Homelessness and mental illness: An unhealthy co-dependency

During a time of global pandemic, new comparisons are being made between the health response of nations and our relative success in protecting citizens from harm. On Covid‑19 infections Australia has performed well so far.1 When it comes to mental health the jury was in some time ago: citizens living in more unequal wealthy nations are burdened with a higher level of mental illness than citizens living in more equal developed nations. In their ground-breaking work, The Spirit Level, the star United Kingdom (UK) epidemiologists of the time (2006) Wilkinson and Picket found that more unequal nations and states fared worse on social outcomes on almost every measure. When it came to mental health they had this to say.