Homelessness is like a doom loop. Once a person finds themselves in it, getting out is difficult, as they languish in adversity. Some people with normal lives may be of the attitude of “why don’t they just get a job and get out of it?” But it’s not that easy.
Why Is It Difficult to Get Out of Homelessness?
This is determined by how an individual became homeless and the depth of the homelessness.
Poverty is the main cause of homelessness in many countries. It could also be poverty together with other factors such as devastating injuries, incapacitating sicknesses, deteriorated mental health, drug addiction, poorly planned migration et cetera.
Read: Causes of homelessness
People who become homeless due to drug addiction and mental health issues can very rarely get out of it, without help. And scaringly, not having a home also leads to substance abuse, as victims seek ways to cope with the horror of homelessness.
The same horror, if not carefully managed, can lead to mental health complications. In other words, homelessness is a cause and consequence of mental health challenges and substance addiction. These category of unhoused people eventually become what is dubbed “chronically homeless people” and they usually die in homelessness, without help.
In close relation, some people lose their jobs due to deteriorated health, terminal diseases… These too, if they become homeless, can hardly get out of it.
Read: The adversity of homelessness
Further, people who become homeless due to poverty and inflation stand a better chance to end homelessness. The chance is even greater for the employed ones among them. Notwithstanding, hygiene is a big challenge for this category of people without housing, with regards to face-to-face job interviews. As without good hygiene, they can hardly be taken seriously. Many homeless people have mentioned this as a barrier. Further, the lack of an address is also another barrier as it can come in the way of mailing, among other things
Another factor that makes getting out of homelessness difficult is the psychological traits they develop within homelessness. Some people may refer to this as mental state. Some elements are melancholy, dejection, and/or the dearth of hope. At this stage, victims stop trying to end homelessness.
Read: How to get out of homelessness
People without accommodation budge into poor mental state because of their horrific experiences. Reports show that rough sleepers are going through the depths of hell. They’re not only relegated to the ebb of society, but are also exploited and/or attacked.
Specifically, some people alienate them by avoiding them as if they were germ-infested. Some others ignore them, instead of giving them succour. This is on top of the fact that they’re in a humiliated situation being homeless in the face of everyone. Further, reports have shown that some people curse, spit, kick, pelt… them.
On the more dangerous side of things, some vermins sexually abuse or fatally attack them. Sadly also, to some degree, police don’t take them seriously enough to pursue their every complaint. This, not only discourages them from complaining to the cops, but also informs them of their place in society, leading to devastation which kills their fighting spirit.
Read: Possible solutions for homelessness
On the natural side of things, in sum, housed people may not know the horror of hunger, but some vagrants don’t have good food or anything at all to eat for days. And this is their reality, everyday. Ravenous without food, their pain is excruciating. Imagine sleeping on empty stomach. And sadly, there’s no hope for betterment of situation. Weather extremes don’t take it any easier on them, as the heat may be too hot and cold too cold. These, too, can squeeze their psychological wellbeing, as well as cause various sicknesses.
In sum, homelessness is like a doom loop. If a person becomes homeless, in the first place, it means they couldn’t keep the one they had. So getting out of homelessness shouldn’t be assumed to be easy. Ultimately, this indicates that people living in the streets need decisive and significant help from every quarter.
