How Does Substance Abuse Cause Homelessness

​Homelessness and substance abuse are often two problems that continue to be linked together. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (2011), research conducted in the past five years indicates that about 50% of those who are homeless have co-occurring substance abuse problems. Along with co-occurring substance abuse problems, there continues to be other problems such as treatment access to those who are homeless. In this paper we will explore research on the homeless population in relation to substance abuse, and effective interventions on an individual level.

The widespread of the crack cocaine in the 1980 also increased homelessness. Many individuals suffering from homelessness also suffer from many different type of drug addictions. It is estimated that 40 % of homeless people are dependent on alcohol and 25% on other drugs. Alcoholism is increasingly being recognized as the most pervasive health problem for homeless. In addition homeless alcohol dependent individuals have a higher prevalence of other psychiatric disorders and more impaired in their social and vocational functioning. Alcoholism and the behaviors coupled with it have a huge influence on physical health. Majority of studies conducted on homelessness and drugs

Many causes become the answers to homeless people. The most easy understanding of homelessness is they don not have houses. Homeless people live in the streets because they do not have a house, but every homeless person does not have a house since he was born is impossible. First, shortage of substance use is the major part for

Homeless people may have substance abuse problems and may also have mental health issues like anxiety, depression, or psychosis and other issues. Drug dependence, abusing alcohol, misusing prescribed medications are all ways of substance abuse among homeless people. Illicit drugs like cannabis, cocaine and methamphetamines or “ice” among others substances that are usually used. You cannot easily tell what comes first between substance abuse and mental heath issues because homeless people that abuse alcohol and drugs to cope with their mental health condition and for others substance abuse may bring about mental health

A substantial percentage of homeless population are individuals who are chronically unemployed or have difficulty managing their lives effectively due to prolonged and severe drug and/or alcohol abuse. Substance abuse can cause homelessness from behavioral patterns associated with addiction that alienate an

Researcher Didenki and Pankratz identified in the year of 2007, that alcohol abuse is more prevalent in the older generations while drug usage is more common in the young ones on the street. Substance abuse could be a reason behind someone’s homelessness. People spend lots of money to obtain this high that they receive from drugs or alcohol. This could be a problem some lose their jobs. Some already have a hard time paying their bills and this creates more problems. Alcohol and drug addiction ruins family and friend relationships. Research shows that if it is not a cause to their homelessness it is often an affect. When people suffer from hardships they often turn to other things to get that temporary high. It is like an escape from their problems. This unfortunately suffers ties and makes it harder for a person to find jobs. Addictions are very difficult to quit, making it a reason why individuals end up on the street for a long time. (Substance abuse and homelessness. (2009, July

The United States is not immune to the worldwide drug addiction epidemic. Drugs pour in from Mexico daily, then distributed to throughout the country. The economic crisis in America is creating an excuse for drug use (e.g., depression, hopelessness). This chemical fix not only creates problems for the addict, but the family and community as well. Every addict has an enabler, a person who makes the addiction possible through various venues of support (e.g., financial, denial). Addicts are only concerned with their next fix and will resort to any means to obtain it (e.g., theft, prostitution, pan-handling). Some have even resorted to extremely desperate measures; for example, murder for inheritance or life insurance proceeds.

Understanding how both individual and structural factors contribute to and sustain homelessness is a critical factor in successfully addressing homelessness. All to often service providers blame homeless individuals for the circumstances they are in, making assumptions that substance abuse or other irresponsible behaviors have caused the problems leading to the individual to become homeless. Hoffman and Coffey (2008) suggest, “the perpetuation of homelessness is not internal to the homeless individual as many claim, but rather may be embedded in the service industry itself, which subjects both clients and providers to bureaucratic forms of authority and experiences of disrespect.” While not all homeless people suffer from mental illness or substance abuse, all of

Since the early 1960’s there have been an alarming increase in drug use in the United States in 1962, four million Americans had tried an illegal drug. By 1999, that number had risen to a staggering 88.7 million, according to the 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.

Countless homeless people are suffering every day, it's heartbreaking and the stereotype homeless people have been enormous, but not all of them have a drug or drinking problem.

Homelessness is a problem virtually every society suffers from. There are many things that cause people to become homeless, such as unemployment, relationship problems, and being evicted from ones domicile either by a landlord, friend or even a family member. However, with every cause there must be an effect. Some of the effects of one becoming homeless, besides the obvious change of lifestyle, are various health problems which often times may lead to death.

Drug addiction has been happening for thousands of years. It is commonly known that addiction to drugs is poor for your health. However, drug addiction can affect an addict, their family, and their communities. Drug addiction needs more awareness and treatment because it leads to homelessness, crime, and broken families.

The primary causes of chronic homelessness include poverty, disability, mental illness, along with substance abuse or addiction. Poverty is a challenging but is a doable cycle to break and becomes progressively difficult to get out once you begin to fall behind a specific income level. Once people reach that point they are then usually not able to obtain the proper resources for the acquired knowledge and resources that are necessary for a higher paying job. Disability affects an immense percentage of the homeless. This is frequently caused by an injury that prevents them from working numerous jobs within their societies and without their dependable

To begin with, individual conditions are major causes of homelessness, and they are quite numerous. For instance, the past of the individuals could be packed with shocking events. Some people have really hard time getting over them, and they always cause them many psychological or physical problems that may hinder their development in life. Shocking events may include loss of job or money. Research (as cited in Gowan, 2010) shows that 22.61% of homeless people are not working seriously to earn enough money. In addition, personal crises, whether social or economic have a huge impact on the individual’s present situation. If someone faces bankruptcy they have a higher chance of facing homelessness in the future. Also, mental illness

People who become homeless are likely to turn to drugs or alcohol to deal with their situations or to find comfort. Additions cause people who are having a rough time to become homeless. Often result in people losing their jobs, making it more difficult for them to pay their bills, thus resulting in homelessness. It is impossible sometimes for a homeless person to break their addictions, because even if they do break it, it is going to be difficult living on the streets trying to stay sober. While living on the streets, you start to feel lonely and depressed. The addiction will make you feel some kind of confront but still have you feel empty inside. This is why people keep on drinking and taking drugs so after. They are trying to fill that void of emptiness inside of them or trying to handle the depression they might be going through. Homeless people who suffer from mental illness and are using drugs on the streets as medication to their illness, have a harder time recovering. Many homeless individuals in the Virgin Islands have experienced few things of what was previously