In San Diego County, this represents about 2,300 to 2,400 homeless persons. Another 600 or so may abuse drugs other than alcohol. Prevalence rates are highest among minority men, followed by African-American women and white men. The majority of homeless men who abuse drugs are in their late teens and twenties. Based on the estimate that 65 to 80 percent of all homeless adults suffer from chronic alcoholism, drug addiction, severe mental illness, or some combination of the three, there are 3,800 to 4,700 homeless persons with one or more of these conditions.
Substance abuse is both a cause and result of homelessness for the mentally ill.
The profile of an alcoholic homeless person generally mirrors the stereotype of homelessness. Yet, homeless people with alcohol abuse problems are becoming a more diverse group than the traditional stereotype of the older, white male, alcoholic. Youth, minorities, women, poly-drug users, mentally ill persons, and people with less education and fewer vocational skills now comprise more of the homeless population with alcohol problems. The public perception that most homeless people are alcoholics or drug addicts may stem from the visibility of homeless people drinking, or behaving in an intoxicated manner. While community reaction is harsh on the chronically inebriated, the public generally acknowledges that alcoholism is an addictive disease in which the victim has become physically and psychologically dependent on alcohol.