My read on the one reference to homelessness in the article was that a life-changing medication that can help with a disease like schizophrenia can prevent homelessness in the first place.
I have a close family member that had a psychotic episode during the pandemic. They were hospitalized but were eventually able to get effective treatment and medication and now live a mostly normal life.
Had they not had the support to get proper medication, I have a hard time seeing how they wouldn’t end up homeless.
Not saying it is or isn't overpriced, but 20k/year is actually a good price for something that can avoid homelessness. Just the cost of extra medical care and/or jail, let alone social services and lost productivity, is worth it.
$20k per year for a brand new drug that went through 15 years of development is peanuts. Welcome to healthcare in the country that leads the world in pharma research, for good and for ill.
Napkin mathing here since available data isn't great, but the US definitely doesn't lead the world in healthcare R&D spending relative to our size. We're spending something like 0.22% of GDP on healthcare R&D, putting us at about #7 globally. In comparison, Denmark spends 0.93% of GDP on healthcare R&D. And that list is missing data from other countries that probably rank above us, like Cuba.
The thing is you don't even need this new drug, from the article "Risperdal and Zyprexa" are very effective antipsychotics. Even more effective when combined with a long acting to prevent backslide from missed does.
Who cares about the TD, tremors, etc. when that patient can rejoin society? Really what needs to change is reopen US mental hospitals to get these patients treatment and end the stigma around mentally illness.
That isn't how that works. That isn't how any of this works.
21% [1] of homeless have a serious mental illness that predates their living situation, of which an even smaller chunk is schizophrenia. The major reasons for homelessness are predominantly financial (also [1]). We think that the sequence of events is mental illness/drugs → homelessness → poverty, but the true sequence is an averse financial event + lack of support → homelessness → mental illness (as a result of the homelessness) → drugs to cope.
We saw the most pronounced examples of this in Houston's homeless program, which has a 90% success rate by providing housing first [2]. For many, having a safe home is the only resource needed to get clean.
Homelessness is torture. Anyone in that situation would turn to drugs to cope. Demonizing the drugs is flying straight over the cause of the drugs themselves. If you want to fix homelessness, give homeless people homes.
Do you have a source that suggests that mental illness/drugs do not contribute to becoming homeless?
> 21% [1] of homeless have a serious mental illness that predates their living situation
This seems to suggest that mental illness does lead to homelessness. I would agree that financial strain is a major cause of homeless, but it seems likely that this is because it leads to other behaviors that then lead to homelessness. And those behaviors are probably not exclusively caused by financial strain.
Additionally, from the conclusion of your first link (my italics added for emphasis):
> SAMHSA utilizes its national surveys and grantee data to create effective programs and services to prevent and end homelessness among people with mental and substance use disorders.
Secondly, I agree that housing is an important first step for fixing homelessness because it seems like a precondition for stability.
But this:
> For many, having a safe home is the only resource needed to get clean.
seems misguided to me. "Housing First" != exclusively housing. From your second link:
> we move people into permanent housing as quickly as possible and then provide them with supportive services (like case management, health care, substance use counseling, income coaching, and more)
There definitely are people who have mental illness, which when activated or exacerbated leads to homelessness. I have family members in this boat and I've seen this cycle repeat at least a half a dozen times.
I have a close family member that had a psychotic episode during the pandemic. They were hospitalized but were eventually able to get effective treatment and medication and now live a mostly normal life.
Had they not had the support to get proper medication, I have a hard time seeing how they wouldn’t end up homeless.