Christopher Stephen

English 11000

11/03/25

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                                The mentally ill homeless in New York have been neglected.

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New York is an amazing and beautiful place, with a strong issue that has been neglected. In this big city where money governs life, even accessing  basic necessities such as public restrooms often requires money. Homeless people are often neglected, seen as inhumane, isolated, dirty, and more derogatory terms that can be used against them. This really does affect many homeless people in New York, who have to deal with it on a daily basis, being looked at, pushed out of every place they are, hated, and made fun of at times. Leaving my house and going to college in the morning on 125th street, there are a bunch of citizens  roaming around, but the ones who stand out the most are the Unhoused people that are seen and mostly stared at because there is a good population of them next to where I wait for the bus stop. Which is close to the 6 train station. Some are on the sidewalk or street, unconscious, some ask for money, some are doing drugs, smoking, and looking for food. Looking at them made me feel like they were lost. Many have asked me for money, and some I have been able to help, while others I just couldn’t help because they are looking for a sense of Assistance, guidance, and hope in their situation, which they need help in finding a home. Most are battling with mental illness because the result of being alone and being emotionally scared results in begging or fighting for food so they can survive. Unhoused people risk their lives daily just to live. Increasingly, I see homeless people, and it’s growing on a daily basis. In New York, the mentally ill homeless are being neglected because the government’s support is limited or doesn’t help, mental health institutes haven’t provided support, and this includes services given from doctors who can’t give them services if they don’t have insurance; they can’t be helped. The mentally ill homeless in New York have been neglected because of limited resources that government programs haven’t provided adequate support for stable housing and mental health.

 

New York is my home, a place, a city where there are so many people cramped together, so much diversity among people, and a place where help is really rare. The mentally ill homeless face numerous factors that negatively affect their mental state. In Aaron Lai’s “The Crushing Cyclec of Homelessness and Mental Illness” https://www.breaktime.org/post/the-crushing-cycle-of-homelessness-and-mental-illness.                    

He explains how the social situation that the mentally ill homeless deal with affects their mental health negatively, and the result of this hinders their ability to get Housing and the right mental illness services that can help them survive or even just enjoy life. Finding employment in New York is very difficult and hard to come by; in addition, having a mental illness and being homeless can affect the chances of being hired. This will affect how homeless people are perceived by certain stereotypes.

By them being homeless and with a mental health problem, someone’s first thought wouldn’t be that they would do well with this job, and that it wouldn’t go well because they don’t have a home. Many have a mental illness, which can hinder them from functioning or doing anything“right”.

Another W Wolfgang Fleischhacker 1,*, Celso Arango 2, Paul Arteel 3, Thomas R E Barnes 4, William Carpenter 5, Ken Duckworth 6, Silvana Galderisi 7, Lisa Halpern 8, Martin Knapp 9, Stephen R Marder 10, Mary Moller 11, Norman Sartorius 12, Peter Woodruff 13   vIn Schizophrenia—Time to Commit to Policy Change In today’s society, it is unacceptable that patients with schizophrenia are 6–7 times more likely to be unemployed than the general population, and only 10%–20% are in competitive employment. These statistics show that people with mental illness are less likely to be employed, even in competitive employment, but 7 out of 8 times are unemployed because of their mental illness.  This is difficult for homeless people because they are not accepted or thought about because of their mental and physical status. The homeless want, need support but won’t get it. The mentally ill homeless in New York are being neglected.  The economic aspect of society is rising and not slowing down, according to Deborah K. Padgett, PhD, MPH, who is a Professor at the Silver School of Social Work at New York University (NYU). She is also an Affiliated Professor with NYU’s Department of Anthropology and College of Global Public Health. More than half of the US households must give over 50% of their paycheck to paying for housing. It will affect many people who have a mental illness because they can’t find a job. But if they manage to find employment, then it will be much harder for them to maintain a job, which results in them being evicted and homeless immediately thereafter. This tends to come with complex social pressures that result in them having a worse mental state to maintain mental clarity.

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The other side believes that the mentally ill homeless are being helped and provided with everything they need, which is housing. In Deborah K Padgett, “a rate far exceeding that of the general population.”4 Qualitative interviews with street homeless persons bring to life the daily struggles and emotional toll of exposure not only to the elements but to scorn and harassment from passers-by and the police. This illustrates how living conditions are for the mentally ill homeless and highlights their place in society, including even the role of the police in their treatment and day-to-day life. Neglecting the homeless has been increasing daily. It shows that many are being neglected but pushed over by officials who should be supporting them, with funds and shelter.

Taking a stand and helping the government realize the real issue in New York is to be of service to the mentally ill homeless, to put them into facilities where they can get support in their development and cope with day-to-day life. They need guidance when they have been lost for so long.  Just examining and having judgmental comments won’t change anything, but just making  it worse, as more and more are being put in that position and need to seek security and be considered normal or try to blend into society, but with no guidance and assistance, it will be seen as impossible for them. As we look at this much evidence from the breaktime program, whose life goal is to end adult homelessness, other evidence describes what the mentally Ill homeless go through, as Deborah K. Padgett’s article talks about having interviews with Homeless people, bringing to light how they explain what life is like being homeless. Other factors build towards others.  The last evidence explains how, statistically speaking, 7 out of 8 times, the mentally ill are not being employed because of their mental state. In Competitive types of jobs 10%  to 20% are being hired, and that has to change. The mentally ill homeless are being neglected on a daily basis.  Unhoused people need a lot of love from citizens and government officials. They need society’s help. Including us as well to stand up and help and stick up for the mentally ill homeless so they can get the treatment that they need and the help they can get to find stability, and have good mental health after so many years of trauma and abuse by society  

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