Youth Homelessness and Mental Health

This issue is especially upsetting because of how prevalent it is within the homeless population, and how many of these people’s situations could have been avoided if they got the proper help they needed. I think it is easy to forget about mental health issues as a real problem because we have so many resources and support systems available to us when we are struggling so we can forget that not everyone has these resources. Growing up and being young is difficult enough, but having to deal with living on the streets and struggling to survive can be detrimental to anyone’s mental well-being. I know firsthand how mental health issues like depression and anxiety and negatively impact one’s life, but I am lucky that I have the resources available to help lessen the blow. The young people living on the streets don’t have enough money for food let alone the proper resources to get better, therefore it’s difficult to give these people the hope that they need to move forward. I think the first step is making sure homeless shelters and assistance organizations have the proper resources to help homeless people with mental health issues, so they not only get the basic support that they need, but the emotional support as well.