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Psychology

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Dec 6, 2023

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1 Psychology Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Professor’s Name Course Date

2 Psychology Hello Lisa, I hope this finds you well. Homelessness is a pervasive problem in the United States today, with more than 552,000 people homeless. Notably, there are a number of factors that are linked to homelessness, as argued by a handful of healthcare scholars. They include substance use disorder, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, neurocognitive deficits, domestic violence/intimate partner violence, community perception of the homeless and homelessness by others, and other mental health illnesses. Losing a home is scary, especially to those with children that depend on them for daily basic needs. According to Mosel (2022), homelessness and substance abuse disorder co-occur. The author confirms that people abuse drugs due to stressors, chiefly caused by homelessness. More so, as a result of substance abuse, a person may be unable to stabilize their life, with the majority losing their homes as they can longer work. Thus, they cannot achieve rent and other basic needs such as food and clothing, resulting in homelessness. Similarly, schizophrenia, which is a severe mental disorder influencing people to perceive and interpret things abnormally, has been among the significant causes of homelessness. Healthcare scholars mention that most people affected are those immediate from hospitals. Psychologists argue that patients with this condition prefer to live in isolation following delusions and bizarre behavior. They end up becoming homeless if this condition is left untreated. PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) threatens victims' ability to seek and maintain employment, affecting their financial stability. This follows that homelessness is traumatic (SAMHSA, 2022) (Kim et al., 2018). Due to lack of employment, victims cannot manage their

3 bills, including rent, and end up residing on the streets. Scholars argue that the combination of PTSD and homelessness is deadly as the former results in housing instability. Next, recent studies show that up to 80% of the homeless populations demonstrate “lower than average neurocognitive functioning (5-8)” (Stergiopoulus et al. 2019). This includes deficits in memory, learning, speed of information, attention, processing, as well as general intellectual functioning (6-10). Despite their behavior being largely unintentional, those experiencing homelessness are often misunderstood, especially by landlords who even deny them equal opportunities in housing. Those lacking housings are thus vulnerable to eviction, unable to pay their rent and utilities. Landlords kick them out with complaints of inability to maintain their residence as appropriate. Consequently, domestic violence and intimate partner violence is among the leading cause of homelessness, specifically for women and their children (National Network to End Violence, 2019). As the author indicates, this follows the latter fleeing from their matrimonial homeless in an attempt to escape violence. However, they become homeless as most of the women are economically unstable and cannot manage rent independently. Poor credit, employment histories, and rental are the significant results of the abuse. The majority of the people in the United States are uninformed about the issue of homelessness. Also, some are discriminative toward the people experiencing homelessness, subjecting them to isolation, poor access to healthcare services, living conditions, poor nutrition, and exposure to diseases. This perception has propelled social exclusion. Scholars mention that a person becoming homeless automatically inherits social exclusion as these features intertwine with homelessness: financial constraints, lack of housing/affordable housing, and lack of social support.

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4 Lastly, other homelessness-related mental health illnesses include bipolar disorder and anxiety. While the aforementioned factors primarily contribute to homelessness, this situation can be reversed by promoting social inclusion (SAMHSA, 2022), projects for the construction of affordable housing as a solution, and improving employment and income. Additionally, by providing emergency shelters in the homeless shelters, promoting access to health care services to those experiencing mental health issues and substance disorders, and designing a crisis intervention response program to serve the most vulnerable such as women and children facing domestic violence. Thank you

5 References Kim, Y., Bender, K., Ferguson, K. M., Begun, S., & DiNitto, D. M. (2018). Trauma and post- traumatic stress disorder among homeless young adults: The importance of victimization experiences in childhood and once homeless. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders , 26 (3), 131-142. Mosel, S. (2022 July 15). Substance abuse & homelessness: Statistics & Rehab treatment. Retrieved from: https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/homeless National Network to End Domestic Violence. (2019 July). Domestic Violence, Housing, and Homelessness. Retrieved from: https://nnedv.org/wp- content/uploads/2019/07/Library_TH_2018_DV_Housing_Homelessness.pdf SAMHSA. (2022, April 22). Homelessness resources: Trauma. Retrieved from: https://www.samhsa.gov/homelessness-programs-resources/hpr-resources/trauma SAMHSA. (2022, April 22). Homelessness Resources: Social inclusion. Retrieved from: https://www.samhsa.gov/homelessness-programs-resources/hpr-resources/social- inclusion Stergiopoulos, V., Naidu, A., Schuler, A., Bekele, T., Nisenbaum, R., Jbilou, J., ... & Rourke, S. B. (2019). Housing stability and neurocognitive functioning in homeless adults with mental illness: A subgroup analysis of the at home/Chez Soi Study. Frontiers in Psychiatry , 10 , 865.

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