Nearly 25 percent of illegal Mexican immigrants in California living along the U.S. border are suffering from mental disorders, Rice University reported in a study this week.
"The estimates obtained in this study for depression and anxiety disorders were considerably higher in this population when compared with estimates for the general U.S. population," said Luz Garcini, the lead author of the report.
Rice University studied 250 illegal immigrants along the U.S. border area and found that 23 percent suffer from clinical signs of mental disorders. Some were diagnosed with more than one such disorder.
A separate study of the U.S. population found that 7 percent of Americans suffer some form of "major depressive disorder," while 3 percent suffered panic attacks or other anxiety problems.
The study concluded that the problems are compounded by a lack of access to mental health clinics.
"Additional research and funding are needed to document the devastating effects of the current socio-political context on the mental health of immigrants living in the U.S. without documentation, which is needed to inform advocacy, policy and intervention efforts," Garcini added.
The study, which will be published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, comes as the Trump administration is wrangling with immigration issues, including illegal immigrants and terrorists who gain entry to the United States through lax visa programs.
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