Homelessness And Homelessness

Although surveys have been conducted defending that mental illness does cause homelessness. There are several arguments that personal disabilities such as mental illness, alcoholism, drug abuse and physical or mental handicaps are not the primary causes of homelessness. While these conditions make people more vulnerable to

There are many reasons for homeless and mentally ill person to be in the predicament that they are now facing. The incidents have been studied but the co-occurrence of homeless, mental illness, and substance abuse seem to have longitudinal results. Therefore, concluding that there is no direct conclusion that one is needed for the other to occur. Some reason for such include but are not limited too, financial set backs, loss of family support, severity of preexisting symptoms, prior stay in institutions such as, hospital or jails and traumatic events. In this area increasing incidents can be contributed to the military presence. The area is a very transient area because of the military and thriving economy. The majority of the homeless individuals with mental illness in the area have had prior military service. Discharges range from dishonorable to medical reasons. Medical being the most frequent cause of discharge. Medical consisting of area from person unable to adjust to the military, anger issues, traumatic events affecting reasoning such as traumatic brain injuries or post traumatic stress disorder. These individuals are usually at a disadvantage of finding care of have troubling accessing care. Males are not the only individuals who are affect with homelessness. Woman also account for about 5% of the homeless rate of 20-25% in the area. Woman also have served in

Homelessness has long been associated with health risks and poor behavioral patterns based solely on the inability to purchase sufficient care. Research notes that

The homeless populations are among the most vulnerable populations in the United States. In today’s society, the homeless population consists of every age group, sex, religion, family type, and ethnic group. Families, children, and adults who are homeless suffer many adverse effects from living in shelters and on the streets, and approximately twenty six percent of homeless individuals suffer from severe mental illness (Stanhope, 2014). This paper focuses on the homeless population of all age groups, males and females, and the prevalence of mental health illness among this population in Los Angeles County.

Mental illness has generally been a minority among homeless citizens; but with growing numbers in substance abuse, mental illness has also taken a climb up the number ladder in the past years. “Most studies have found 30 percent of homeless have some

Persons with mental illness make up a large amount of people who are homeless. According to the substance Abuse and Mental heal services Administration 20 to 25% of the homeless population in the United State suffers from some severe form of mental illness (National Institute Of Mental Health, 2009) . Serious mental health issues in disrupts a person’s ability to live a normal functioning life. People who fall into this category have a very hard time practicing self care and basic household management and even keep a stable job due to their sickness. In relation to homelessness people who are mentally ill also have a hard time keeping stable relationships with people in society. This results in pushing away care givers, family and friend who may be force to that keeps them from becoming homeless and once they have losses those people then they don’t have any one to take care of them or have any place to live. A study done in California public mental health system which looked at individuals who had bipolar disorder and schizophrenia found that 15% had been homeless at some point of their lives (Folsom et al.,2005).

Gender inequality, police brutality and transgender rights are just a few societal issues impacting the way our society functions today. However, the social issue I have chosen is homelessness, specifically the causes and effects of homelessness in America because of recent observations. Since moving to Akron, I have noticed that the amount of homeless individuals seems more present in urban areas. Considering this new observation, I began to wonder how people become homeless and how this affects not only Akron, but our society in general. Although the rates of homelessness are moderately decreasing, homelessness is a public issue because it influences our economy and public health. The stigma around mental illness plays a huge part in the rates of homelessness. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, about a quarter of the homeless population

A study of the Impact a Correlation of Homeless conditions, Drug Abuse, and Mental illness

This research sampling method would be useful in this study because it takes the entire population of homeless individuals with mental illnesses and are chosen randomly. This gives a better chance of getting new information from individuals from both the staff perspectives and the inmates.

The pathways to homelessness model attempted to determine if mental illness was a component for becoming homeless (Sullivan, Burnam, & Koegel, 2000). The study of this model examined the childhood of

The Department of Homeless Shelter defines homeless as lacking “ a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence”. One reason there are so many homeless people is that many are undiagnosed of possible mental disorders. Dementia, schizophrenia, bi-polar are more common among homeless individuals, yet many do not have health insurance to get the necessary treatments. Inappropriate behaviors deemed as criminal acts

The homeless are a growing group in our state, nation, and even worldwide. California is one of the states with the highest homeless population; about one-third of the nation’s homeless population resides in the state. The United States homeless population is over half a million people, about 0.5% of its population. The worldwide homeless is even more staggering, around 100 million people are living on little to nothing. The majority of people categorized under being homeless are mentally ill. Mental illnesses are a driving factor in homelessness, and the issue needs to be addressed more, and not brushed off with the age-old statement “they chose to be homeless with their actions”.

In the 2008 survey by the U.S Conferences of Mayors, mental illness was cited as the third largest cause of homelessness with 48% of cities reporting this fact (The United States Conference of Mayors, 2008). Mental illnesses are medical conditions that primarily affect the functioning of the mind mental illness affects an individual’s mood, emotions and their thought processes. The most common form of mental illness within the homeless community is depressive disorders, constituting nearly 25% of the mentally ill population within the homeless population. Depression causes low self esteem, a loss of interest in activities once found enjoyable and has an incapacitating affect on the individual’s ability to relate to others (National Institute

The lack of mental health services available to the mentally-ill and the deinstitutionalization of mental health hospitals have created a public health concern. These issues along with failed continuum of care strategies and a lack of community mental health services are major contributing factors to homelessness. In addition, the strict guidelines for psychiatric hospitalization are critical when analyzing homelessness among the mentally-ill. In many cases, only the critically-ill are meeting clinical criteria for hospitalization, leaving those who have significant mental health problems to fend for themselves. The link between homelessness and mental health is acknowledged, but requires reform (Bean Jr., G. J., Stefl, M. E., and Howe, S. R, 1987).

While 22% of the American population suffers from a mental illness, a small percentage of the 44 million people who have a serious mental illness are homeless any given point in time (National Institute of Mental Health, 2005). Despite the disproportionate number of mentally ill people among the homeless population, the growth in homelessness is not attributable to the release of seriously mentally ill people from institutions. Most patients were released from mental hospitals in the 1950s and 1960s, yet vast increases in homelessness did not occur until the 1980s, when incomes and housing options for those living on the margins began to diminish rapidly (see "Why Are People Homeless?," NCH Fact Sheet #1). However, a new wave of deinstitutionalization and the denial of services or premature and unplanned discharge brought about by managed care arrangements may be contributing to the continued presence of seriously mentally ill persons within the homeless population.