Homelessness is a problem virtually every society suffers from. There are many things that cause people to become homeless, such as unemployment, relationship problems, and being evicted from ones domicile either by a landlord, friend or even a family member. However, with every cause there must be an effect.
Some of the effects of one becoming homeless, besides the obvious change of lifestyle, are various health problems which often times may lead to death. Many people find themselves in a predicament when they are living with a partner and the two decide to go their separate ways.Some people may not be able afford the cost of living on just their income alone, so when two people terminate a relationship where one depends on the other, both are often left homeless for a period of time. Unemployment is another major cause of people becoming homeless.
When people lose their jobs and fail to find another within a reasonable amount of time, they will not be able to pay their rent or mortgage on time or even at all, causing them to look else where for shelter. Many people are not fortunate enough to have a family member that is willing, or capable, of taking them in and supporting them.The main cause of homelessness comes from people being evicted from their place of residence either by their parents, friends, or land lord. Parents will often kick their kids out of the house because they can not financially support them anymore, or they are just simply tired of their kids bumming off of them when they are perfectly capable of supporting themselves or at least contributing to the cost of living expenses.
So many people are forced to live on the streets because of something as little as a relationship problem.All homeless people will eventually suffer similar effects caused by not having adequate shelter from the environment. There are many effects that a homeless person may suffer from. Other than the obvious change in the person’s life style, such as the type and quality of clothing they wear or their mode of transportation, homeless people are subject to various health effects as well.
In recent studies it has been found that one out of every three homeless people suffers from some sort of mental illness. The mental illness may have been the reason the person became homeless or they may have acquired the illness from living on the streets.When a person loses everything they have worked for it may affect them mentally. Another common effect that homeless people suffer from is Nutritional deficiency, better know as malnutrition.
A homeless person’s diet is considerably different than that of someone who is not homeless. Since they cannot afford to eat out or make a home cooked meal, they often have to dig in trash cans to find left over food from restaurants or other people. A lot of the food they eat is spoiled or rotten and is not healthy for them, but rotten food is better than no food.In addition homeless people are also subject to abuse, both physically and sexually.
It is estimated that homeless females are twenty times more likely to be sexually assaulted than a female who is not homeless, and many of these crimes will go unreported as well. Most homeless people do not have family members or someone who will check up on them. So they might be abused or even murdered and nobody will be able to report them as missing. Many homeless people inflict abuse upon themselves as well, most commonly by abusing drugs or alcohol.
Approximately ten to fifteen percent of homeless males abuse drugs.This only increases their health problems and uses up what money for food they do have to buy the drugs. Many homeless people that abuse drugs will also be infected with diseases such as HIV from sharing needles. Last, but not least, is the worst effect homelessness may have on someone, which is death.
Homeless people die every day for various reasons. Some may die from malnutrition due to lack of food, some may die from being abused, beaten or murdered, and some may die from drug overdose. In one out of every four deaths in homeless people the cause of death is murder.One out of every six homeless people will attempt to take their own lives.
In addition a homeless person’ life expectancy is approximately twenty years less than that of a person who is not homeless. There are many causes and effects of homelessness and it continues to be a problem in virtually all societies known to man. Regardless of what the causes of someone becoming homeless are, all homeless people will eventually suffer from some or all of the effects of being homeless, rather it be malnutrition, mental illnesses, abuse, drug addictions, or even death.
