Stigmatization of Homeless People

A large amount of people living on the streets did not choose to be homeless, but rather they had nowhere else to turn because of their disorders. In addition, these people are unfairly stigmatized and looked down upon in society as lazy, unintelligent people begging for money, whereas many of them are really the products of circumstance and being dealt an unlucky hand of genetics. Furthermore, many people who live on the streets cannot adequately care for their mental illnesses because the current state of mental health institutions in the United States is too poor too successfully ameliorate their psychiatric problems. Because of this, the issues surrounding mental illness and homelessness extend beyond the people themselves. The fact that so many homeless people have mental disorders is a clear indicator that there is a huge hole in the United States’ health care system, specifically in the department of mental illness. The current system is set up in a way that makes health care inaccessible for the people who need it most.