Since 1949, May has been known as Mental Health Awareness Month. It is important to realize that mental health is a huge factor in homelessness. The National Coalition for the Homeless reported, “It is estimated that 1/3 of the homeless population is suffering from some form of mental illness”. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says that over 500,000 people are homeless in the United States on any given night. One third of 500,000 would equate to roughly 166,667 homeless people that are experiencing mental illness regularly on any night. Mental illness can create a major barrier to getting in housing. It is necessary that people recognize the importance of this issue so we can stop the stigma surrounding it and help overcome the burden of mental illness.
Here are some more facts on mental health and homelessness:
- An estimated 26% of homeless adults staying in shelters live with serious mental illness, and an estimated 46% live with severe mental illness and/or substance use disorders.
- According to the Canadian Population Health Initiative, up to 61% of homeless adults experience suicidal thoughts.
- In one report, it was found that 17.3% of prison inmates with severe mental illness were homeless prior to being arrested and 40% were homeless at one point in their lives.
- In a 2015 survey performed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, twenty-two cities were asked for the three largest causes of homelessness in their communities. Mental illness was the third largest cause of homelessness for single adults (mentioned by 40% of cities). For families experiencing homelessness, mental illness was mentioned by 20% of cities as one of the top three causes.
- Roughly 15% of the homeless population are chronically homeless, meaning they are experiencing long-term or repeated homelessness. Mental illness is one of the top barriers preventing the chronically homeless from finding permanent housing.
If you are interested in learning more about this topic, go to this website.
Sources:
- http://nationalhomeless.org/blog/
- https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-By-the-Numbers
- https://bissellcentre.org/blog/2016/10/27/homelessness-hurts-how-being-homeless-can-affect-mental-health/
- https://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~hcht/blog/homelessness-and-mental-health-facts
- http://nationalhomeless.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Mental-Illness-and-Homelessness.pdf
- http://www.colemanservices.org/our-story/our-blog/homeless-and-the-mentally-ill.aspx
