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On a single night in 2025, at least 745,652 people experienced homelessness in the United States. While this represents a decrease of 3.3% from the prior year, it is nevertheless a staggering number. Chronic homelessness increased by 2% nationally, to an estimated 155,750 (U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2026).
Individuals and families fall into homelessness for many reasons: inability to pay their mortgage or rent due to unemployment, serious illness or death of a family member, loss of income for other reasons, or chronic poverty. Having a place to call home is critical to the basic needs for shelter, stability, safety, and having an address for work, school, and services. The broader effects of homelessness are wide-ranging, for the individual and for society, and the psychological impact of experiencing homelessness is profound at any age.
When people are displaced from what was their home, the nature of the places they next occupy (a car, the street, an encampment, a shelter) causes them to be separated from society to a great or even an absolute degree. The nature of their contact with others and their ability to determine their own movement can change dramatically. They may be forced to occupy spaces over which they have limited control, disrupting not only their autonomy, but also their sense of self (Mayock, 2023).
Trauma has been found to be central in the histories of many young people who become homeless. In conditions of homelessness, help to address trauma is rarely available, and past trauma can act as a powerful force in the present—not to mention trauma associated with losing or lacking a home. Flashbacks, hypervigilance, self-harm, and drug or alcohol use are often the manifestations of trauma that can shape or perpetuate young people’s experiences of homelessness (Parr, 2024).
In a wide-ranging systematic review of 205 studies of how people experiencing homelessness have been stigmatized and discriminated against (Canham et al, 2024), the results showed the myriad ways in which stigma and discrimination can have further psychologically hurtful or damaging consequences on the sense of self. People surveyed felt unwelcome in public spaces or restricted in where they could go. They felt as if they were treated as a homogeneous group who all used substances or had a mental illness.
Discrimination and stigmatization can be intersectional, with one’s age or membership in a racial or sexual minority adding to the stereotypical negative perceptions from others, and compounding the psychological weight of experiencing homelessness.
Homelessness is a chronic stressor that’s with you day and night. When already traumatized individuals fall into homelessness, the impact is even greater. The disruptions to the stress response system can lead to hyper-arousal and mistrust of even those trying to help.
It is critical to recognize that home is not just a physical space, though that is essential. A central aspect of home is a sense of safety. If we’re lucky enough to feel safe at home, it can serve as a refuge. It can provide comfort just by thinking about it, knowing it’s there. If home is a stressful or unsafe place—such as an abusive home or a shelter or the street—we can’t find that restful physical and mental space that we need.
Most of our days are spent in public spaces, for which we construct and present a public self, changing it subtly or greatly depending on the context. We all need a space that allows us to let down defenses and feel that our true selves can emerge and be accepted and safe. Without physical safety, psychological safety is not possible—and both are necessary for health and well-being.
