10 GROUNDCOVER NEWS LIVING ARCHIVE OCTOBER 3, 2025 Mental illness amongst the homeless: the consequence not the cause In last month’s article,* I talked about how trauma can have symptoms of depression. I insisted that homelessness deserves to be treated as a real form of trauma. So, this month I will talk a little more in depth about depression. Depression is also common among the homeless community. Symptoms of depression are quite common in someone dealing with issues around housing. Signs of depression include: depressed mood, feelings of sadness or emptiness, loss of interest or pleasure in previously enjoyed activities, significant weight changes, restlessness or slowing of activities, persistent fatigue or loss of energy, excessive feelings of guilt or worthlessness, persistent difficulty with concentration or decision-making, sleeping pattern changes, and suicidal behaviors or recurrent thoughts of suicide. Can you picture a homeless guy feeling unworthy of deserving housing after being unsuccessful finding a place to live? Or maybe a homeless person changing their weight and sleeping patterns pretty drastically due to the fact that they don't have a place to cook a healthy meal and a bed to rest in at night? In the hectic tragedy they are living, they are in a constant state of tiredness — so, how will they be able to focus enough to make wise decisions or engage in activities where they can break free from this chaos they are living in? This is what reality really looks like for them! If you can’t imagine it because you haven’t lived through the struggle, I am trying to give you a snapshot here. More likely than not, a homeless person might need treatment for depression. There are many forms of treatment available. Depression treatment often involves medications that are called antidepressants. They increase the availability of certain brain neuro transmitters, such as serotonin and dopamine. Another way to treat depression involves resetting the body’s circadian clock by spending a night of sleep SANDRA S. Groundcover vendor No. 233 deprivation followed by a night of sleep recovery with an outcome of improving depressive symptoms. Other therapies that treat depression and are more widely accepted include behavioral activation therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. These therapeutic approaches seek to help a patient identify problem behaviors and to learn how to substitute them with new skills that not only help them cope with their depression, but also end up becoming a part of a healthier lifestyle. But the commonly known type of depression (major depression) isn’t the only one that exists. There’s also a diagnosis in the DSM-5 called bipolar disorder, formerly called manic-depression. The difference between major depression and bipolar disorder is that, with bipolar, typical symptoms are exaggerated: alongside episodes of deep depression can come episodes of grandiosity or extreme self-importance, decreased need for sleep or feeling rested after minimal sleep, racing thoughts or frequent change of topics or ideas, distractibility that may involve attention to unimportant environmental stimuli, increased social, sexual or work-related activity and physical restlessness leading to impulsive involvement in activities like excessive spending or gambling. Treatment for bipolar focuses on targeting the individual’s main symptoms. This often involves a combination of medications (called mood stabilizers), psychotherapy and educating the patients and family members or people who support them. Such patients must learn the importance of taking their prescribed medications and getting into the habit of practicing their mood-regulation strategies learned in therapy. Unfortunately, it is common that patients with bipolar disorder report discontinuing their medication because the side effects seem to them worse than the symptoms being treated. If you identify with any of what I wrote here, whether you are or have been homeless or not, I urge you to seek help. There are several clinics in the area offering financial assistance for the treatment of these diagnoses, such as Corner Health for young people aged 12-25, the Women’s Center of Southeast Michigan in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County Community Mental Health (734-544- 3050). The sooner you treat it, the sooner you will find relief and be back in charge of your own life. *Read Sandra's preceding essay "Is it traumatic to be homeless? Picture the treatment options" in the October 2019 edition, page 3, available on our website under: Street News: Archives. No Smile Anywhere RON PAGERESKI Groundcover contributor The wind plays in her hair But seems she doesn't care Her lover is gone somewhere He left her so unfair All she does is sit and stare At her loved one’s empty chair But he went she knows not where A frown shall be the mask she’ll wear They had been a lovely pair The pain of loss she'll have to bear To live alone is quite a scare A lonely bed will be her lair Smiles from her will be quite rare Seems she has not one to spare Her tears fall everywhere But it seems she doesn't care. - Originally published in the November 2019 edition of Groundcover News.
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