Homeless? Got schizophrenia? That's your problem.

[DifferentDrummr]

This response is what we will no doubt be hearing from right wingers when they discover this article:

Brain: 'Heal Thyself'

At least it can be helpful to mentally ill people who do have access to decent health care...

 

[truthatallcost]

Forbes is a giant cluster fuh for me, so I couldn't view the article.

However, the majority of homeless I've encountered haven't been schizophrenic, but substance addicts. I don't judge that as my family has had issues with substance abuse, but there's a huge difference between real mental illness and drug/alcohol abuse that leads to homelessness.

 

[justabubba]

Forbes is a giant cluster fuh for me, so I couldn't view the article.

However, the majority of homeless I've encountered haven't been schizophrenic, but substance addicts. I don't judge that as my family has had issues with substance abuse, but there's a huge difference between real mental illness and drug/alcohol abuse that leads to homelessness.

i suspect quite a number of those afflicted but untreated (professionally) self medicate

 

[sookster]

The holy grail to any disorder brain related is gene therapy. In fact if there was an established method done onto humans, probably everyone would get checked up. If you take a look at the brain tissue of someone that doesn't have a mental illness vs. one that does, the actual structure of the brain is off. Well, structure is made from proteins, which are made from genes. The theory goes you replace the bad genes with the good ones, and you would have a healthy brain genetically. Changing the structure and all. I read that Scientific American article in like 2004 or 2005. Scientists already do "gene therapy" on animals. They can change specific genes to get a specific turnout. It is just none of this has been done on humans.

Think about it. Would you volunteer for a experimental genetic procedure be done to you? That's the main problem for gene therapy, is the ethics side of things. Because eventually you have to go to humans, and eventually you are going to have to do a procedure on a human, and there are going to be problems. I highly doubt the brightest minds in this field could have trials performed and not one have a problem.

But yeah. If, by any measure, gene therapy grabs hold onto human society, not only would a greater standard of living be actualized, but sets the canvas blank for observing how nature can change the expression of genes.

 

[DifferentDrummr]

Forbes is a giant cluster fuh for me, so I couldn't view the article.

However, the majority of homeless I've encountered haven't been schizophrenic, but substance addicts. I don't judge that as my family has had issues with substance abuse, but there's a huge difference between real mental illness and drug/alcohol abuse that leads to homelessness.

That's consistent with what we know about homeless demographics. Nationwide, the best estimate is that about 70% of homeless adults are substance addicts and 20% have some type of serious mental illness (which may or may not be treatable).