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CHAPTER ONE This Strange Phenomenon The As Yet Unpinned Subject For quite some time, no one has seen the el­derly ­woman who lives alone. Her ­ house is shrouded with overgrown hedges, brambles, and all manner of weeds. The win­dows are impenetrable, blocked by heavy curtains, sheets, or piles of “stuff,” and they are smeared with the muck of time—­inside and out. Mail and newspapers pile up for days or weeks. ­ People might refer to her as a hermit or a recluse. If she has ­ family, they may not come around much or, if they do, they cannot seem to help her regain her footing on the path of so-­called normalcy. She steadfastly refuses help of any kind. She is not sociable. She may passively or actively collect useless items, including garbage, which might interfere profoundly with living areas. Her ­ house might be verminous, but she is undisturbed by the infestations, ­ whether they are mice, rats, roaches, or something ­ else. Her skin is visibly dirty. Her hair is matted. She ­ won’t clean her living quarters. She may be suspicious, aggressive, and aloof. She displays no sense of shame about her state of being or her living conditions. However, ­things ­weren’t always so. ­People may remember her “back when”—­back when she held a job—­perhaps even as a professional or with a high level of responsibility back when she kept a tidy yard and home back when she was well kempt. But, even back then, she may have been distrustful, excessively in­de­pen­dent, and not particularly friendly. And, now, she ­really ­doesn’t seem to care much what other ­people think about her or her lifestyle. She has normal or above average intelligence. She is mentally competent. She has full capacity to make decisions. Collectively, her behavioral and personality characteristics do not “fit” within any diagnoses of any edition