Homelessness: psychological well-being and identity

Homelessness poses a real risk to identity, the social stigma and negative status associated with being homeless combined with the 'hearthlessness', leads to a lack of attachment to and identification with temporary accommodation.  Emotional attachment to and identification with places is key to psychological health. Feeling isolated, rejected and alienated are also extremely common with homeless people, these again in turn can lead to psychological problems in relation to identity.  Another key issue is having somewhere 'safe' for emotions and thoughts, without this 'psychological space' a person can become emotionally withdrawn and lock emotions away.  The above can all be described as 'Identity Threat' which occurs when one or more of the elements for identity: self-esteem, continuity, positive distinctiveness and self-efficacy, are challenged. 


Rejection
Numerous homeless people have felt rejected by their friends, family and society.  "Feelings of being rejected by the family may contribute to a feeling of ‘psychological homelessness’, which, according to Baldwin et al. (1997), often precedes physical homelessness".


Loss of original identity and adoption of negative homeless identity
Being homeless can threaten your continuity of self, destroy your self-esteem and distinctiveness. 
It's common for a homeless person to take on an identity projected onto to them by others, from responses from others, having money thrown at you. "Such experiences have been referred to as a denial of a homeless person's right to exist within society (Bentley, 1997)".

Separation and loss
Being separated from your family and loved ones can be a real shock when you are homeless which often resembles the early stages of grief (Murray-Parkes, 1996; Archer, 1999).


Psychological space
For many homeless people moving to a hostel does not necessarily provide them with everything they need emotional, and so not having safe conditions for 'personal issues' can lead to emotional withdrawal.  "Psychological possessions such as thoughts and feelings may be protectively stored away inside the individual concerned (Bentley, 1997)". 'Home' is not just a place to stay, it must be safe and secure, locking your cupboard in the kitchen and your bedroom door leads to a sense of 'hearthlessness', as temporary accommodation usually lacks a home-like quality.


Salvation
To cope with the above homeless people need routine, to maintain regular contact with people, to build self-esteem and feelings of social value, to achieve goals.  This structure, continuity and security can be found by helping others, the elderly, or other homeless people.  Such opportunities can totally change things for a homeless person.  As far as physical space goes, it can help to stamp personality and character into their surroundings, part of a homeless person's identity can often feel as if it still resides at 'home', their primary place of attachment, but their new accommodation, however temporary needs to be seen as a container for their identity.  Connecting with people is key recovering form homelessness, they need to talk about how they feel, they need people around them that can help practically as well as emotionally.