Mental Illness And Homelessness

It’s not unusual for someone who is undomiciled to have some kind of mental illness. One reason there are so many undomiciled individuals with mental illness dates back to a decision made back in the 1960’s by the Kennedy administration. In 1963 President John F Kennedy signed the Community Mental Health Act. It is believed the Kennedy could have been inspired to act because his younger sister Rosemary was mentally disabled, received a lobotomy and spent her life in an institution. The act was well intentioned and sounds like a great idea. It was designed to release the many mentally ill people who had spend their lives locked up in institutional settings where they were being warehoused with no real care and return them to the community. One such institution is picture above and was called the “Demented Men’s Building” and was part of St. Agnew’s Hospital.

The plan was to provide those released from institutions with community based mental health care. The problem was that the promised community-based care never materialized. Instead, a large number of mentally ill people who had never lived on their own or care for themselves were sent out into the streets with no plan, no care and left to fend for themselves. The mental health centers did not receive the state funding they needed and few of them were ever created. Did the Emptying of Mental Hospitals Contribute to Homelessness? | KQED. (2016, December 8). KQED. https://www.kqed.org/news/11209729/did-the-emptying-of-mental-hospitals-contribute-to-homelessness-here

Many people have gotten so used to the idea that some homeless people are mentally ill that they barely give it a second thought if they see a person living on the street displaying signs of mental illness. The societal stigma associated with mental illness contributes this complacency. Would we feel the same was if we saw a person living in the street experiencing a physical condition such as cancer or heart disease?

Today there are still many people with mental illness who are homeless. One contributing factor is lack to mental health resources to provide all the care needed. It’s also hard for someone who is homeless to do all the things needed to maintain their mental health. If you have no home, it’s hard to have your medical insurance card delivered. An undomiciled person my lack funds for transportation to their mental health appointments. If you are struggling to find a place to sleep or food to eat, you might not have time to go pick up your medication or remember to take it. Once off your medication, you might start to have psychiatric symptoms which interfere with your ability to care for yourself. Plus, there is a shortage of mental health providers for those with Medicaid or who lack health insurance. So, homelessness contributes to the cycle of untreated mental illness. Plus, people on the street experience trauma which compound their mental health issues.

An important part of addressing the issue of homeless is addressing access to mental health care.