On basic injustice

Great read. — T.J.

Hopeworks Community

Many years ago thousands of people lived in the most horrifying of conditions in state hospitals throughout this country.  Many, many people literally lost their lives to a system that justified oppression as being “for their own good.”  Our response to this horror was 30 years ago to start the process of de-institutionalization.  We were going to provide community based treatment and set people free to get a chance at the life they deserved.  But we forgot about the treatment, we set very few really free and gave a whole generation of people a life that we would have never chosen for ourselves.

We discarded a whole population of people.  We left them to live in the alleys and streets, to fill our jails, and to die with lives wasted and hopes never really given a chance.  Simply they cost too much.  And when they fell through the cracks, indeed…

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The three main Mental Illnesses in the Homeless population

I would add Borderline Personality Disorder to the list. It’s not really a mental illness though. — T.J.

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Homelessness and Mental Illness

The three most common mental illnesses in the homeless population are depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia Depression is a mood disorder that interferes with a person’s daily life where a person can feel sadness, anger, loss, or frustration for weeks or longer . Depression can be caused by big situations in life like losing a job, losing a family member, and other events that can cause severe emotional distress. Bipolar disorder is characterized repeated emotions of mania and depression. This can range from weeks to months and effects energy and thought process. This disorder is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that makes it hard for a person to tell reality from imaginations, to have normal emotional response, or to act normally in society. People with Schizophrenia also have trouble sleeping, and feeling emotion. This disorder is caused by chemicals in the brain…

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What is PTSD anyway?

Regions of the brain affected by PTSD and stress. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here is a great link to help understand the situation. Many homeless vets have suffered from PTSD (my dad included).

http://offthebase.wordpress.com/2011/06/18/10-things-you-can-do-to-help-veterans-with-ptsd/

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It’s A Crime to Be Poor, Literally…

 

http://homelessnesslaw.org/2012/12/the-compassion-deficit-sidewalk-bans-and-criminalizing-americas-homeless/

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• The Worst Part of Being Homeless: ‘No One Sees Me’ (alternet.org)
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• 2 Years in Jail for Sitting on a Milk Crate? The Shocking Ways America Punishes Poor People Living on the Street (Hard Times, USA) (alternet.org)
• Homeless Appalachia (donnareevesblog.wordpress.com)
• 78 Yr Old Dumped On Sidewalk Outside Shelter By Relative (secretsofthefed.com)