What drive's a man to be homeless?

[purplehaze]

The other day my girlfriend and I went out to eat. We live in the middle of no were and when i got off the interstate i noticed a man walkin and turned around to see if i could help him. Well when i got closer i noticed he looked scraggly, and i pulled up to him and asked if he needed to use my cell phone. He said no, i said is there not anybody that you could call to come and get you, he answered no but if i had any water that would be nice. I had just bought a 20oz drink and gave that to him because i was almost home anyway. But we live in the woods pretty much and theres not a store for about 3 hrs if your walking. He told me he lived in a city around my house but mispronouced it so i knew he was lying, anyway he was homeless and i was thinking on my drive home what could possibly happen in your life that you would be homeless. I thought about going back and getting him and smokin with him just so i could find out what drives someone to completely give up and not want anything in life, i've been pretty bad off before but never homeless. The reason im asking drugs forum is because most people would say its because of drugs but i dont believe that. If he's homeless he doesnt have anything, no money no food damn sure not enough money to buy a hard drug and i just cant figure it out. I just want some general input on what swiy thinks, If anybody has ever been homeless please explain.

[fnord]

for the younger "homeless" (i prefer the term houseless)people its quite liberating and exciting to travel,hitch hike across the country hop freight trains and just generally be free.but the older ones who just stagnate in one area(we called them home bums back when i was hopping trains)usually have a lack of social services.alcoholism,bad luck, general laziness,and mental illness.this all comes from my personal observations from the time i was 15-23 which is how long i spent on the streets,all i can say is that it was some of the most fun days ive had but its something you grow out of after a while.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Thanks for bringing personal insight to a long wondered question.

[zera]

Mental illness definitely is the leading cause. I have a relative who is perpetually homeless, despite my family offering jobs, homes, even to set him up with an RV so he could still drift but at least have somewhere to sleep. He suffers from minor schizophrenia and is simply unable to settle down anywhere.

[afarmer]

Alot of people just don't want to be helped. There's plenty of charites where they could get help but for reasons like an aversion from responsibility they don't want it.

Or they could be illegal immigrants and they can't get a job or citizenship, at least I know that's one of the main reasons in England.

[enquirewithin]

Originally Posted by afarmer

Alot of people just don't want to be helped. There's plenty of charites where they could get help but for reasons like an aversion from responsibility they don't want it.

Or they could be illegal immigrants and they can't get a job or citizenship, at least I know that's one of the main reasons in England.

Alcoholism is a common cause. I'm not sure about the 'not wanting to be helped'. A friend of mine used to work in a soup kitchen in London. Most people, after sending a few years on the streets, are radically mentally changed and really cannot fit in to 'normal' society again. The large number of homeless on the streets in London came about during the Thatcher years-- the government took away a lot of social benefits. That was a time when the gap between the rich and poor increased greatly and has remained that way. Thank the "Washington consensus" or Thatcherism.

[Nagognog2]

I agree with Zear that mental illness is a leading cause - estimated in the USA with figures running from 40% to 60%. Then there are economic factors such as job loss followed by eviction/foreclosures. IRS tak bills and garnishment of wages by various state/federal agencies. And a new one that leaves families living in old cars - Federal Forfeiture Act taking ALL your property on suspicion alone. No conviction required. Or being released from prison without 1¢ to your name and a criminal record that obliterates one from getting a decent job.

I've known people in that boat who, when the cold weather sets in - they commit a crime in order to get caught and get a jail cell until Spring.

[burgerman]

also some get sexually/physically abused as children and become very fucked up mentally, run away, turn to drugs and alcohol and it all goes downhill from there. Many homeless people have been homeless the majority of their lives. Its not so simple for them to just pick themselves up.

worst thing is when people treat homeless people like crap or harm them and then use the reasoning that "they deserved it because they are stupid enough to be homeless".. you know , spit on them and treat them with utter disdain and justify their lack on morals on the victim.

The bumfights and Bumhunter videos breed teenagers and young adult males to think this way too.

[MatthijsV]

Here in the Netherlands there are a few main reasons why persons become homeless. When I started working with homeless people I was shocked on how many people get homeless after a divorce. Sadly the laws here only take care of the wife since they always seem to get the house, the money and the children. Alot of men don't have a social network to rely on so they end up on the streets. You can imagine that living on the street costs you your job and from there on it only goes downward.
Another common reason is, as already mentioned, psychiatric illness. I think 3/4th of all homeless here in the Netherlands have some sort of psychiatric illness. Half of them become homeless because they just cant function in this society and its rules. For example Ive known an old man who was in his 70's and was very mentally ill but with no family to look out for him. He didnt pay his rent for 3 months so the landbroker(??not sure if this is the right word) threw him outof his house. He ended up in the nightshelter and after 5 minutes(!) we found out that he had thousands of euro's in his pocket. This is just a small example on how our society is too a-social to look out for the ill people. The landbroker should have just taken a few minutes of time to look into the situation of the guy or send some social workers to him instead of just putting him on the street totally helpless.
The other half of the mentally ill homeless people are on the streets because no hospital (psychiatric or rehabs) will treat them. The reason can be that the person is banned due to misbehavior or that he the doctors say they are 'out treated' or just unable to be helped. The big problem here is that when you are addicted and go to a psychiatric hospital they will send you away because "they cant help you because you first have to kick your habit before you can start working on a psychiatric problem" So you go to the rehab. There you get exactly the same shit. You have to work out your psychiatric problems before they can help you in the rehab.
Because of this bureaucratic bullshit alot of people loose their faith in getting help and just lay them self down with the fact that they are homeless for life and stop struggling.
Lately the government is starting to see this problem and there are finally a few hospitals that treat the mental illness next to the addiction at the same time.
Most people always seem to think that becoming homeless only needs you to be an addict or extremely lasy. But I can tell you that addiction is almost always started already being on the streets. The only addiction that causes alot of people getting homeless is gambling but drugs dont seem to be a big cause.
And at last for the lasy part. The hundreds of homeless people I have personally got to know are strong minded people with an amazing urge to survive and try to make the best out of a very shitty and hard to overcome situation.


Sorry, my English is pretty poor so I find it hard to write down a coherent and good readable post.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	good post there.
	good first post. your english is fine. how the heck are you gold already tho!?

[purplehaze]

Thanks to everyone who participated in giving a reply to this post, you all have helped me understand a little more what's behind the scene's of a big problem, people being homeless. I appreciate the time and thought you have all put into your answer's, and as a last thought let's all try to avoid treating homeless people bad. Personally I have never done this but it being brought to my attention opens up new awareness to immorality. Abuse to humans that are helpless whether it be a homeless person or small child or woman should never be justified no matter how hard you try.

Thanks to everyone.

[fnord]

call me an asshole, but as a former homeless person and being around the homeless community i feel that some of them deserve to be treated less then nice,definitely not the homeless as a whole but some of them definitely are mentally stable highly intelligent not lazy and generally someone who could succeed in life if they just try.i have no pity/sympathy for anyone that is fully capable of doing something great with there life yet chooses not to.

Reputation Comments on this post:

I smell what you're steppin' in.

[stoneinfocus]

Even if I could, and I can´t, I woulnd´t want to be productive for these murderers, who own me more than a job a life and a family plus friends, yet still refuse to change any laws or be responsible for the damage that´s inevitably done by just living by the rule, no, they use all laws against the weakest and run over them.

I hate it and really would like to quit, but it has to rattle the cages, if I do so.

[cyndi]

What causes a person to be homeless,,,,many reasons, some mental illness, personal experience with that one from family, drugs, alcohol, just giving up on life because of a bad life. Some as fnord said are just bad, choose not to work and rob and other bad stuff to get away with it by staying off the grid so to speak. Having also been there, seen all the above.

[bcubed]

One big drive in the US was the abandonment of state-run mental hospitals (long term).

They were really nasty places and things like catatonic females getting pregnant happend...it's where you ended up if you had no family and no real hope of ever getting better.

A combination of public awareness and the first generation of anti-psychotic meds resulted in most of them being shut down, replaced with...nothing, really.

If you were unlucky enough not to be helped by meds and not having family around that would provide for you, the street was often where you wound up. What hospital places were left generally went to those deemed a direct threat to others or themselves.

[zera]

The treatment people received in mental hospitals was IMO worse than living on the streets. Would you rather have no home or be thrown in a sadistic prison with no legal due process?

One of the biggest advocates who helped change the system, Thomas Szasz, was also one of the earliest proponents of drug legalization. He is a pretty interesting person, I suggest wiking him for those who have never heard of him.