Patients that live mentally ill in the society are at high risk of developing chronic diseases, violence, and victimization. Mental illness has also been found to correlate with the issue of homelessness since many of the homeless people have been identified to be diagnosed with severe mental illness. This paper, therefore, aims at giving a summary on the challenges that the severely mentally ill adults undergo while living in supportive housing.

According to research, it has been noted that adults that have serious mental illness struggle to acquire effective supportive housing relationships from even those around them due to their condition (Bengtsson-Tops, Ericsson & Ehliasson, 2014). At times due to their situation, they face the risks of violence and physical harassment by those that are supposed to take care of them. Also, the stigma and self-esteem have been known to be very low among the people that are diagnosed with mental illness, and therefore, this hinders them from having intimate relationships.

According to research that was conducted on adult patients with mental illness concerning the issue of home care support, three themes were unveiled. These themes include lived experiences, relationship ideals and risks in supportive housing (Bonfils, Firmin, Salyers, & Wright, 2015). These three themes were noted to imply that severely mentally ill patients encounter a more significant challenge towards developing health and meaningful relationships with those around them.

However, such patients were noted to have a high aspiration towards having relationships that contain respect, open communication and trust but acknowledged that it was indeed difficult to acquire such kind of relationship. One of the aspects that were most hurting to them was the fact that they faced a challenge in intimate relationships and a number of them ought to seek counseling and consultation concerning the issue.

From this study, one of the leading primary implication that can be noted is that there should consider an implementation of a policy that promotes supportive housing as a tool of developing social relationships that are positive among severely mentally ill adults. Also, there should be an implication for practice. There is less effort that has been shown in support of patients with severe mental illness and their relationships and therefore, this should be significantly considered. Such actions will help support and restore courage among the mentally ill patients since they will feel that they are part of society.

References

Bengtsson-Tops, A., Ericsson, U., & Ehliasson, K. (2014). Living in supportive housing for people with severe mental illness: A paradoxical everyday life. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 23(5), 409–418.

Bonfils, K. A., Firmin, R. L., Salyers, M. P., & Wright, E. R. (2015). Sexuality and intimacy among people living with severe mental illnesses: Factors contributing to sexual activity. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 38(3), 249–255.