Homelessness and the Mentally Ill
It’s a cold winter night. The temperature has dropped below zero and a heavy snow is falling. You crunch through six or more inches of frozen snow and the subzero arctic wind cuts through you heaviest new coat as you unlock your car door. The door has frozen and it cracks. You climb into your car and shiver. You want to get back into your cozy, warm house and snuggle up in your bed. Now, imagine you don’t have a home in which to return. You don’t have a car or warm new clothes. You have holes in your boots and the snow makes your feet wet. The local shelter might have a cot but, you’re too disoriented to find your way there. You might have family members in the city but, you’re too confused to remember where they live. Anyway, they gave up on you years ago, after you wandered out of one halfway house after another. Too confused to seek help, you will spend the night on the street. You are mentally ill. Mentally ill people should be institutionalized without their consent.
There isn’t enough tax money available to support outreach programs and halfway houses which leaves mentally ill persons homeless and vulnerable. Most mentally ill persons would accept assistance if, it were offered to them. A study done by The California State Legislature found that only 30% of the persons approached by the study group, outreach program refused help. (Rochefort p.160-181) Unfortunately not enough of this assistance is available. In fact, in 1998 “debt ceiling legislature” cut SSI so much that an estimated 40,000 to 200,000 people, with disability and substance abuse problems, were put on the street. (Lee p.D1) In the same year, David Sutkowy, the Syracuse, New York Social Services Commissioner, failed to report the presence of any homeless people in Onondaga County to the state. Therefore, Onondaga County had inadequate funding to assist its homeless in 1999. (O’Brien) Donna Townsend, executive director of The Committee to end Elder Homelessness, had this to say about the situation,” Legislation passed by Ronald Regan kept emergency care for the mentally ill but, closed many permanent living places and institutions. (Associated Press) These are just a few example of how desperate the problem is.
When support services, money, food, and shelter are available mentally ill people are very often too disoriented to utilize these resources. According to an American Psychiatric Association study “disorganized thinking, poor problem solving skills, and the inability to function due to depression lead to homelessness”. (Cohen p.160-181) The same APA study concluded that additional supervised housing and less restrictive laws regarding involuntary treatment are needed. (Rochefort p. 181-185) Then there is the story of Yetta Adams who, to the public disgust, froze to death outside the Washington D.C. HUD office with $300 in her pockets and four family members living close by. She had been staying in a shelter until the week previous to her death. At the time of her death that shelter had vacancies. In spite of all the resources at hand Yetta Adams froze to death.( Cohen p. 160-181) The story of Yetta Adams grabbed public attention because it happened outside the HUD office but, this story plays out every day and goes unnoticed.
Mentally ill people can develop life threatening medical conditions due to lack of intervention. All mentally dysfunctional people are susceptible to this problem but, homeless mentally ill people are more susceptible to this problem. For instance, a Syracuse man, Mike Gauthier, stayed at the Oxford Inn for nine months. He had active Tuberculosis. For nine months he slept eight inches away from the cots on either side of him. At the time of his death ten Oxford Inn “regulars” had contracted Tuberculosis. Tragically, Mr. Gauthier had a brother, David, living right here in Syracuse. (O’Brien) How can a person who is incapable of problem solving secure medications for such illnesses as asthma and HIV/AIDS? Which brings us to another point, people who are mentally ill and homeless sometimes engage in survival sex. This dangerous activity leaves them vulnerable to HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases. In addition according to an interview with Paul Boden, director of the Coalition for Homelessness in San Francisco, most homeless people are female senior citizens with health problems and dementia. (Associated Press, Herald Journal, p. A3)
Haven’t we, the public, seen enough suffering? The constitution offers us life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness but, does that liberty include muttering to oneself in a state of complete confusion while digging through a dumpster? The evidence proves there isn’t enough available tax money to support outreach programs and halfway houses therefore leaving the mentally ill homeless and vulnerable. When support services, money, food, and shelter are available mentally ill people are very often too disoriented to utilize these resources. Also, mentally ill people can develop life threatening medical conditions due to a lack of intervention. The law is very restrictive as it concerns involuntary institutionalization. In the cases that involuntary institutionalization was permissible the treated patients reported their treatment was necessary and appropriate. (Rosenthal p. 181-185) That is the most convincing evidence of all!
Sources
Associated Press, Herald Journal, 29, Jan. 1997, p. A3.
Cohen, Richard. “Forced Shelter” Washington Post Weekly Edition 13-19 Dec. 1993.
Lamb, Richard, H. “Will We Save the Homeless Mentally Ill?” American Journal of Psychiatry 147
(May 1997) : 649-651.
Lee, Jean, H. Herald Journal 19 Nov. 1997, p.D1.
O’Brien, John. Herald Journal 10 Aug. 1998.
Rochefort, David, A. “From Poorhouses to homelessness: Policy Analysis of Mental Care” Washington Post Weekly Edition 13-19 Dec. 1993.
Rosenthal, A. M. “On My Mind: Park Avenue Lady” The New York Times 23 Nov. 1990.
