Is there a Correlation between Untreated Mental Health and Poverty within the United States?
Living in poverty not only impacts a person’s environment, health, and safety but it also physically manifests into the neural pathways of the brain. Essentially what this means is that poverty changes a person’s behaviors and beliefs to the very core — out of survival, not choice.
It’s easy to turn the other cheek when we see someone on the street with a sign, asking for food or money. It’s easy to cast judgements about how they could have possibly gotten themselves into this situation and that its more of a “them” problem, not a “me” problem.
I want you to open yourself up to learning today about what we know about human psychology in relation to environment, behavior, and poverty in order to allow you to better understand those who are struggling mentally and financially - and ultimately, to help create change.
Who Struggles with Homelessness?
Over three million people in the United States are struggling on the streets, a majority of those humans are also dealing with some degree of mental illness or untreated mental health. While at a glance, “mental disorders” may feel like a cop out excuse from some perspectives; the truth is, mental health does have just about everything to do with our behaviors, decisions, and beliefs - to the extent that it can leave people without homes and other resources for their basic survival needs.
Individuals with Untreated Mental Illness
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, about 50% of the homeless population struggles with severe mental illness and/or substance abuse. Lack of (or inaccessible) mental health services is one of the top four causes for individuals to end up homeless.
A serious mental illness is defined as “a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder resulting in serious functional impairment, which substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities,” by the National Institute of Mental Health.
50% of those living on the streets are struggling to meet their basic needs due to mental disability. But let’s re-circle back to that “50%” estimation: it’s my guess that this number is highly under-represented, considering that healthcare and diagnoses is scarce for those struggling with poverty and homelessness.
In fact, in a news report from 2020 addressing the struggles between homelessness and mental health, it was stated that, “no hospitals want to build more hospital beds to accommodate the homeless struggling with mental illness because they’re not getting their revenue stream [from it].”
Essentially, systems designed to take care of our health appear to be more concerned with profits over purpose. Those struggling with mental illness are unfortunately not a priority in the healthcare system, which leaves many without proper treatment and help — this is one of the top reasons for people to end up homeless.
The California Health Care Foundation stated that over 87% of people who have dual mental health diagnoses don’t receive proper treatment, which “significantly increases their risk of experiencing homelessness and without housing, their symptoms greatly intensify.”
How Mental Illness Leads to Poverty
When untreated mental illness becomes severe, many people become debilitated - and literally disabled by it. This prevents individuals from being able to take care of their basic human needs, let alone maintain a job and be able to provide for themselves.
What’s less commonly known is that the stigma behind mental health also prevents individuals struggling from the same opportunities as those who don’t. For example, the stigma behind mental illness still to this day leads to employers choosing not to hire the person with a mental illness, if given the choice between two applicants.
In addition to this, many people are wrongfully denied housing if they struggle with mental illness, especially if their income comes from social security.
Thirdly, those with mental illness tend to end up in poverty or struggling with homelessness due to the financial burden of the healthcare costs to treat their mental health. Those struggling with mental illness tend to spend more on healthcare, which builds on debt over time for these individuals.
The costs of therapy alone can be anywhere from $100-$200 per month, but some sessions can be on the upwards of $500 to seek help.
Next time you see someone struggling on the streets, know that there is a high chance that this person was fighting for their mental health and didn’t receive proper treatment, which lead them there.
Domestic Violence Survivors
That said, mental illness is not a direct cause for every person struggling with poverty or homelessness. Domestic violence is actually the leading cause for homelessness in women.
According to the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, 60% of women are denied emergency shelter due to the lack of availability and space within the shelters. This leaves these women without housing options. Unfortunately, because of this, many women end up back in these dangerous situations, while others end up homeless.
Next time you see someone struggling on the streets, know that there is a high chance that this person was struggling with domestic violence and also likely to be battling the trauma from that.
Disabled Individuals
Disabled individuals make up 38.6% of the homeless population as a result of discrimination in housing, employment, and income. This leads to many people fighting through poverty and homelessness due to this discrimination and lack of assistance.
Next time you see someone struggling on the streets, know that there is a high chance that this person was disabled and not able to take care of their needs, which lead them there.
Children
2.5 million children experienced living without consistent shelter and/or homelessness in 2013, according to the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty. Children and families make up 37.4% of the homeless population.
A study found that toddlers and children who grew up in poverty were found to have higher cortisol levels by the ages of 2 to 6 years old in comparison to the children who had their basic human needs met through financial assistance for their families.
Not only are children experiencing homelessness, but these raised cortisol levels over longer durations of time are known to increase several health risk factors, one of the major risks being mental health disorders.
Living with mental illness and chronically high cortisol levels also inhibits a person’s ability to learn, which makes education an additional challenge on these kids. The reason behind this is because our nervous system has natural survival mechanisms in place to protect us; when our body remains in this state for long durations of time, we are physically incapable of processing new information. This is not our choice, but instead, our body’s response to surviving high stress environments.
This means that toddlers and children who grow up in poverty are at risk of developing mental illness while also struggling in school, which makes them highly susceptible to continuing to live in poverty and homelessness throughout their lives.
Next time you see someone struggling on the streets, know that there is a high chance that this person grew up in poverty or homelessness, which lead them there.
Veterans
Veterans are 50% more at risk of becoming homeless than others living in the United States. Some of these causes are in relation to this group struggling to adapt back into civilian life, mental health disorders, and substance addiction that began while in the military.
75% of homeless veterans began struggling with substance abuse and addiction while serving in the military and 50% struggle with mental illness (including PTSD, depression, and anxiety).
Many veterans are left with poor mental health care after serving, which ultimately contributes to poverty and homelessness.
Next time you see someone struggling on the streets, know that there is a high chance that this person is a veteran that served in the military and didn’t receive proper care, which lead them there.
The Correlation between Mental Illness & Poverty
350 million people in the world struggle with major depressive disorder, and a majority of these people come from low income countries.
Being in a situation where basic needs are not being met makes a person more susceptible to struggle with mental illness. Once they feel impaired, it can be incredibly hard to not only get treatment, but also to continue fighting for their basic human needs on top of that.
So regardless of whether poverty leads to mental illness or mental illness leads to poverty, it doesn’t really matter, does it? It appears that regardless of the cause of homelessness, living in poverty certainly only creates more mental health challenges. This becomes a cycle that’s hard to escape, especially without assistance, support, or proper mental health care.
What Needs to Happen to Create Change?
While there are major issues to address with poverty within the United States outside of the conversation of mental health, focusing on mental health alone can help prevent people from experiencing homelessness while also having the potential to get individuals and families off the streets.
The major issues of mental health and poverty revolve around proper mental health care, treatment, community support, and supervision for those who are disabled by their mental illness (such as ensuring medication is being taken).
Some ways that you can help spread awareness are by speaking up in conversations with friends, family, and peers as well as sharing these conversations on social media.
You can also make an impact by being a kind human to those around you, no matter their situation. The kindness and acknowledgement of existence can truly be impactful for someone else who doesn’t often feel seen. Be a compassionate human; the world needs it and they need it.
Final notes
Next time you pass by someone who appears to be struggling financially, I hope you choose to smile and acknowledge their existence. I hope you can approach all humans with compassion and understanding, no matter their situation. And until then, I hope you choose to make the efforts you can to help spread awareness and kindness in the world just a little more each day.
If you or someone you know is struggling with income and wants support through therapy, please submit an application AND if you want to help contribute to someone struggling with access to therapy or mental health resources, you can do so here!
Sources
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22008425/
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26303307
https://www.naccho.org/blog/articles/homelessness-among-individuals-with-disabilities
https://homelesslaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Homeless_Stats_Fact_Sheet.pdf
https://solutionsforchange.org/news-events/blog/veteran-homelessness.html
https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/programs_campaigns/homelessness_programs_resources/
https://www.bhevolution.org/public/severe_mental_illness.page
https://greendoors.org/facts/veteran-homelessness
https://policyadvice.net/insurance/insights/homelessness-statistics/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcBo4Od-zwY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAWj9lsZq0I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B-okvAO1tM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a9U6ZFfk3s
