The Constraints of Poverty Essay -- Essays on Poverty

The constraints of poverty can cause a cycle of poor mental and physical heath (Dittmann, 2003). Poverty causes many problems for the people facing it up front everyday. Not only do they go without many necessities, they also face a tremendous amount of stress all the time. The amount of stress combined with the lack of necessities produces extreme health problems. Poor people have to deal with an unhealthy living environment that creates serious mental and physical health problems. Economic status definitely effects health in many ways. Most people in poverty don't exactly live in the best areas. Actually, many of them reside in some of the worst places imaginable. Imagine being so afraid to walk out of your front door because you could get robbed of your last ten dollars or shot by a gang of drug dealers. This is a nightmare that many poor people have to call life. Violence is only a small part of the stress that people in poverty deal with. They also have to live in crowded public apartments, also known as ghettos. These people live day to day facing the cold reality that they will probably never move up in the social ladder or even out of the dreadful ghetto. Another problem is the location of the public housing. Since the public apartments are government funded they are located on the cheapest real estate available. The cheapest real estate is usually near a major interstate or an industrial area with many factories. The pollution produced by th e roadways and factories saturates the communities in poverty, in return creating many breathing problems for the residents. Numerous physical health problems are produced from low socioeconomic status. The negative consequences of poor nutrition and poor heal... ... Works Cited Dittmann, M. (2003). The social class factor. Monitor on Psychology, 34, Article 9. Retrieved November 13, 2004, from http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct03/socialclass.html. HÃ ©bert, R. (2003). In sickness or in wealth. Observer, 16, Article 11. Retrieved November 13, 2004, from http://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/getArticle.cfm?id=1420. McLeod, J. & Shanahan, M. (1996). Trajectories of poverty and children's mental health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 37, 207-220. Myers, J. & Gill, C. (2004). Poor, rural and female: understudied, under-counseled, more at-risk. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 26, 225-242.