The Mentally-ill-homeless
We have all experienced it: walking down the street and having someone who appears to be homeless acting like a lunatic, whether that be talking to themselves, causing a scene, or acting in any way different from what “we” would consider to be “normal”. Although this situation seems like an over-generalization, there is in fact an unbelievable amount of homeless individuals who are, in fact, living with various mental illnesses. While these psychiatric problems can range from depression, mood disorders, addiction, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and so on, the fact remains the same that many individuals are homeless simply because they cannot utilize coping mechanisms and resources available to them to help them to live healthy and productive lives.
Think about it. If you cannot afford health insurance and you have a mental illness that requires you to take medication, you are not going to be able to function normally without your prescriptions (O’Campo 2009). If you cannot function normally, it will be difficult to find and maintain employment, which might lead to homelessness, or if one is already homeless, might make it harder to move into permanent housing (Poremski 2014). What might make things even more hairy is when these same individuals try to manage their symptoms with drugs or alcohol in an attempt to numb their depression or anxiety (Pearson 2011). If these mental instabilities were overseen by medical professionals, there would be a decreased need in homeless shelters and drug rehabilitation facilities. It has been in my experience that many people who are struggling with addiction or alcohol dependency, that there is simply a chemical imbalance that can easily be improved with daily medication and counseling. Furthermore, if more adults who were struggling financially were able to still receive the medical attention and healthcare benefits they needed, perhaps there would be a decline in homelessness altogether, or prevent many from having to resort to sleeping on the streets.
The solution seems very simple; there needs to be more resources available on a psychiatric level for not only homeless individuals, but for all adults who would like to seek treatment, care, maintenance, and so forth. Many of our daily functions depend on us having a sound psyche, such as finding and keeping a solid job, having the whereabouts to pay bills and manage finances, or having to communicate to friends or family during times of need. These skills can be easily compromised if one is not taking care of their mind. There needs to be more clinics, volunteer doctors and nurses, and psychiatric facilities that can dispense medication free of charge if we hope to see a positive difference.
Sources:
O’Campo, P., Kirst, M., Schaefer-McDaniel, N., Firestone, M., Scott, A., & McShane, K. 2009.Community-Based Services for Homeless Adults Experiencing Concurrent Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders: A Realist Approach to Synthesizing Evidence. Journal Of Urban Health, 86(6), 965–989.
Pearson, G. & S. Linz (2011). Linking homelessness with mental illness. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 47(4), 165–166.
Poremski, D. , Whitley, R. , & Latimer, E. (2014). Barriers to obtaining employment for people with severe mental illness experiencing homelessness. Journal of Mental Health, 23(4), 181–185.
