Mental Illness And Homelessness

Mental disorders have significant health, social and economic impact to people globally. Recent evidence from high-income countries suggests that people with mental disorders die 15 to 20 years earlier.17 This is because of factors like suicide and co-morbidity with the physical illness such as CHD and cancer.9, 17-21 On the other hand, previous studies have shown that people with mental disorders are stigmatized, discriminated against and abused, by the society. 22 The ways societies react towards people with mental disorders subject them to homelessness or living in unhygienic condition and exclusion from participation in social, educational and employment opportunities in the community. 20, 23-25 Mental disorders not only cause a debilitating
impact on the affected person and family. According to an economic analysis by Bloom et al (2011), they found that mental disorders have the highest economic and social cost, among all diseases globally and is predicted to remain high (US$6.0 trillion) by 2030. 26 Together, this evidence provides an important insight into action the health sector can take to ameliorate the burden of mental disorders.