One of the main risk factors that lead to homelessness is mental illness. Therefore, prioritizing mental health should ideally involve seeking treatment when experiencing symptoms that disrupt everyday life activities and relationships.

However, mental illness is quite common, and most people with a mental illness do not become homeless. This naturally leads many to ask, "how does mental illness lead to homelessness?"

When a mental illness goes untreated, it is likely to get worse. Sometimes, new symptoms arise that are incompatible with employment or are anti-social. Thus, when prioritizing mental health is neglected, this is an exceedingly common way mental illness leads to homelessness.  

Neglect of mental health can come in various ways, including from family, society, and self. 

Social workers help rehabilitate clients that are homeless or suffering from mental illness by actively healing such neglect through therapy and counseling. In addition, social workers advocate on their behalf to obtain their basic needs, such as housing, food, and water.

How Does Mental Illness Cause Homelessness? 

Mental health conditions such as PTSD, schizophrenia, substance abuse disorders, anxiety disorders, and bipolar disorders are risk factors for homelessness. They are conditions prevalent among the U.S. homeless population. 

Researchers call mental illness and homelessness a “bi-directional” relationship. That means that mental illness can lead to homelessness, but homelessness can also lead to mental illness. 

In both cases, however, the cause is the neglect of mental health treatment, such as therapy or psychiatric medication. 

Symptoms of mental illness can become so debilitating or anti-social that behavioral patterns incompatible with work settings arise. This leads to job loss and housing insecurity. 

In other words, it is challenging to keep a job if you are severely depressed and physically cannot get out of bed. It is challenging to show up to work every day if you can’t stop drinking.

Getting work tasks done can become impossible if you have disturbing hallucinations from schizophrenia or traumatic flashbacks from PTSD. These conditions all impair the ability to perform laborious tasks. Without treatment, that means eventually. These health conditions can lead to housing insecurity.

In the latter instance, being homeless often involves the emotional toll of receiving scorn, harassment, and even assault from passers-by, criminals, and other homeless people. Being homeless can result in constantly worrying about such mistreatment, leading to profound trauma and dysphoria. 

Suppose we also consider something like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In that case, homeless individuals lack some of the most fundamental pillars of well-being available to humans: shelter and potentially even food or water. 

Research supports Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in this respect because being without these basic needs is highly correlated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and overall psychological distress. 

More than half the homeless population have traumatic brain injuries, which are sometimes the result of being assaulted in the street, and which empirically contribute to the progression of mental illness. This is especially true if a homeless person already suffers from mental illness. 

The "bi-directional" relationship between homelessness causing mental illness, and mental illness causing homelessness is a vicious cycle. We can only stop it by prioritizing mental health treatment and housing security. 

Prioritizing Mental Health Treatment For the Homeless 

Mental health treatment for all mental health conditions can include a combination of individual therapy, group therapy, and psychiatric medication.  

These are all necessary options because they are the methods most highly supported by scientific research to reduce mental illness symptoms' severity. 

There are, however, options that are specifically useful for the homeless population and can help reduce mental illness symptoms.                      

Mental Health Supportive Housing 

As Maslow's hierarchy teaches, housing, food, and water are critical for human well-being. When deprived of these essential materials for sustaining life, mental and physical illness become exceedingly more likely.

Various housing programs exist to support homeless recovery and well-being by providing them with the essential materials to survive and get back on two feet. 

Emergency Shelters 

It is important to note that only 25-30% of the homeless suffer from severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia. What this indicates more than anything is that the causes of homelessness are various –mental illness being only one primary cause among many. 

Nevertheless, almost every homeless individual or family experiences physical and mental distress because of becoming homeless. 

In some cases, individuals are met with economic shock upon losing their job or getting kicked out of their parent's houses. This leads them to become financially insecure and homeless. Emergency shelters support cases like these with housing, food, and water. 

Social services like emergency shelters provide a first-option pathway to recovering financial and mental stability. Most importantly, emergency shelters are usually equipped with mental health services, like social workers, to assist those in need of care. 

The length of time one can stay in an emergency shelter might vary considerably depending on where you live –in New York City, the initial voucher term is 180 days. 

Likewise, the average stay in an emergency shelter varies depending on where you live –in Worcester, Massachusetts, the average stay in an emergency shelter is 30 days. 

Eligibility requirements also vary depending on where you live. In New York City, for example, eligibility is determined by prioritizing families with children under 18 and households escaping domestic violence or human trafficking.

These shelters may require criminal background checks, credit checks, income information, and sobriety tests. 

Transitional or Supportive Housing 

Emergency shelters aim to get individuals back onto their feet as soon as possible. But, unfortunately, things don't always work out that way. 

Even in an emergency shelter, homelessness can be profoundly psychologically damaging for those it happens to, leading many to develop severe mental illnesses. This makes finding a new job or pathway forward much more difficult –if not impossible–and it makes intensive mental health treatment far more necessary.

Transitional or supportive housing is designed to help such individuals stay afloat and recover from the damage individuals and families undergo due to homelessness. 

In addition to providing food, water, and shelter, transitional housing supports clients by providing in-house resources. These include case management lawyers, medication management nurses or psychiatrists, and therapists and social workers who offer group and individual counseling. 

By prioritizing mental health, transitional housing options intend to prepare individuals and families for living independently again. 

Permanent Supportive Housing 

Ideally, emergency and transitional housing should be well-known resources. Still, in reality, many individuals experiencing homelessness are unaware these recourses exist. 

Likewise, it would be ideal if transitional housing always succeeded at reintegrating clients into regular life. Still, in reality, many individuals do not respond well to treatment. Still, they need somewhere to be kept safe and further helped by clinicians. 

Permanent supportive housing exists for those who experience chronic homelessness and those who do not respond positively to treatment while in the care of transitional housing. 

Low Barrier Shelters 

The eligibility requirements for emergency shelters also apply in the case of transitional housing and permanent housing. 

Low-barrier shelters have minimal or no eligibility requirements for entry and often have no time limit for stay. 

On the one hand, many say this helps people in such shelters be more at ease –even at home– as it is stressful to jump through hoops during such times of need and suffering. But on the other hand, a lack of eligibility requirements could raise safety concerns. 

The Role of Social Workers in Homelessness

Deciding on housing and treatment can feel overwhelming, as homelessness can often make people feel chronically overwhelmed. In addition, indecision becomes more common when you are without basic needs. 

Social workers can aid homeless individuals and families in making important decisions under the destabilizing pressure of psychological stress and material scarcity that often accompanies homelessness.

More than being someone who tells you about recourses, social workers can aid homeless individuals and families by acting to get them their basic needs. Social workers are trained to help those in need of basic resources and mental health services. 

Social workers are advocates of people and are committed to serving the community to produce a positive effect on it. 

Additionally, social workers provide direct mental health services, such as individual counseling and group therapy, inside homeless shelters and housing facilities. 

In other words, social workers are essential for improving homelessness. They are front-line-in-center for providing the homeless with basic needs and mental health care –the two key ingredients that promote recovery and reintegration into everyday living.

Without social workers, homelessness crises would certainly worsen considerably. That is why it is important that compassionate and resourceful individuals continue to adopt careers in social work. 

Are you interested in becoming a social worker? Do you want to make a positive, impactful difference in real societal problems like homelessness and mental illness? If so, getting the correct information is crucial for getting on the right track. 

To get your career started as a social worker, you will first need to look into getting a degree in social work.