{"id":19018,"date":"2022-09-20T09:00:23","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T13:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=19018"},"modified":"2023-11-20T15:16:40","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T20:16:40","slug":"homelessness-causes-addiction-forced-substance-abuse-treatment-kills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/homelessness-causes-addiction-forced-substance-abuse-treatment-kills\/","title":{"rendered":"Homelessness Causes Addiction, Forced Substance Abuse Treatment Kills"},"content":{"rendered":"
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To Truly Support Recovery, We Should Focus on Housing First<\/span><\/h2>\n

We\u2019ve known for a long time that the constant stress of homelessness leads many unhoused people to turn to drug and alcohol use. It is a means to escape their grim reality for short bursts of time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite this knowledge, the myth persists that people become homeless only as the inevitable result of addictions they had prior to losing their housing. On top of this, many people believe that this \u201crock bottom moment\u201d is necessary for people to eventually break their pattern of addiction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These two myths combined lead to a lack of compassion and action for homeless people, a rise in neighborhood NIMBYism, and treatment-first services that withhold essential resources in favor of compulsory care,\u00a0<\/span>which we now know can be deadly.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to challenge these myths wherever we find them. I\u2019ll arm you with the facts to do just that.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most Unhoused People Aren\u2019t Addicts at All<\/span><\/h3>\n

The first thing to know is that\u00a0<\/span>26% of unhoused people use illegal drugs<\/span><\/a>, as opposed to 19.4% of the general population. So, the average person you pass on the street is about as likely to be using drugs as the average person living on the street.<\/span><\/p>\n

The majority of unhoused people are not alcoholics either.<\/span><\/p>\n

Only 38% of homeless people\u00a0<\/span>are dependent on alcohol<\/span><\/a>, which is significantly more than the corresponding\u00a0<\/span>12.7% of the general population<\/span><\/a>\u00a0but significantly less than any threshold that would justify how they\u2019re currently being treated.<\/span><\/p>\n

How often have you heard a coworker, acquaintance, or maybe even a family member justify not giving a panhandler any money because \u201cthey would only spend it on alcohol\u201d? This is because, in most people mind\u2019s, 99.9% of imaginary homeless people are addicts and therefore undeserving of help.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many with Addictions Only Started Using After Losing Their Housing<\/span><\/h3>\n

Also called the \u201csocial causation\u201d or \u201csocial adaptation\u201d model, the idea that new substance use starts in response to the stressors of unhoused life is nothing new. Yet little research has been done into the premise.<\/span><\/p>\n

As far back as 1946, an investigation found that about one-third of homeless heavy drinkers became so only after entering homelessness.\u00a0<\/span>A more recent study<\/span><\/a>\u00a0found that 80% of respondents reported using at least one new substance since losing housing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Research in the intervening time has been more focused on the social selection model, or the idea that problematic substance use directly leads to homelessness. This makes it difficult to understand how many people fall into which camp. As a result, all substance-using unhoused people are treated the same way. This is a great disservice since treatment-first models that deny participants housing until they stop their substance use are doomed to fail when the cause of that substance use is homelessness<\/a> itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

The idea that substance use can be caused by homelessness is so understudied and overlooked that the average person isn\u2019t even aware that it\u2019s a possibility at all. That needs to change.<\/span><\/p>\n

Addiction Is Not a Leading Cause of Homelessness<\/span><\/h3>\n

While poor people struggling with substance use are more vulnerable to homelessness, addiction is far from the most significant cause of homelessness. Plenty of people with addictions manage to maintain their housing.<\/span><\/p>\n

In reality, the most common cause of homelessness is a lack of affordable housing- something well out of the realm of control for the average person. Other leading causes include:<\/span><\/p>\n