--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When several patients committed suicide…" description: "\"“When several patients committed suicide in the days leading up to their eviction, a group of psychiatrists published a letter in Psychiatric Services,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec4/matthew-desmond-1529_patience_when-several-patients-committed-suicide_960974.jpg" --- # When several patients committed suicide in the days… ![“When several patients committed suicide in the days leading up to their eviction, a group of psychiatrists published a letter in Psychiatric Services, identifying eviction as a “significant precursor of suicide.” The letter emphasized that none of the patients were facing homelessness, leading the…” quote by Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec4/matthew-desmond-1529_patience_when-several-patients-committed-suicide_960974.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec4/matthew-desmond-1529_patience_when-several-patients-committed-suicide_960974.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec4/matthew-desmond-1529_patience_when-several-patients-committed-suicide_960974.jpg) > ““When several patients committed suicide in the days leading up to their eviction, a group of psychiatrists published a letter in Psychiatric Services, identifying eviction as a “significant precursor of suicide.” The letter emphasized that none of the patients were facing homelessness, leading the psychiatrists to attribute the suicides to eviction itself. “Eviction must be considered a traumatic rejection,” they wrote, “a denial of one’s most basic human needs, and an exquisitely shameful experience.” Suicides attributed to evictions and foreclosures doubled between 2005 and 2010, years when housing costs soared.18”” [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Eviction can cause severe psychological trauma leading to suicide, independent of homelessness. **In simple terms:** Eviction can trigger suicide. Key Takeaway Recognize and address eviction as a mental health crisis. Themes housing mental health poverty policy suicide Mood sad urgent concerned Type analytical policy‑oriented When to use this quote - social workers - policy makers - healthcare providers - community organizers Key Concepts Trauma social determinants of health human rights Questions to Reflect On - How can societies prevent eviction‑related trauma? - What support systems reduce suicide risk after eviction? A Different Perspective Eviction is often linked with homelessness, complicating causal attribution. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Housing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/housing/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patience/) [Suicide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suicide/) ## Related quotes > [I don't think we can fix poverty without fixing housing, and I don't think we can address housing without understanding landlords.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/i-don-t-think-we-can-fix-poverty-without-fixing-housing-and-i-don-t/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [I met a landlord who will pay you to move at the end of the week and let you use his van. That's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/i-met-a-landlord-who-will-pay-you-to-move-at-the-end-of-the-week-and/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [Tenants don't have any right to court-appointed attorneys in civil court, so they're either facing their landlord - or his or her attorney -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/tenants-don-t-have-any-right-to-court-appointed-attorneys-in-civil/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [Do we believe housing is a right and that affordable housing is part of what it should mean to be an American? I say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/do-we-believe-housing-is-a-right-and-that-affordable-housing-is-part/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [Families who get evicted tend to live in worse housing than they did before, and they live in neighborhoods with higher poverty rates and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/families-who-get-evicted-tend-to-live-in-worse-housing-than-they-did/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [If eviction has these massive consequences that we all pay for, a very smart use of public funds would be to invest in legal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/if-eviction-has-these-massive-consequences-that-we-all-pay-for-a-very/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [“In the vast majority of cases (83 percent), landlords who received a nuisance citation for domestic violence responded by either evicting the tenants or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/in-the-vast-majority-of-cases-83-percent-landlords-who-received-a/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [Evictions used to be rare in this country. They used to draw crowds. There are scenes in literature where you can come upon an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/evictions-used-to-be-rare-in-this-country-they-used-to-draw-crowds/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [It takes a good amount of time and money to establish a home. Eviction can erase all that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/it-takes-a-good-amount-of-time-and-money-to-establish-a-home-eviction/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [The high cost of housing is crushing poor families and sending them to a state of desperation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/the-high-cost-of-housing-is-crushing-poor-families-and-sending-them/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [Young mothers who apply for housing assistance in our nation's capital literally could be grandmothers by the time their application is reviewed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/young-mothers-who-apply-for-housing-assistance-in-our-nation-s/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [An eviction is an incredibly time consuming and stressful event.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/an-eviction-is-an-incredibly-time-consuming-and-stressful-event/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [Eviction riots erupted during the Depression, though the number of poor families who faced eviction each year was a fraction of what it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/eviction-riots-erupted-during-the-depression-though-the-number-of/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [Housing being a top-order issue for cities is something that's not trivial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/housing-being-a-top-order-issue-for-cities-is-something-that-s-not/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [“A universal housing voucher program would carve a middle path between the landlord’s desire to make a living and the tenant’s desire, simply, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/a-universal-housing-voucher-program-would-carve-a-middle-path-between/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) ## More by Matthew Desmond > [I don't think we can fix poverty without fixing housing, and I don't think we can address housing without understanding landlords.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/i-don-t-think-we-can-fix-poverty-without-fixing-housing-and-i-don-t/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [If we continue to tolerate this level of poverty in our cities, and go along with eviction as commonplace in poor neighborhoods, it's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/if-we-continue-to-tolerate-this-level-of-poverty-in-our-cities-and-go/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [You see one eviction, and you're overcome, but then there's another one and another one and another one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/you-see-one-eviction-and-you-re-overcome-but-then-there-s-another-one/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [When I talk to booksellers, they tell me how hard it is to hand-sell some of my books because I do keep popping around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/when-i-talk-to-booksellers-they-tell-me-how-hard-it-is-to-hand-sell/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [Housing being a top-order issue for cities is something that's not trivial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/housing-being-a-top-order-issue-for-cities-is-something-that-s-not/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [I think that we value fairness in this country. 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