May 20, 2016 | By Caroline Nguyen | UC Irvine
I’ve been volunteering with an organization that serves the homeless on Skid Row, Los Angeles for a couple of years. Mental illness has affected my family in tremendous ways. As a result, this work resonates with me on a viscerally personal level, because I understand that homelessness is often a cruel byproduct of underfunding for mental health services.
Photo above: Caroline and her older brother, Kevin
My older brother Kevin was diagnosed with schizophrenia 10 years ago, and his symptoms have since been managed by a team of health professionals and daily neuroleptics. As his sister, I’m one of his immediate caretakers. I’ve learned how to monitor his symptoms and the side effects that may arise from his psychotropic drug therapy, as well as stabilize him should he experience a psychotic episode.
Because I’ve grown so intimately familiar with schizophrenia, I very quickly detected that one of the regulars on Skid Row, Eric, displayed many telltale signs of paranoid schizophrenia, which is the subtype my brother has. He and Kevin share a similar caliber of intelligence, temperament, and unfortunately also nearly identical auditory hallucinations, pathological grandiosity, and delusions of persecution that are characteristic of psychosis.
As such, every conversation with Eric strikes straight at my heart. My brother’s initial on fall of symptoms in 2005 was so severe that he became an imminent threat to himself. I know without a doubt that had it not been for the intensive professional care he received, within a month he would have either been in prison, on the streets, or dead.
But today Kevin is safe — 7 nights a week he will return to a bed surrounded by four walls whereas Eric will not, when the only difference between the two is that one was privileged enough to gain access to lifelong medical treatment and the resources needed for human survival.
“The only difference between the two is that one was privileged enough to gain access to lifelong medical treatment and the resources needed for humane survival.”
And keep in mind that Eric is one of the more lucid ones. I only know Eric because he still remains coherent enough to speak to me. On the contrary, the overwhelming remainder of those with schizophrenia on Skid Row have subsisted so long without psychiatric intervention that their state of mind now renders them unable to engage in appropriate interpersonal interaction, and they fall invisible.
I urge you to challenge any unfavorable stereotypes you may have of the chronically homeless, a disproportionate amount of whom are braving mental health afflictions beyond their capacity to single-handedly manage. Mental illness has genetic and biological components; therefore, onset of disease evinces neurological and physiological changes, not foibles. Improper education about mental illness compounded by lack of awareness regarding the factors that contribute to homelessness create so much division in society — those who are affected are alienated, disenfranchised, and dehumanized.
“Improper education about mental illness compounded by lack of awareness regarding the factors that contribute to homelessness creates so much division in society — those who are affected are alienated, disenfranchised, and dehumanized.”
Even today when Kevin’s doctors have found a medication regimen compatible with his brain chemistry, his residual symptoms and the muscle disorders he experiences as side effects are physically and psychologically exhausting. I rejoice, though, that he at least faces these challenges with consistent domestic support and the comfort of shelter and adequate nutrition.
People like Eric, however, have no such luxury, and I can’t perceive how difficult it must be to not only battle a grueling deregulation of thoughts and behavior, but to do so alone, in fear, and in hunger. From what I’ve learned, those with a latent predisposition to mental illness often develop conditions after exposure to environmental stressors. In other words, even if an individual arrives at Skid Row psychologically sound, there’s a large chance their mental health will swiftly deteriorate, for I can’t imagine stressors more aggressive than the theft, violence, and sexual assault these residents experience on the regular.
My brother is a human being with a favorite food, favorite T.V. show, aspirations, and hobbies, who also happens to have a mental illness through no fault of his own. Folks on Skid Row like Eric are just the same.
Caroline Nguyen is a student at the University of California, Irvine. Outside the classroom she advocates for resource expansion and education on the legal and psychosocial challenges faced by Southeast Asian migrants and refugees, as well as campus and statewide reform of student mental health services.
