Mr Thornberry, who had previously been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and autism, was depressed and isolated. The situation became so bad, just over a year ago he was preparing to die. “Everything was getting on top of me and I was suicidal,” he said. “I had shut down. I didn't have an income, not even Centrelink, I was getting ready to end my life.” Thankfully, Mr Thornberry’s sister noticed a change and supported him to get help.

He went to what seemed like countless appointments with doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists and occupational therapists. More than a year on, and having worked tirelessly on his mental health, Mr Thornberry said he was much more positive and credits his new outlook to his rehabilitation from hoarding. He said he owed his success to Black Swan Health’s Buried in Treasures program in Osborne Park. It was the first time he recognised he was hoarding, not collecting. “As hoarders we’ve got blinkers on, we don’t want to see it,” Mr Thornberry said.

“It becomes more about the search than the stuff. “I acquired anything and everything … I had a 70sqm garage and I couldn’t get my car in there. "The backyard was full of stuff and half finished projects. “You don’t want people to see that, you don’t want them to think you’re living like a pig even though it’s clean, it was just untidy and there was crap everywhere. “No one in the group at the beginning wanted to admit they had a problem. It was ‘I’m a collector’ and there’s always an excuse of why you collect that particular item.

“When you go around the group, you realise those excuses you’ve been giving yourself are rubbish and the actual item is rubbish. “It makes it a lot easier to get rid of it when you don’t have false attachments to it. “Just because you lose that item doesn’t mean you’ve lost that memory, although certain items bring back certain memories.” The free program consists of 16 two-hour long weekly workshops run by experienced mental health workers and "lived experienced" representatives who assist clients in taking control of their own lives. Mr Thornberry said although he still felt the urge to go online and buy things, he now made the choice not to and instead directed his energy elsewhere.

“I’m like an alcoholic, you know you have a problem with it so you just stay away from it,” he said. “But you have to realise you have a problem first.” For Mr Thornberry, hoarding was about control and a sense of purpose. As a child, he would collect things - although while he was at school his parents would throw them away without telling him. Mr Thornberry still remembers one of his “prized possessions” that was thrown away without his knowledge: a teddy bear given to him when he was seven by the curator of the London Museum.

“That teddy bear was from the first five years of when the company was open and would be worth about $100,000 now,” he said. “It was just thrown away when I was at school.” Mr Thornberry said it was this childhood lack of control that transformed into his hoarding habits as an adult. Buried in Treasures gave him ways to redirect that control and gain a newfound sense of purpose. “It’s changed my life,” he said.

“I have a purpose and I’m finding other things to do like going to a photography course and Native Animal Rescue where I’ll be volunteering.” Unlike other hoarders, Mr Thornberry said he didn’t have obsessive compulsive disorder and it was an individual condition that was always secondary to something else. “We all have anxiety of some sort and it makes it worse, you don’t want to give up anything, you want to control your environment as much as you can,” he said. Buried in Treasures coordinator Nadia Bamasri. Credit:Lauren Pilat Buried in Treasures coordinator Nadia Bamasri said the program, which started in 2015, helped about 50 people annually but funding was often a challenge.

“There is a waiting list with about 200 people enquiring each year,” she said. “I have had people waiting up to a year and a half to take part but that’s the best we can do. “Rome wasn’t built in a day and you can’t declutter in a day.” It costs $5000 to $7000 for 12 people to take part in Buried in Treasures at a time, with the program only running a few times a year. Black Swan Health chief executive Terina Grace said Buried in Treasures was the only free program of its kind offered in WA, as the issue of hoarding was often overlooked.

“Hoarding tends to fall under the radar or is ignored, but around one in 20 people [in Australia] will develop a hoarding disorder at some stage in their lives,” she said. As part of the program, participants get support from psychologists Raymon Horley and Neil Taylor who specialise in hoarding disorders. There’s also a support group called Finders Keepers, which is peer led, for people who have been through Buried in Treasures. If you are experiencing mental health issues contact LifeLine WA on 13 11 14, the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467, or the MensLine Australiaon 1300 789 978.