A study has found that about 30 percent of people in coastal Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and Alabama say they suffer psychological distress from the oil spill.

The percentage of Louisiana coastal respondents afflicted with serious mental illness is double what it was among south Louisiana residents in July 2007, two years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the state, says Dr. Joseph E. Bisordi, chief medical officer of the Ochsner Health System.

It has been reported that the survey, which measures mental health impacts after the explosion on BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig off the Louisiana coast April 20, finds 30 percent suffer from probable serious or probable mild-moderate mental illness, using the K6 psychological distress scale, 18 percent in Louisiana, 12 percent in Mississippi, 14 percent in Florida and 10 percent in Alabama.

Bisordi says in a statement, "To see so many people mired in psychological misery and in worse shape than they were after Katrina is disheartening. This benchmark identifies the need for mental health services throughout the region."

The survey further indicates that thirty-two percent of those making less than $25,000 annually are classified as having probable serious mental illness, while 2 percent of those making more than $100,000 having probable serious mental illness.

It was further reported that the telephone survey of 406 U. S. adults age 21 and older was conducted by Market Dynamics Research Group June 25 to July 1. (With Inputs from Agencies)