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MILWAUKEE - Memories are among a man's most precious possessions, and he holds on tightly to them to hold on to a piece of himself.  But Doug, a man from Milwaukee who has been compulsively hoarding for years, holds  on to his memories by too tightly clinging to his physical possessions.

Pathological hoarding (also known as syllogomania) is a mental disorder characterized by an obsessive and often uncontrollable need to acquire and keep objects regardless of their value.  In fact, much of what hoarders typically collect is of limited or no value whatsoever, yet they can develop a deep emotional attachment to each of the possessions they accumulate.

"I would say probably my whole life I've been a pack rat," says Doug, 38, who didn't want his last name used in this story.  "It had taken over my life so much that there really wasn't much living space."

His small house on the city's south side became even more crowded when Doug adopted two inner-city children, Nate, 8, and Kylie, 6.  Both have special needs, and Doug grew concerned that their social worker and therapists would remove the children from the home once they saw it. 

Audio:  • Listen to Dan O'Donnell's story

But, paradoxically, his hoarding grew much worse.

"I have a tendency to shop at secondhand stores and it was easy to lose things in the house in the state that it was in, I was constantly buying them new clothes," Doug recalls, noting that those clothes would pile up in the children's bedrooms as toys and trinkets littered the living room.  The kitchen was buried and all but unusable, and junk filled nearly every corner of the home.

His fear of losing his children outweighed his urge to hoard, though, and Doug contacted the Wisconsin chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers.

"A lot of times hoarders have had some sort of abuse--whether it be verbal or physical or sexual--in their past and the hoarding is to protect them," says Brenden McDaniel, a certified professional organizer and president of Action Organizing Services LLC.  "Their stuff is their barrier."

When Brenden met Doug, he realized that while Doug didn't appear to have any traumatic abuse in his past, hoarding seemed to run in his family.

"My dad was kind of a pack rat, too," Doug says.  "I guess I've always just been around it."

Brenden found this familial connection unsurprising, as compulsive hoarding often runs in families.

"In these types of situations, people keep things because family members or loved ones have died and they're trying to hold on to some piece of them," Brenden explains.  "Every situation is different, and you can't just walk into someone's home and say, 'Oh my God, you have to get rid of everything.'  You have to work with them patiently and calmly and ask the right kinds of questions." 

After months of extensive psychiatric counseling and organizing sessions with Brenden and his staff, Doug felt he was ready to let go, and Action Organizing volunteers spent more than 100 hours removing over 10,000 pounds of stuff from his home.

"It looks like a normal home now," says Doug, beaming with pride.  "We have lots of space, it's easy to get around.  I can make my kids dinner in the kitchen now, and we can sit at the table and do homework together." 

"Before, it probably would have been shocking for anyone to walk into our house."

"Doug's done such a good job with getting his hoarding under control that we're talking about working with him in the future to help counsel other people who have the same sorts of issues," Brenden says.  "I couldn't be prouder of how far he's come."

Doug still fights his urge to keep his memories alive by keeping as many objects as he can, but now his family has the space to make new memories of their own.

Doug's episode of Hoarders airs tonight at 9:00 on A&E, and the Wisconsin chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers will hold a viewing party and networking event at the Radisson Milwaukee North Shore (7065 N. Pt. Washington, Rd.) from 7:30 - 10:00.