Mexican Immigrants To The U.S. At Higher Risk Of Depression, Anxiety

Moving can be stressful, and millions of Mexican residents decide to migrate north each year. It can be a stressful change for anyone trying to acculturate and assimilate to new surroundings, but a new study finds that Mexicans have a sizable higher risk of becoming clinically depressed and develop anxiety than their Mexican counterparts.


The number of Mexican immigrants to the United States each year is highly debated, but the study's authors write:


"About 12 million people living in the United States in 2007 were born in Mexico, constituting approximately 30 percent of the U.S. foreign-born population, 25 percent of the U.S. Hispanic population, and 10 percent of the Mexican-born population on both sides of the Mexico-U.S. border. Mental health researchers have hypothesized that adverse social experiences inherent in the migration process have a negative effect on mental health in this population."


Researchers compared a sample of Mexican-born migrants after their arrival in the U.S. with a sample of non-migrants in Mexico their risk for first onset of a depressive or anxiety disorder. Depressive disorders included major depression and dysthymia (a less severe type of depression with long-term, chronic symptoms that are not disabling). Anxiety disorders included social phobia, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).


The study continues:


"The finding that migrants are at higher risk for onset of depressive and anxiety disorders after migration compared with family members of migrants who remained in Mexico provides the first direct evidence that experiences as a migrant might lead to the onset of clinically significant mental health problems in this population. In particular, migrants were at higher risk for depressive disorders, inclusive of major depression and dysthymia, GAD, and social phobia. After arrival in the United States, migrants had a significantly higher risk for first onset of any depressive or anxiety disorder than did non-migrant family members of migrants in Mexico."


The strongest association between migration and first onset of a depressive or anxiety disorder was found in those ages 18 to 25 years.


The United States is viewed worldwide as a highly desirable destination by would-be migrants. International polls by the Gallup organization have found that more than 165 million adults in 148 foreign countries would, if they could, move to the US, which is the most desired destination for migrants.


As a significant percentage of employers are willing to hire illegal immigrants for higher pay than they would typically receive in their former country, illegal immigrants have prime motivation to cross borders.


In 2003, then-President of Mexico, Vicente Fox stated that remittances "are our biggest source of foreign income, bigger than oil, tourism or foreign investment" and that "the money transfers grew after Mexican consulates started giving identity cards to their citizens in the United States."


He also stated that money sent from Mexican workers in the United States to their families back home reached a record $12 billion. Two years later, in 2005, the World Bank stated that Mexico was receiving $18.1 billion in remittances and that it ranked third (behind only India and China) among the countries receiving the greatest amount of remittances.


The authors conclude:


"The finding that elevation in risk for depressive and anxiety disorders occurs among recent birth cohorts of Mexican migrants may help guide future research by locating the effect of migration within the particular experiences of this subpopulation."


Sources: Archives of General Psychiatry and San Diego Union Tribune


Written by Sy Kraft, B.A.