The Experience of Psychosis in Psychiatric Inpatients During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Unhoused Individuals

Abstract

This research investigates the impact of Coronavirus-2019 on individuals without housing and experiencing psychosis using semi-structured qualitative interviews and a case study format. We found that for our participants, life in the pandemic was generally more difficult and filled with violence. Further, the pandemic seemed to impact the content of psychosis directly, such that in some cases voices referred to politics around the virus. Being unhoused during the pandemic may increase the sense of powerlessness, social defeat, and the sense of failure in social interactions. Despite national and local measures to mitigate virus spread in unhoused communities, the pandemic seemed to be particularly hard on those who were unhoused. This research should support our efforts to see access to secure housing as a human rights issue.