever legal or community issues related to the hoarding (e.g., housing violations, complaints)?
28. How did you balance trying to help or clean and respecting their attachment to the clutter?
29. Have you ever tried discussing their hoarding directly with them? How did they respond?
30. How did other family members respond to the hoarding?
31. Were there disagreements among family members about how to address the situation?
32. Did your family ever try to intervene as a group? What was the outcome?
33. How has your relationship with this family member evolved?
34. What are the biggest misconceptions about hoarding, especially from people who haven’t experienced it firsthand?
35. What do you wish others understood about the emotional and mental toll of hoarding on the individual and their family?
36. How has this experience shaped your identity, values, or outlook?
37. When did you first join the Facebook support group?
38. What advice would you offer to others navigating similar challenges with a family member who hoards?