How can you avoid becoming homeless?
Easy!
Just..
don't do anything, ever.
Wait that can't be right...
Hey guys Tara here for Dnews - and if you've ever visited any major city in America, then
you'd know that homelessness is a growing problem here.
The city of San Francisco spends $200 million every year trying to get homeless people off
the streets - and while many attribute their lifestyle to laziness, drug addiction, or
a dwindling economy - a new study says that traumatic brain injuries could be an underlying
cause.
A team of researchers at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, looked at data from 111 homeless
men ages 27-81, and found that almost half of them had experienced a traumatic brain
injury at some point during their lives.
And 87% of them occurred before the men lost their homes.
Some had sustained multiple brain injuries - with assault being, overwhelmingly, the
most common cause.
Sports-related injuries and motor vehicles collisions were also huge contributors.
But for men under age 40, the #1 most common cause of brain injury was a fall resulting
from drug or alcohol-related blackouts.
Now this brings up an interesting dilemma.
Because it's already been shown that traumatic brain injury leads to aggressive behaviour,
violence, and impulsivity.
BUT, by the same token, aggression and impulse control disorders increase the likelihood
of traumatic brain injury.
So it's kind of a chicken-and-egg situation, where both problems potentiate one another.
Of course there's no arguing that these kinds of injuries worsen pre-existing conditions.
A 2008 study from a different group, showed that traumatic brain injuries increase the
likelihood of seizures, mental health problems, drug problems, and overall poorer physical
health.
This challenges the notion that being homeless is a conscious decision - but it should also
be a warning sign to parents whose children have sustained traumatic head injuries.
Just because someone looks ok on the outside, doesn't mean they are on the inside.
And that's good advice for everyone.
As always, if you have questions or comments about this episode - feel free to leave em
down below, and for more episodes of Dnews - subscribe here.