The Prevalence Of Mental Health

​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.

Health ←and→ mental health troubles reflected an extensive range of concerns centered on chronic health problems, substance abuse, psychosocial, clinically diagnosed problems, self-esteem problems. Substance abuse was noticed as a major obstacle to conquering homelessness addictive behaviors in the same way as alcoholism, drug abuse were frequently identified in

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

One of the dominant factors causing homelessness include physical or mental disability. This occur mostly with armed forces veterans who had been to war zones or fought to wars then discharged because of having post-traumatic stress disorder {PTSD} or their limbs chopped off reducing mobility. People with disability

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

People who have complex life issues related to mental illness and of substance use are the most common people who tend to be homeless, another reason that led to homelessness is the sexually and physically abuse that people may suffer from their own families, friends, or other people, who cannot cope with these situation are especially among teenagers and women so their only escape from that neglecting is to run away from home and sick refuge in the streets where they can feel free (Homelessness, 2012). Finally, the most important reasons why people become homeless could be due to the unavailability of affordable housing unit for low income people, which shows that people who do become homeless is because of an unavoidable situation; those are people who do have work or they just cannot find the one that pays enough to cope with the housing payment and its expenses, or sometimes people lose their job and cannot pay mortgages or rents any more so they end up living in the street and these causes cannot be prevented (Homelessness,

Homelessness is a result of, social, economic, and individual forces, other factors that can also contribute to homelessness is poverty, gender, and ethnicity. The characteristics of a homeless person can range from someone experience mental issues, someone disabled, or someone having substance abuse issues likes drugs and alcohol, or experiencing domestic violence, or loss of a job or home. Tuberculosis among the homeless population is 46 times higher than the general U.S population. According to Laidman, (2012) “Prevalence ratios for homeless people compared with the general population ranged from 34 to 452 for TB”.

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

Domestic and family violence is the one of the major reason that leads to homelessness as well. Other consequences are brought out such as relationship split out, causing trauma or body injured.

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.

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

The issue of physical problems can also have an effect on the homeless individual. Endhomeless says that because the homeless are not able to afford medical care, they can suffer from a number of health issues. Those issues can be colds and flu, skin diseases from not being able to bathe properly, nutritional deficiencies, and sleep deprivation. In addition, “diabetes and heart diseases are also found at high rates among the homeless” (endhomeless).

However, there are a large number of predisposing causes, some of which were touched upon before. Outside of financial troubles, stemming from any number of root causes on its own, mental and physical illness together combined for just above 42% of what the homeless Bostonians said was their cause of homelessness. Mental illness in particular, reported by 24.4% of those interviewed, is a very common cause of homelessness worldwide. According to the American Psychological Association, rates of mental illness among the homeless in the United States are twice the rate found in the general population (APA, 2010). As well, homeless people have far higher rates of disease, including tuberculosis, hypertension, asthma diabetes, and

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