Residential instability: A perspective on system imbalance.

Abstract

In an exploration of residential instability and recidivism in chronic mental patients, 215 psychiatric admissions were followed for a year after the initial episode. In addition to an unusually high incidence of residential mobility, a relationship between mobility and number of hospitalizations was evident, as were isolation, disruptive family situations, and homelessness. The needed response of the mental health system is discussed.