Homelessness - schizophrenia

Unfortunately, some of the most severely ill schizophrenia patients leave a safe place like a hospital or private home and eventually live on the streets. One-third of all homeless people are believed to be mentally ill, and a large proportion of those are schizophrenic.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, 6 percent of all schizophrenia patients are homeless at any one time. When schizophrenic patients are homeless, they rarely stay involved in any sort of treatment.

As a result, homeless schizophrenia patients may experience a worsening of their symptoms. Even more problems may be caused by the stress of living on the streets. Poor hygiene, lack of sleep, and the threat of violence may hasten the descent into psychosis for many patients. Drug and alcohol use is common among schizophrenic homeless. When patients do not take their medications, they might try drugs or alcohol in an attempt to manage their symptoms.

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Clea Simon: Author of Mad House
What would it be like to grow up in a household with a
schizophrenic family member? What if you lived with two
family members with schizophrenia? Author Clea Simon had
just this experience and describes it in her book Mad House.
Clea was only eight years old when her older sister Katherine
developed schizophrenia. After she became ill, Katherine's
behavior became erratic and sometimes violent. On one occa-
sion, Clea remembers Katherine killing her hamster in a fit of
rage. Later, her brother Daniel developed the disease while he
was a freshman at Harvard University. Daniel dropped out of
school and returned home to his family. Clea's life was never
the same after both of her siblings developed schizophrenia.
She recalls her childhood being filled with late-night phone
calls from hospitals and visits from the police. She became
accustomed to strange behaviors and volatile moods. Because
she was close to her siblings, her brother in particular, Clea
experienced tremendous loss when they developed schizophre-
nia. Her siblings became strangers to her and she felt isolated
and alone.
Like many family members of schizophrenia patients, Clea
often had to ignore her own needs in order to take care of her-