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While obviously some are mentally unstable, and that's what drives them to the streets, what's being ignored in this conversation is that being on the streets d

While obviously some are mentally unstable, and that's what drives them to the streets, what's being ignored in this conversation is that being on the streets drives many to mental instability. Being homeless makes it difficult to find safely and sleep. Even a few days of that condition is extremely mentally taxing. Months or years? It's no surprise that so many of the homeless we see have mental issues. No surprise at all.

chongli 8y ago
Lots of people who are homeless aren't living it rough on the streets, they're couch surfing or sleeping in their car. It's generally the people with some sort of mental illness who end up in the streets, because they are too unstable to be tolerated anywhere else. I don't think there's any evidence to show that being homeless causes schizophrenia or other forms of psychosis. Depression and bitterness, sure, but likely not psychosis.
- DanHulton 8y ago
  The first thing I found when looking was references to this study: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/loose-link-from-mental-health-to-homeless/news-story/34ae40327635d240ef4e12cc7122c940 https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/loose-link-f... > Their results, released this week, reveal just over 30 per cent had a mental disorder. > "The figure was much lower than the community perception and what other researchers had put out there," Dr Johnson told AAP. > About 15 per cent had a mental illness before becoming homeless, while slightly more, 16 per cent, developed a disorder while on the street. Sure, one study in one city, but assuming it's roughly correct, roughly half (if not more) of the homeless with mental illnesses developed them after living on the street. So in addition to simply helping people not, you know, be homeless anymore, it would very likely reduce the amount of mental illnesses suffered by those who are and have been homeless.
  - chongli 8y ago
    Again, I think this author is equivocating on the word homeless. Most homeless are not the people yelling incoherent obscenities on the sidewalk. Additionally, with something like schizophrenia, a person can have the disease and under medical care be able to function at a high level. If, for some reason, they fall out of medical care and stop taking their medication, their symptoms can rapidly spiral out of control and lead to the sort of paranoid, potentially violent, homeless person described in the librarian article. This doesn't mean their mental illness was caused by homelessness, it just means homelessness enabled it to fully manifest itself.
    - mbrameld 8y ago
      The study said > About 15 per cent had a mental illness before becoming homeless, while slightly more, 16 per cent, developed a disorder while on the street. If they were suffering from schizophrenia but it was controlled with treatment they would fall into the category of "had a mental illness before becoming homeless", not "developed a disorder while on the street".

chongli 8y ago

Lots of people who are homeless aren't living it rough on the streets, they're couch surfing or sleeping in their car. It's generally the people with some sort of mental illness who end up in the streets, because they are too unstable to be tolerated anywhere else. I don't think there's any evidence to show that being homeless causes schizophrenia or other forms of psychosis. Depression and bitterness, sure, but likely not psychosis.

DanHulton 8y ago
The first thing I found when looking was references to this study: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/loose-link-from-mental-health-to-homeless/news-story/34ae40327635d240ef4e12cc7122c940 https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/loose-link-f... > Their results, released this week, reveal just over 30 per cent had a mental disorder. > "The figure was much lower than the community perception and what other researchers had put out there," Dr Johnson told AAP. > About 15 per cent had a mental illness before becoming homeless, while slightly more, 16 per cent, developed a disorder while on the street. Sure, one study in one city, but assuming it's roughly correct, roughly half (if not more) of the homeless with mental illnesses developed them after living on the street. So in addition to simply helping people not, you know, be homeless anymore, it would very likely reduce the amount of mental illnesses suffered by those who are and have been homeless.
- chongli 8y ago
  Again, I think this author is equivocating on the word homeless. Most homeless are not the people yelling incoherent obscenities on the sidewalk. Additionally, with something like schizophrenia, a person can have the disease and under medical care be able to function at a high level. If, for some reason, they fall out of medical care and stop taking their medication, their symptoms can rapidly spiral out of control and lead to the sort of paranoid, potentially violent, homeless person described in the librarian article. This doesn't mean their mental illness was caused by homelessness, it just means homelessness enabled it to fully manifest itself.
  - mbrameld 8y ago
    The study said > About 15 per cent had a mental illness before becoming homeless, while slightly more, 16 per cent, developed a disorder while on the street. If they were suffering from schizophrenia but it was controlled with treatment they would fall into the category of "had a mental illness before becoming homeless", not "developed a disorder while on the street".