Do you think we should re-open mental hospitals for the homeless?

8 Comments

I work in security and I live in an urban area in the US and I have worked in areas of the city with large populations of homeless individuals. From my own, personal experience, I have noticed that most homeless people aren't just homeless because they are down on their luck, but they are homeless because they do not have the mental capacity necessary to be functioning members of society.

The homeless that I deal with are usually either schizophrenic (of varying types and degrees, mainly Catatonic and Disorganized but sometimes Paranoid), highly addicted to substances (which may stem from other disabling mental problems), mentally challenged (intellectually or emotionally), veterans with PTSD (generally Vietnam-era), obviously suffering from brain damage of some sort or suffering from another mental illness that I don't have the expertise to identify with any sort of confidence.

The bottom line is that many homeless individuals are suffering from crippling mental illnesses that make it extremely difficult or impossible to hold jobs, pay bills or even have the knowledge and sense to stand in line at a welfare office and handle their money. Many of them, for whatever reason, lack family support systems that can help them and on the streets, they pose a danger to passerby as well as turning otherwise decent areas into virtual health and safety hazards.

I find it difficult to believe that a country that has enough money to feed, clothe and house hundreds of thousands of criminals can't find the funds to treat, or at the very least, provide a permanent living area and even the slightest bit of healthcare to these people. Who knows? It might even alleviate some of the prisons of their prisoners. Just about every EMT and law enforcement officer that I have worked with seems to agree: re-opening the mental institutions that Reagan closed down would be a HUGE step in the right direction.

How do YOU feel?

Yes 35
No 4
Other (comment) 2
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Comments ( 8 )
  • dappled
    11 years ago

    There's so much crap written about homelessness by people who have zero experience of it, that it's extremely refreshing to read this. From personal experience, you have described the reasons for homelessness painfully accurately.

    It's strange how awkward we are around certain illnesses. If an epileptic had a seizure in public, people would help. That's a neurological condition of the brain. Where it's a psychological condition of the exact same organ, we readily accept people who are suffering in public and even feel they are a nuisance.

    I absolutely believe that people who struggle to look after themselves due to illness should be made a ward of society and that we should look after their interests.

    The tricky thing is how much control we assume. I know homeless people who, when given an apartment to sleep in (not a hostel, or a dormitory, an apartment solely to themself) will still choose to spend some nights sleeping rough. I don't fully understand why but I think it's behavioural as opposed to a symptom of mental illness.

    To what level do we make someone do something against their will, even if we see that it's the right thing to do from our perspective? Certain questions answer themselves; extreme cases. But what about someone with a rocky childhood, low self-esteem, depression, perhaps a dependency on alcohol? If that person says they do not want help, do we help them against their will?

    I know that's not really the focus of the question (but it's something I often wonder). To finally answer your question, yes, absolutely. I think the mental hospital approach is the right one. Where there is pharmaceutical assistance available, you tend to find compliance is very low amongst patients with mental disorders. Just giving someone a packet of antipsychotics and saying, "Don't forget to take one per day" as you wave them goodbye doesn't do the trick.

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    • NeuroNeptunian
      11 years ago

      To answer the question in paragraph 5...
      I would say make the help available, at the very least.

      Certainly, it is a tricky question but I know from experience that that group doesn't even come close to being a good representation of the entirety of those that are homeless and that that group being the way that they are won't negate the obvious benefits of re-opening these institutions. Naturally, homeless shelters would still exist, but doubtful that they would be packed nearly at the capacity in which they are at this point in time.

      I would certainly say to make the help available to them but if they refuse to accept it and continue living lifestyles then, in the event that they commit criminal acts, let the criminal justice system handle them. In that case, they would have no way to refuse the psychiatric help. That's the best that can be done for them.

      Even as far as the rest of the people who COULD work but are homeless anyway, I know as a fact that if someone were to walk up to them and offer them a place to stay and three square meals, they'd say "hell yeah!" at any point in time. They could still qualify to stay at the mental institutions; no psychiatrist would consider someone who chooses a life as a homeless druggie to be mentally healthy.

      These clinics would also certainly do better for our economy: more jobs that will most likely have benefits, period. When the economy fares better, families fare better and when families fare better, the rate of abuse, alcoholism and parental stress goes down. I believe that these institutions, by sheer virtue of their being there, will help to cut down on the problem in paragraph 5, systematically over the course of many years, of course. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that societal and economic change does not happen overnight. But this last part is my pure speculation at work. The statistics aren't always perfectly in line with what I just mentioned.

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      • dappled
        11 years ago

        I can't disagree with you, Batman. This is pretty much exactly what I think too. I'm actually struggling to find anything to say about this at all because we do think exactly the same way.

        Although I did learn something - I hadn't realised the Reagan administration had put paid to these kinds of institutions.

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  • cantheist
    11 years ago

    YOU need to go to a hospital. A hospital for bitchass cunts like you.

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    • NeuroNeptunian
      11 years ago

      I know you're angry that I got the last fruit cup but don't let the nurses find out that you got internet again, ok?

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    • JustDave
      11 years ago

      Take your meds.

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  • tori
    11 years ago

    I remember Reagan closing the mental health facilities. It was and still is an atrosity. I used to get assaulted by a couple of them on my way walking to work. My friend got beaten. All that happens is they get put on a 72 hour hold in a short term care facility and let out again. I feel for them.

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  • [email protected]
    11 years ago

    AMEN! AGREED.Probably the most intelligent post I've read since being here.

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