Mental Health In Homelessness

 

Image by: The Mercury News

Picture yourself in the outdoors camping. With the chilly morning breaking, the chirping of birds, and faint sunlight beaming through the trees to greet you. The satisfaction of spending a night in the unpredictable wilderness, under the stars over a campfire, sleeping on the ground (or air mattress if you’re fancy) and knowing that once the day or weekend is over it will be soon time to pack it all up and go home. Refreshed by nature and isolation one may feel recharged for the upcoming work week. Now picture yourself lost outdoors camping on a random sidewalk you call home. With the chilly morning breaking to the sound of busy streets, speeding cars, and the fresh smell of gasoline in the air. With only the growls of your belly and cold feet to remind you that you're alive. You wonder why every passing person crosses the street to avoid any interaction with you, as if suffering from a contagious disease. The time to pack up, unpredictable. Your home could be swept away by the authorities at any given time and the uncertainty of the week is yours to bear alone. Well, most homeless people are suffering from a “disease” , this sickness is the stigma and judgement of all being considered lazy, drug addicted, and dangerous. I challenge all readers to seek to understand before being understood when it comes to viewing public health concerns like homelessness.

According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) homelessness is traumatic. The link between homelessness and stress factors in a person’s upbringing is considered evident. Some people, in most cases women, suffer from sexual, phycological, and physical abuse. Stress factors like the aforementioned, lead to substance abuse, post traumatic stress disorder, and in the end the breakdown of a stable home. As the homeless become marginalized, they also become hopeless, succumbing to their habits in the eyes of society. The lack of a home may not be attributed to simply not having money or maintaining stable income, it is in the suffrage and trauma that people endure which prevents the hope to continue with society norms. To address the issue one must attempt to walk in their shoes, one must look at this as a mental health issue, one must forget the stigmas and see the homeless as everyday people trying to survive.

Viewing homelessness as a mental health issue offers different perspectives on solutions. It considers the homeless as patients and removes the naive expectation for them to simply find a job or easily quit their addictions. Case Management has been proven to help, SAMHSA defines case management as “a range of services provided to assist and support individuals in developing their skills to gain access to needed medical, behavioral health, housing, employment, social, educational, and other services essential to meeting basic human services.” This also includes providing “linkages and training for the patient served in the use of basic community resources, and monitoring of overall service delivery.” Case managers assist in helping people who are currently homeless or at risk of being. They are tasked with identifying household risks and searching for resources to prevent homelessness. This important role branches not only to homelessness but to the independence from substance abuse. Survivors of homelessness may in return help by becoming Peer Advocates. A position where survivors become a resource for case managers to gain trust and help their fellow humans as they transition to more permanent solutions. This partnership increases the chances of reaching more mental health patients and in return offers a monetary and philanthropic purpose to survivors. A case manager may have the overwhelming task of managing up to 40 cases, but with the help of peer advocates the support is divided. This healthy supportive relationship between case managers, peer advocates, and the homeless can ultimately lead to recovery.

Recovery is the luxury of stepping out of that camping trip in the wilderness and coming back home. SAMHSA defines recovery as “The process of change through which people improve their health and wellness, live self-directed lives, and strive to reach their full potential. There are four major dimensions that support recovery:

• Health: overcoming or managing one’s disease(s) or symptoms and making informed, healthy choices that support physical and emotional well-being.
• Home: having a stable and safe place to live.
• Purpose: conducting meaningful daily activities and having the independence, income, and resources to participate in society.
• Community: having relationships and social networks that provide support, friendship, love and hope.

To address the issue of homelessness one must understand that not all people suffer from laziness and wild aspirations of living worry free in a concrete jungle. One must empathically understand that our fellow humans suffer not only the worries of hunger or weather patterns. It may be deeper than that, it may have been a stressful upbringing, a traumatic experience, sexual harassment, that leads to the loss of hope and stability. Next time you encounter an angry, upset, or tired homeless person, know that at the root of anger at the root of self harm is pain and suffering. Addressing the pain and suffering through support of case managers, peer advocates and removing stigmas will help these lost campers come home. Click here for more information and resources.

Bibian Ortiz