My mother keeps everything except trash.Her house is piled to the ceiling with furniture etc. and she still keeps buying things.Is there a known cure for what she is doing?If you don't know,could you refer me to another website?

Thanks, Jerry

Depending on your mothers age and mental health your family could be held responsible for elder neglect if she were to die in a fire or other incident related to the collections in her home. We deal with the elderly a lot and I have noticed that elderly persons especially those who were brought up in a depression era have need to keep everything. Some even keep trash. We have one elderly lady on our case load that won't even throw away bread bags, she reuses them for leftovers. She has been diagnosed a severe form of OCD that results in hoarding. There are different levels of squalor that these hoarders live in and your mother may eventually get to the worst phases if there is no intervention.
This website may help http://understanding_ocd.tripod.com/index_hoarding.html

I understand from a close friend that it is a sickness, an addiction that answers some deep need for security or protection or such. She is getting better with the help of a 12-Step program.

Here is their website:
Clutterers Anonymous dot Net (http://www.clutterersanonymous.net)

I hope that helps at least you understand better.
Good luck.

Hi, Jerry,
Dr. Phil's TV program had the same kind of couple on the show. She was a "hoarder" of trash; she would not throw away anything. I do mean anything; scraps of paper, old tissues, pizza boxes, etc.
As it turned out, she needed Professional help with this issue. If you talk your Mom into going to some type of Counselor in your local area, it might help.