Is he considered mentally ill because he's homeless or is he homeless because he's mentally ill? There's a distinction between the two, and how my reading of th

Is he considered mentally ill because he's homeless or is he homeless because he's mentally ill? There's a distinction between the two, and how my reading of the article comes across is that they're suggesting he's mentally ill because he doesn't want housing. I'd assert that the people doing cross-nation marathons spending night after night sleeping in a tent on a roadside are far more mentally ill than a man choosing not to have a home. He doesn't need to be treated for being homeless, if he has a condition he needs to be treated for its cause not its effect. Where I grew up there was a chronic homeless man. Throughout the summer months he saved enough money to ride out the winter in a cheap apartment. He busked with a guitar and harmonica and was homeless by choice. He frequently refused people's donation if they threw in anything too big, especially to the kids and teenagers. As he once said to me, he chose to be homeless and live off generosity rather than be homed and live off charity.