In a new study by the RMIT University, Victoria researchers looked at cases of 4,291 people using homelessness services in the city. Dr Guy Johnson and Professor Chris Chamberlain found almost half of them - 46 per cent - lost their homes after a family breakdown. This is contrary to the long held belief that most homeless people are mentally unstable.
He and his team found that the chief mental health issues of the homeless were not psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia or mood disorders such as mania, but the syndromes triggered in any sane person whose life is falling apart: anxiety and depression. Dr Johnson said, “It's intuitive, isn't it… Anxiety and depression are a natural response to the stress of homelessness. Housing is the best treatment.” “Most people tend to think of the homeless population as characterised by two issues - either substance abuse or mental health issues. So it challenges the view that most people have a mental health issue,” Dr. Johnson said.
The report, to be published next week in the Australian Journal of Social Issues, launches an attack on the widely held belief that most homeless people are mentally ill. The authors write about the studies, and even government policy papers that estimate that up to 75 per cent of the homeless are mentally ill. The RMIT survey suggests the numbers are much lower - about 31 per cent, of whom only 15 per cent were mentally ill before they lost their homes.
The study researchers used case histories compiled by homeless shelters, and only recorded mental illness if clients had asked to be referred to a psychiatric service, had used psychiatric services before they were homeless, or if the welfare workers writing up the case history thought the client had a mental illness. The report said that studies that classified drug and alcohol dependence as mental illnesses not only inflated the figures but also skewed the government's response away from providing enough affordable housing.
The report said, “This way of framing mental illness is not well suited to homeless populations, where drinking and drug use are widespread recreation activities and where some people use alcohol and drugs as a way of coping with a harsh oppressive environment. It has the unfortunate consequence of framing homelessness as a medical issue. This deflects attention away from both the structural causes of homelessness and the damaging impact of long-term homelessness.”
When asked how he thought policy makers could most effective deal with the problem, Dr. Johnson said the traditional response of treating mental illnesses was nowhere near as effective of providing people with basic needs like stable, reliable housing.
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