The Fresno State professor is working on a proposal to get mental health treatment for needy Mexican-Americans. The proposal, which he plans to submit to Fresno County officials early next year, is based on Aguilar-Gaxiola's finding that recent Mexican immigrants suffer less frequently from mental illness than Mexicans who have lived in America longer than 13 years. Think of what that means. Thousands of Mexicans travel north in search of the California Dream, but the longer they stay here, the worse it is for their mental health. It's a slow build.
New immigrants are far from their extended families, which offer so much support in Mexico.
Add to that the discrimination they face every day, and the stress induced by their back-breaking physical work. They also must overcome language and cultural barriers to survive. Some new immigrants drink or take drugs to numb themselves from their depression, which only begins a concurrent downward spiral into substance abuse. We pull into Bakersfield and follow the bright stadium lights that illuminate a four-block area of town. The field is covered with parents and students building this year's homecoming floats, each class in a different corner of the gridiron.