Mental Illness and Homelessness

"No vision haunts America’s conscience more than the sight of the street people… The irrationality and anguish that grip so many of these individuals leap out during any encounter, whether in Washington or Albuquerque." ---Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM)

Mental illness is a complex issue and its relationship to homelessness is often inextricable. Stereotyping is often an involuntary process and we sometimes do it without realizing its happening. I thought it might be important to take a look at some of the numbers relating to mental illness and homelessness in America. If we can see people as individuals, and not merely statistics or numbers on a spread sheet, we (hopefully) are more likely to humanize their situation and realize we can help.

People with untreated psychiatric illnesses comprise one-third, or 250,000, of the estimated 744,000 homeless population. The quality of life for these individuals is abysmal. Many are victimized regularly. One study found that 28 percent of homeless people with previous psychiatric hospitalizations obtained some food from garbage cans and 8 percent used garbage cans as a primary food source.

Between 250,000 individuals with schizophrenia or manic-depressive illness are homeless among the 744,000 homeless population. These 250,000 individuals are equivalent to the population of such cities as Dayton, Ohio; Des Moines, Iowa; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Providence, Rhode Island; Richmond, Virginia; or Salt Lake City, Utah.

A survey by the National Alliance to End Homelessness reported that there were approximately 744,000 homeless persons in the US. Among these, approximately two- thirds were single persons and one-third were families. One-quarter of the homeless persons were said to be chronically homeless. Numerous studies have reported that approximately one-third of homeless persons have a serious mental illness, mostly schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. The percentage is higher among those who are chronically homeless and among homeless women and is lower among homeless families. If overall one-third of homeless persons are seriously mentally ill, that means that there are approximately 250,000 homeless persons with serious mental illnesses in the US.

At any given time, there are many more people with untreated severe psychiatric illnesses living on America’s streets than are receiving care in hospitals. Approximately 90,000 individuals with schizophrenia or manic-depressive illness are in all hospitals receiving treatment for their disease.

The New York Times reported that in Berkeley, California, "on any given night there are 1,000 to 1,200 people sleeping on the streets. Half of them are deinstitutionalized mentally ill people. It’s like a mental ward on the streets."

If you are interested in helping to address homelessness in Kalispell in a real and tangible way, please contact us and we will be happy to find ways for you to volunteer.
Thanks for your support!

Statistics courtesy of mentalillnesspolicy.org