A kick to kick off residency

We use the term “underserved” to identify challenging patient populations, but there are categories of patients that fall below the threshold of merely underserved. I am mortified to know that one-third of homeless people in the United States have a serious and untreated mental illness. Individuals discharged from psychiatric hospitals are 3 times more likely to obtain food from garbage. They are also far more likely to be the victim of a crime than perpetrators of it. As I’ve discovered since starting residency, if a patient doesn’t have a place to live, food to eat, and some semblance of a support system, then it’s often meaningless for them to take pills, regardless of how those pills work in theory.

No definition of sound mental health is complete unless it gives deference to those who lack basic human needs. This is a realization that was literally kicked into me, and one I hope will guide me in the years ahead.