By: Daniel Nardini
The U.S. National Institute on Mental Health released a study it had done on Mexican migrant workers. The study included 259 men and 295 women. It documented what happens when Mexican migrant workers are here in the United States and how their health is affected. The study found that as much as one-third of all Mexican migrant workers suffer from some form of depression. The study documented that depression can be caused by a number of factors. The most important one is being away from family and friends back in Mexico.
The study also included how affected migrant workers are in Mexico itself. The Mexican migrant workers in Mexico did not suffer as seriously from depression as they do in the United States. The study kind of stops there. It did not get more into why Mexican migrant workers suffer from depression on a greater scale in the United States compared to Mexico. The study did, however, point out that Mexican migrant workers, no matter what part of Mexico they may go to to do their job, could still go back eventually to friends and family and could more regularly communicate with their loved ones.
That is certainly one major difference to be sure. Mexican migrant workers in the United States have trouble even trying to communicate with their families and friends back in Mexico, and have even more trouble trying to get back to Mexico because of stricter border enforcement on the U.S. side. It is ironic that the new stricter border enforcement is actually keeping the undocumented in. The loss of being able to communicate with one’s family and community as well as being in a different land certainly would make anyone depressed.
And add to that the sheer prejudice and hatred against Mexican migrant workers now taking place, plus U.S. states passing laws to kick them out, and suffering all kinds of depression is simply the next logical step. The sad reality also is that there is no real way for Mexican migrant workers to seek professional help since many of them are not legally in the United States, and those who are face serious and vicious discrimination. Even employers are being clobbered by state and federal immigration laws, and this simply drives the Mexican migrant workers along with so many other Latinos—legal or undocumented—underground. For all its faults, this study at least is dealing with a segment that is all too easily ignored.
Migrant Depression
By: Daniel Nardini
The study also included how affected migrant workers are in Mexico itself. The Mexican migrant workers in Mexico did not suffer as seriously from depression as they do in the United States. The study kind of stops there. It did not get more into why Mexican migrant workers suffer from depression on a greater scale in the United States compared to Mexico. The study did, however, point out that Mexican migrant workers, no matter what part of Mexico they may go to to do their job, could still go back eventually to friends and family and could more regularly communicate with their loved ones.
That is certainly one major difference to be sure. Mexican migrant workers in the United States have trouble even trying to communicate with their families and friends back in Mexico, and have even more trouble trying to get back to Mexico because of stricter border enforcement on the U.S. side. It is ironic that the new stricter border enforcement is actually keeping the undocumented in. The loss of being able to communicate with one’s family and community as well as being in a different land certainly would make anyone depressed.
And add to that the sheer prejudice and hatred against Mexican migrant workers now taking place, plus U.S. states passing laws to kick them out, and suffering all kinds of depression is simply the next logical step. The sad reality also is that there is no real way for Mexican migrant workers to seek professional help since many of them are not legally in the United States, and those who are face serious and vicious discrimination. Even employers are being clobbered by state and federal immigration laws, and this simply drives the Mexican migrant workers along with so many other Latinos—legal or undocumented—underground. For all its faults, this study at least is dealing with a segment that is all too easily ignored.