[quote=FlyerInHi]
It’s drugs and mental illness. We have a moral crisis in America. Stephen Colbert said 1/12th the population has a felony conviction. Not counting all the other crimes and dysfunction.[/quote]
Actually I would have to agree with FlyerInHi/brian here (and then I will have to wash my mouth out with soap..)
I have been closer to this situation than most. I have watched as an adolescent I know grew up into adulthood with very little responsibilities and structure. They were never told ‘no’ to anything they wanted. I tried to advise/intervene with the parent, but no success (there are serious legal limitations there). The parent was more concerned with the adolescent ‘liking/loving them’ as opposed to the approach that they should be guiding/forming a child into an adult who will be a responsible, contributing – and if the child likes/loves the parent in the end; so much the better. The process of growing up should be for the child, and the child’s development; not for the adult’s feelings of approval.
Lets call the above parent; “Parent1”. Lets introduce “Parent2” who is related to “Parent1”. Parent2 also has children, Parent1 has always felt that “Parent2” was hard on their children, however at the current state; Parent2’s child is functioning, has a job, active in sports, and has the goal to go into the Military. Yes this child has the normal problems associated with growing up in the teens, but they seem to be managing.
Parent1’s child is currently living ‘independently’, if you can call it ‘independent’. They are living off of assistance as a dual-diagnosis through SSI, which covers rent and food. They have used Marijuana, Hashish, Ecstasy(MDMA), and Methamphetamine(still using). They have been to the hospital 3 times that I remember on (near) ODs. One time they were brought to the hospital completely catatonic because they had used Meth to the point that they depleted their brain of dopamine. It took them nearly 7 days to come out of catatonia. When off any of the above drugs, they are normal – under these drugs or after recently using them, they demonstrate significant signs of schizophrenia. NOTE: the person doesn’t seem quite as normal now after all the near ODs – quite a bit slower mentally. This person seems to notice it, but still uses (no self control).
NOTE: This kid likes the concept that he is self medicating because it means that he is not responsible for his behavior… he is just self medicating(until completely fried). I busted him once on that because he let it slip that he liked the way it made him feel, that he liked the stoned effect.
If it weren’t for the SSI – dual diagnosis ‘disability’, they would likely be on the street, homeless. They have never had a job lasting more than a few days, have no plan, no desire to work… etc. At one point this child felt it would be nice to live as a homeless person.
I’ve tried to ‘file the serial numbers’ off as much as possible to anonymize the info without loosing the gist of what has happened.
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The homeless problem will not be solved as a one solution fits all.
Transient homeless
These are people that have hit a ‘bump’ in their life. They often do not have much financial education and have not set aside money for emergencies. Our current system encourages people to spend until it hurts, then spend more to make it feel better. It portrays that our quality of character is determine by our trappings of success.
Long term homeless
This one is a lot harder to solve. There are psychological issues, drug addition, and behavior issues. Some of them may be like the situation I described above. How do you teach structure, self-control to an adult whose brain is no longer as flexible or able to learn as a child’s, particularly after significant drug use. As an adult, they have rights that can make it hard to force them into a better structured environment.
This is a problem that I have long tried to grapple with. There are no simple solutions, and many moral hazards.
