A large-scale clean-up operation in the city of Clichy, north of the French capital, on Monday led to the closure of an entire street to empty 800 cubic meters of waste inside a building of a mother and son suffering from Diogenes syndrome.
Pierre was living at home with his mother, who died last year at the age of 94.
This syndrome leads people affected by it to neglect their personal hygiene as well as to accumulate things and refuse to give them up, which leads to unhealthy living conditions.
People with this syndrome keep everything from papers, cartons, and electrical tools, even if they are broken or old, furniture and even trash.
The municipality of Clichy estimated the garbage collected from the house of Pierre and his mother at about 800 cubic meters, equivalent to the capacity of 8 trailers, according to “Monte Carlo”.
The company that entrusted it with transporting the garbage will have to work a week to empty the apartments and basements, where things and trash are piling up.
The tenants inside the building expressed their satisfaction with the intervention of the concerned authorities, noting that they have been trying for years to inform the health authorities in the city.
One witness said:
“They had Diogenes’ syndrome, and we would see them all that they found on the street to hoard.”
It is noteworthy that up to one in every 2,000 French people suffers from this mental illness, according to the French Geriatrics Society.
