14 replies to this topic

[HeartsAreForBreaking]

You hear plenty of statistics saying that lots of the people who are homeless are that way because they have some mental issue(s), but I'm really wondering if it's possible that being homeless in itself can screw you up in the head at least a little. When I was 13 I got thrown onto the streets, and even though I'm autistic, I don't feel like that had any influence on how I fared, but I noticed that even though I wasn't foaming at the mouth or anything, it felt like my mind kind of went into a different mode. I went from thinking "school, work, sleep, play", to "find a way to eat, stay warm, don't get hurt", and I assume that when other people become homeless they go through that same transition in some form.

So essentially I think my question is, do you think it's plausible that aside from people becoming homeless due to a mental/emotional problems, the state of homelessness itself, and living that way, can mess with one's mind?

[Kaikou]

Personally. I think it's very plausible, Over the last few years I've known a few people (some have been old school friends) who have been homeless for varying periods of time.
I'd say 6 out of 10 seem to have developed a very survivalist mindset (that to a point could even be considered an illness due to how extreme it is) even after coming off the street.
I'm sorry to hear about what happened to you.
Love your sig by the way.

[and then]

For me it seems that being homeless is in itself a testimony that a person has no friends or family who care enough to help give them that basic need.  That alone can mess with a person's mind.  Some are stronger than others and adapt. Some, like many in Greece just lately, choose suicide rather than a life of loneliness and homelessness.  I assume it would be different if the homelessness were temporary or if you were a part of a family and all were in it together for some support.

[Lcvec]

I agree with Dark Entity, it is possible. There's lots of homeless people here and it's odd how most of them seem to have mental issues, like walking around yelling and talking to someone (clearly not themselves, but there's no one around them either). Maybe it was because you were young and for whatever reason innocence spoke louder than depression or aggressive behaviour. Adults get more easily depressed and that can mess up their mind, specially if their situation only gets worse. Maybe it's not being homeless in itself that affects people, but actually how they deal with loneliness and the feeling of hopelessness, having absolutely nothing to look forward to.

[HeartsAreForBreaking]

Dark entity, on 28 May 2012 - 11:48 PM, said:

Personally. I think it's very plausible, Over the last few years I've known a few people (some have been old school friends) who have been homeless for varying periods of time.
I'd say 6 out of 10 seem to have developed a very survivalist mindset (that to a point could even be considered an illness due to how extreme it is) even after coming off the street.
I'm sorry to hear about what happened to you.
Love your sig by the way.

Yeah, I'm sorry to hear that Dark; life's hard, you know? In terms of physical age I'm somewhat young still, and I don't think I know anyone who's actually ever been homeless other than myself, so I can't relay any testimonies, but I know that when I was able to get off the streets I saw a lot more physical changes in myself than I did anything else immediately. I'm by nature a somewhat picky eater, but for a while after that I just didn't care; if it wasn't glass, I'd eat it lol. I also realized I wasn't affected as much by hot and cold; a couple days after I moved in with my brother I got pneumonia, and one Saturday I woke up from a nap on the couch, and he'd piled some blankets on me, and I knew I should've felt overheated, but I didn't. The only thing I noticed, and that others commented on, was that I got really quiet. I'm usually pretty talkative in the right place and time, but for a long, long time I didn't have anything to say, so I just didn't.
I am too, but it happened, and hey, what can I do about it, right? Sorry to hear people suffer like this so much, it's a damn shame.
Thanks.

[HeartsAreForBreaking]

and then, on 28 May 2012 - 11:56 PM, said:

For me it seems that being homeless is in itself a testimony that a person has no friends or family who care enough to help give them that basic need.  That alone can mess with a person's mind.  Some are stronger than others and adapt. Some, like many in Greece just lately, choose suicide rather than a life of loneliness and homelessness.  I assume it would be different if the homelessness were temporary or if you were a part of a family and all were in it together for some support.

I think that it's very unique in every case, how someone ends up on the streets. Like I said, the world is really struggling, not just as far as Greece goes, but everywhere. I wouldn't know about being homeless as an entire family, I have no idea what that'd be like, but I know doing it on your own is hard as it is. I think knowing that something bad is only temporary can be a major light at the end of the darkness, I think there are certain situations that if I was in and for all I knew I was never getting out, I'd have no problem killing myself, but I don't think homelessness is one of them.

[Princess Tumbleweed]

The mind is actually very fragile and a traumatic experience can make a person who had a normal thought pattern snap  into a delusional world. Maybe the world the mind sees at that time is survival and coping with extreme change.Other thoughts that are not needed for survival are replaced with the delusional thoughts just to cope with their reality.

[HeartsAreForBreaking]

Lcvec, on 29 May 2012 - 12:10 AM, said:

I agree with Dark Entity, it is possible. There's lots of homeless people here and it's odd how most of them seem to have mental issues, like walking around yelling and talking to someone (clearly not themselves, but there's no one around them either). Maybe it was because you were young and for whatever reason innocence spoke louder than depression or aggressive behaviour. Adults get more easily depressed and that can mess up their mind, specially if their situation only gets worse. Maybe it's not being homeless in itself that affects people, but actually how they deal with loneliness and the feeling of hopelessness, having absolutely nothing to look forward to.

Well I think having issues like maybe Schizophrenia could make it incredibly difficult to hold down any job with which one could support themselves. I deal with my own issues, I have depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Autism, and Tourrette's, but I am so incredibly thankful that I don't have something with an effect of hallucinations; I think if I had to see things that terrified me all the time and truly believe they were real on some level, that might be enough to push me over the edge to suicide; I know when I've gone through periods of having really horrific nightmares, it's gotten me down once or twice.

Actually I don't think it was a youthful innocence that kept me from losing it completely, I didn't have the best overall living situation when I was growing up, and one of the things I have a sort of bittersweet gratitude for was that I wasn't at all sheltered by either of my "parents". Interestingly enough, I think that it's possible the presence of a mental illness in my biologically maternal figure may have had at least some part to play in the first time she threw me out of the house. She takes a lot of pain medications that are known to be packed with opiates, and she wasn't shy over screaming about what she thought of her latest ex-husband, and one day I decided I'd had it and I yelled at her "He's not even here anymore! Who are you yelling at?" She lost it and threw some kitchen knives at me and screamed at me to get the f out, told me she'd kill me if I came back, and so I left. I don't know if my depression is something in my chemical make up, or if it's environmental, but I know it has been a present factor in my life in the past and even now, and seeing as I didn't exactly get to hold onto that childish innocence for very long, I think the fact that I didn't go absolutely nuts being homeless when I was 13 can be to some extent attributed to how I fought to not normalize the situation I was stuck dealing with at the time, but I still tried looking at most of the world around me the same way I saw it before I had to live on the streets. Granted, with the change of scenery so to speak, I had to be a hell of a lot more careful, and in that sense I'm thankful I wasn't some sheltered child, and that I was aware of things like the modern-day slave trade, rape, murder, lousy people in general. Long story short, I think that coming into that situation fromt the start, I realized I needed to make an effort to keep my mind around, so I stayed conscious of how I was mentally functioning through all of what happened.

I think despair would be a huge emotion for most people who go through something like this, especially if you don't know whether or not it's temporary either way. Like I said, it's easier to find your way out of a dark place if you have a light to move towards.

[HeartsAreForBreaking]

Princess Tumbleweed, on 29 May 2012 - 12:41 AM, said:

The mind is actually very fragile and a traumatic experience can make a person who had a normal thought pattern snap  into a delusional world. Maybe the world the mind sees at that time is survival and coping with extreme change.Other thoughts that are not needed for survival are replaced with the delusional thoughts just to cope with their reality.

I definitely agree Princess Tumbleweed (Love the name and the woman-esque tree by the way), the mind is so extremely delicate, I've noticed a lot of people seem to think there's a broad line between sane and insane, like people who sit and rock back in forth in corners are born that way. I so don't agree with that; I have a best friend who was an incredibly kind, upbeat girl, but one night she was raped, and she got pregnant from it. She'd had a pretty cr***y life up till' then, her parents had left her and her brother, she'd been abused by relatives and foster parents, and yet she was such a positive influence on so many people. She was happy even after dealing with all of what she'd dealt with, but after that incident she had the baby, and even though she was only 16 and had no exmample whatsoever she was an amazing mom, but people would come up to my friend in public and call her a w**** for being a teenage mother, or they'd try to convert her to Christianity (she was a Catholic lol), and they'd even call her daughter a mistake, and tell my friend she and her daughter were both going to burn in hell. My friend ended up killing herself, and I truly don't think anyone saw it coming, because no one saw signs, and she'd survived so much as it was I think we all just thought she'd survive this too. My friend was always a happy person, so I think the people around her, including myself, made the mistake of assuming that would never change.

Also, I agree that sometimes maybe people become delusional because it's better than seeing reality. Being on the streets, I saw and I experienced a lot of things, half of which I've never even discussed with another person, but I believe a house provides more than just physical shelter, and that when you're out in the world with no place to go, you see things that can make you lose your mind. In a sense, maybe for some, when they don't have shelter from the world around them elsewhere, they retreat into their own minds to find it.

[Princess Tumbleweed]

Thank you for the complement Screaming Sarcasm I have read some of your posts and a blog or two that you shared. I know you are very smart and have your higher education on track, so it seems to me you have a bright future ahead of you. I'm so sorry that you had to go through all of that at such a young age, no age is a good age to go through it but children should always feel secure and safe. I'm glad you came out of it ok and are on the right track to a successful life. You would make a great social worker or counselor for kids who are going through a rough time in their young lives, talking to people who can relate helps and will show them there is a brighter future ahead.

[MissMelsWell]

About a year ago, we hired a homeless guy where I work and it's a remarkable story. The CEO of my company was going to a Seahawks game and in a rush he parked at a meter and there was an older, 50-ish something homeless guy with a dog sitting by the meter. Knowing the game would go longer than the meter would, he asked him to feed the meter while he was at the game. The guy kind of thought about it for a minute and said sure. So, my boss gave him a $20 spot. As our CEO crossed the street, his buddy said to him "are you insane man? That guys is just going to walk off with your money and we'll come back to no car because it's been towed!" So my boss went back over to the guy and told him "hey man, if you're still here when we get back, I'll flip ya another $10," Well, the guy got REALLY MAD. He said in no uncertain terms that he said he'd watch the car and the meter! He was good for his word and he was mad he wasn't trusted. So, the guys went to the game.

When they came back, sure enough, dude was still there, the meter was fed, and everything was good. My boss got to talking to this guy who was clearly defensive and suspicious, but somehow trustworthy and after a few minutes, the guys asked the man if he needed a lift anywhere or if there was anything they could do for him. He actualy told them that ya, he could use a ride to his car which was out of gas, and parked at the Salvation Army who let him sleep in his car in their parking lot. So, they gave him and his dog a lift.

When they got there, the homeless guy relaxed a bit and invited them into the store because he really wanted to show them something. So he led them in and over to a baby grand piano where he sat down, and started to play and play... the guy was totally totally talented! An extremely gifted pianist. After they talked some more, my boss learned that this guy was homeless because he had a bit of a drinking problem, but wasn't yet completely out of control, and he'd also had run into just a spate of rotten luck and former roommates that left him in the lurch and with no address, he couldn't find work. He'd been on the streets living in his car for roughly 3 years. So, my boss gave him his card and told this guy to call him every Friday and hed see if he had work for him. For the next two months, this homeless guy found a way to call every single Friday... on the weekends, he'd have him do general labor work around his house, the guy turned out to be a great cook, and did some cooking for a few parties he had.

Eventually, he decided that this guy was totally reliable, and he made him an offer... come work for our company as a courier and maintenance person. The whole company chipped in to get him some work clothes, help outfit a small studio apartment, the company subsidized his housing (since we work in a VERY expensive part of town and he couldn't afford an apartment without some help)... he's been with us for about 15 months now and we all love him so much! He turns out to be so surprising on every level. Not only does he work his job for us, but he also now plays piano after hours at a local piano bar and does odd catering jobs as well. We also found out that he speaks 4 languages fluently and he's frequently called in to help translate with Spanish, French, Portugese and German customers. LOL. Apparenly he was a military brat growing up haha.

This year, he was voted by the rest of the company as Employee of the Year. He never fails to smile and laugh, he's always helpful, delightful and interesting. He's an inspiration.. but at the same time, the CEO of our company is an extraordinary man who thought to give a guy a shot at getting back on his feet.

Ive asked him if living on the streets for as long as he did changed him... he says it only made him hard, but he thinks now that hes back on track, he's losing that edge, and he's glad to lose it.

[Seeker79]

ScreamingSarcasm, on 28 May 2012 - 11:34 PM, said:

You hear plenty of statistics saying that lots of the people who are homeless are that way because they have some mental issue(s), but I'm really wondering if it's possible that being homeless in itself can screw you up in the head at least a little. When I was 13 I got thrown onto the streets, and even though I'm autistic, I don't feel like that had any influence on how I fared, but I noticed that even though I wasn't foaming at the mouth or anything, it felt like my mind kind of went into a different mode. I went from thinking "school, work, sleep, play", to "find a way to eat, stay warm, don't get hurt", and I assume that when other people become homeless they go through that same transition in some form.

So essentially I think my question is, do you think it's plausible that aside from people becoming homeless due to a mental/emotional problems, the state of homelessness itself, and living that way, can mess with one's mind?

It Think it is what leads to homelessness that can cause emotional or other issues. Being homeless itself might change a person a bit, but loosing everything is tuff.

I was homeless for a while. I lived out of my blazer. Mostly I parked in the dorm parking lot while I went to school. Took my showers at 24 hour fitness. I had a job, but I put it all toward tuition and survival. Wasn't that bad for me really. I pretty much lived on campus. But it was more voluntary to make sure I finished school instead of being bogged down trying to keep up with rent.

You are awfully empathic for being autistic. How did you manage that?

[tendo]

The problem with this question is that there is no ethical way to test it. Sure, researchers could scour the streets looking for homeless people and ask how long they've been homeless, and see if they have any sort of mental disorders, however, at best all this would show is a correlation between how long one has been homeless and the likelihood of presence of a mental disorder. Possibly they could do case studies on people whom very recently became homeless, however without a few dozen of these there would be no sample large enough to have a statistical significance within the population being observed. The only way to truly empirically test it would be to collect volunteers and make them homeless, and then frequently check them for the development of mental disorders. This would be highly unethical on both the dependent and independent variable sides. Also, I'm sure the attrition rate would be freaking awful. There is, however, already a very well established correlation between homelessness and mental disorders, but without experimental proof, we cannot determine any sort of directionality.

[Initializing...]

ScreamingSarcasm, on 28 May 2012 - 11:34 PM, said:

You hear plenty of statistics saying that lots of the people who are homeless are that way because they have some mental issue(s), but I'm really wondering if it's possible that being homeless in itself can screw you up in the head at least a little. When I was 13 I got thrown onto the streets, and even though I'm autistic, I don't feel like that had any influence on how I fared, but I noticed that even though I wasn't foaming at the mouth or anything, it felt like my mind kind of went into a different mode. I went from thinking "school, work, sleep, play", to "find a way to eat, stay warm, don't get hurt", and I assume that when other people become homeless they go through that same transition in some form.

So essentially I think my question is, do you think it's plausible that aside from people becoming homeless due to a mental/emotional problems, the state of homelessness itself, and living that way, can mess with one's mind?

Hey Girl,
I have no doubt that homelessess can mess with mind. I  travelled interstate once to look for work and start anew and once the money ran out and I couldnt find anywhere affordable to live,  became homeless. The days were longand the nights filled with risk but the one thing that really stood out for me was LACK OF SLEEP!  Lack of sleep, either from the cold or from being constantly moved on , lack of proper deep sleep can seriously mess with the head. Almost everything else I could deal with. Luckily for me, I scraped together funds to get a bus back to my hometown (took me 3 months) butI got home. To this day, my parents don'tknow that I was a street kid.
I lived very precariously off of the kind donationsfrom drunken backpackers that fed me and gave money, I avoided the baddies and did my best to look like an everyday person.

All up, perhaps I would say a severe mental/emotional issue would perhaps stop someone from trying to get back into a more normal way of life.

[Coffey]

I'd say it depends ont he situaiton.

If someone wants to be homeless and live ont he streets then usually it's to do with freedom. So it might actually be better for that perosn. people who end up there by unfortunate circumstances will most liekly suffer from depression or anxiety etc depending on how the react to the situation.

What does often happen though is that the eprson lets natural instincts take over like you said, water, food, somewhere to sleep and staying safe takes over.. these are all natural instincts we don't normally use.