The 8 psychopathological effects of homelessness

When people think of a vulnerable group, the elderly, migrants, people with mental illness, the LGBT community, etc. come to mind. They are the best known groups and also those with the largest support networks. But What about the homeless? The fact that there are people without a home and without money to cover the basic food basket is a major social problem at the international level, although some countries have managed it better than others.

This group has several vulnerabilities, and unfortunately the biggest is invisibility. There is research on the subject but from the negative perspective of the impact they have on the country, but not from the psychological consequences of not having a roof to be part of homelessness, nor the health risks they have, nor their high probability of developing a mental disorder. We will talk about this briefly in the next few lines.

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Causes of homelessness

The main causes of homelessness can be divided into two groups: personal and social, although both are related and ultimately instance, the determinants are social, while the personal ones are related to the risk of falling into indigence in terms of statistics.

Personal

On the one hand, we have the neurobiological determinants: propensity to psychopathologies and that these are not treated adequately, and also anxiety and elevated levels of stress in individuals without support networks. For the other, traumatic experiences, childhood experiences, sexual or physical abuse, conflicts or domestic violence, substance abuse, increase the risk of falling into this situation.

Social

Social exclusion due to belonging to a minority group, vulnerable, or discriminated against due to race, religion, preferences, is a factor closely linked to poverty. On the other hand, the economy is also very relevant: living with low income, instability, and poor family planning due to scarce resources.

Yes OK they are not the only elements that contribute to a person becoming destitute, are risk factors that if you do not have the appropriate support networks or the necessary treatment for certain diseases or psychopathologies, they can end up in this situation.

The psychological impact of homelessness

As a vulnerable group, it is made up of people who belong to other ways of classifying members of society: people of the third age, people with alcoholism or drug addiction problems, immigrants, people with disabilities (both physical and intellectual), among others. The main vulnerabilities, which at the same time become consequences of this social phenomenon, are the following.

1. Invisibility

Most of society shows no concern for the homeless in most countries. They are seen, but not taken into account.

2. Propensity to have symptoms or develop a mental illness

The fact of not having a roof alters their mental capacities, to the point of developing pathologies. The most common within this group are depression and schizophrenia, in addition to alcoholism.

• You may be interested: "What is schizophrenia? Symptoms and Treatments"

3. Propensity to contract a disease

The homeless are exposed to any virus or bacteria and to extreme temperatures without the possibility of preventing diseases caused by these agents or situations.

4. High risk of incarceration

The fact of not having a roof causes the homeless to be at risk of being apprehended by police forces when carrying out all their activities in public areas, some of them being prohibited.

5. Propensity to use and abuse substances

Having no money for a decent mealMany choose to consume toxic substances to stay without hunger or in a state of "well-being" even if the situation demands otherwise.

• You may be interested: "15 consequences of drug use (in your mind and in your body)"

6. Unemployment and limited opportunities to get one

The window of opportunity to get a job is drastically reduced.

7. Lack of formal education and truancy

That the parents are on the streets, is related to a situation of vulnerability of their children, due to lack of access to formal education.

8. Risk of accidents and premature death

The fact of being exposed to diseases increases your possibility of premature death. In addition, being unprotected, having no sense of direction, being drunk, drugged or having a mental illness increases the risk of having an accident.

What to do to help these people?

The job of psychologists, social workers, and stakeholders is really to reach out to this group, detect needs, propose strategies and implement action plans They help them to return to a decent life, get a job and, if they have a physical or mental illness, they can be treated. The fact that a person is on the street does not mean that their status in society has to be changed; you still have the same rights, and you can lead a decent life with all that this implies.