Some people eat too much, others drink too much, and as is in the case of Monte, a retired divorcee, she shops too much.
Over a ten-year period the 50-year-old’s home has become unlivable due to her extreme shopping addiction, and she is the focus of Sunday’s upcoming episode of TLC’s Hoarding: Buried Alive.
Her 4,000 square foot house outside Tulsa, Oklahoma is clutter of a mountainous pile of shoes, clothing and home furnishings.
As Monte admits, she has a problem– a big one.
“Some people eat themselves to death, I was shopping myself to death,” Monte, who refrained from sharing her last name, told Yahoo! Shine in a phone interview Wednesday.
She acknowledges that her addiction to buying developed following her divorce– a way to numb her pain, if you will.
On an average post-work trip she’d return home with ten bags of clothing, none of which she needed, nor most likely wanted.
And, as the house became increasingly crammed with stuff, she began to isolate herself from the outside world and refused help.
She says appearing on the show has been like a form of therapy for her.
“There’s an embarrassment about letting your dirty laundry out, and shedding a bad part of your life in front of the world. For me, it really is a shedding, but it is possible to move forward.”
Watch the clip, airing Sunday, by clicking here.
What do you think?