Countless Angelenos struggle every day with finding — and affording — the right mental health help.
Getting and maintaining that help can prove even more difficult if you live on the streets with a severe mental illness.
The latest homeless count from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) found that 25% of unhoused people in L.A. County self-reported experiencing severe mental illness. That’s up from 24% from last year’s count.
And research shows that in 2020 there were, at minimum, some 4,500 unhoused people in L.A. County who have been diagnosed with a psychotic spectrum disorder like schizophrenia.
It’s a staggering number of people living unsheltered with some of the most debilitating conditions.
And the people who treat and care for unhoused people in L.A. say they need more help.
‘Being homeless is a form of insanity’
On a recent busy Monday at the USC street medicine team home base in Alhambra, Brett Feldman loaded up bags with medical supplies, medications and all the equipment he needs to see about eight patients a day.
Feldman, director and co-founder of the Division of Street Medicine at USC and his team will treat wounds, check blood pressure and draw blood.
But he said there’s still more that could be done to help people living with mental illness.
“Psych time on the street is really rare,” Feldman said. “There’s just a national shortage of psychiatrists.”
In a recent report Feldman co-authored, he recommended that more frontline medical workers — like physician assistants — receive training on how to help treat behavioral health conditions.
“One of the things we’ve been trying to do statewide is encourage those doing primary care street medicine to really educate…
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