Substance Abuse Amongst the Homeless Community
Homeless people on the streets are abusing substances day by day and it is worsening. The reason may be that they don’t have the proper resources to avoid turning to these substances. Most people in stable households tend to have emotional support from family such as parents, grandparents, and even friends to stay somewhat stable. For someone who is homeless, they may not have anyone to go to for help or to talk to about what they are going through. This can lead to abusing drugs as they may see it as a coping mechanism. Another problem is that homelessness can be a result from abusing drugs. When someone is constantly taking substances while being stable, they can lose that money that could be
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A very common way people can end up homeless is from addictive disorders. According to Substance Abuse and Homelessness from the National Coalition for the Homeless, one thing the homeless population have in common is that most of them are alcoholics or drug abusers. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration estimates, 38% of homeless people were dependent on alcohol and 26% abused other drugs. This proves that people who are dependent on drugs and not focusing on work or prioritizing all housing payments, they can lose their homes. Furthermore, addictive disorders damage friendships and family ties and frequently result in job loss. The start or worsening of an addiction may result in a person who is already having financial difficulties losing their housing. In a Ted Talk “The Year I was Homeless” by Becky Blanton, she talks about how she was depressed and was living in a van with her dog. She felt that being homeless is an attitude, not a lifestyle. She was doing fine as she was working and taking care of herself as much as she could but when her father died, she got really depressed and things took a turn. It was hard living in the van and the weather as well was not good and parking the van in places was difficult because the police wouldn’t allow her to for long periods of time. She later on started writing and things slowly fell into place and she ended with learning that hope can bring you places as long as you have it. This can result in how people end up in the streets as they have no one to help them and can feel like they lost