One in three homeless people struggle with mental health problems

One in three homeless people experience mental health problems, according to a study initiated by the King Baudouin Foundation (KBS). The study aims to better understand the link between homelessness, mental health and addiction problems.

In 2023, for the fourth year in a row, the King Baudouin Foundation supported research teams from KU Leuven and UCLouvain to count homeless people. A total of 227 out of 581 municipalities in Belgium were counted. This also involved collecting data on the scale of the phenomenon and the profile of homeless people.

Of the 17,018 homeless adults counted, 30.1 per cent were struggling with mental problems and 28 per cent with an addiction problem. “These problems are most common among people living on the streets: more than 60 per cent have mental problems or addiction problems,” the KBS said. “Yet we also want to stress that a third of adults counted do not face any of these problems.”

Mental health or addiction problems appear to be most common among men (56 per cent compared to 47 per cent among women), people who have been staying in institutions and those threatened with eviction (more than 30 per cent). The longer someone is homeless, the higher the risk.

Although most night shelter centres do not accept persons who are severely under the influence, it appears that more than 50 per cent of the persons staying in these centres suffer from mental health or addiction problems. Homeless people who have temporarily moved in with family or friends also struggle with these issues: there, the figure is around 30 per cent. According to the KBS, this puts a lot of pressure on teams in the centres and on the homeless people's personal networks.

The foundation calls for structural cooperation between mental health services, social care and housing players to provide tailored care and support. “But this can only work if there is also housing security. Without a roof over one's head, it is almost impossible to work on the underlying problems as well.”