Mental Health Resources for Farmers

Tim Hammerich

News Reporter

Yesterday, we reported on the significant toll the pandemic has taken on the mental health of farmers and farmworkers. One challenge unique to rural communities is a lack of local resources and places to go to get help. To address this challenge, the American Farm Bureau has compiled resources on a website, www.FarmStateofMind.org. Here’s director of communications, Ray Atkinson.

Atkinson… “Anybody that's having any kind of emotional concerns or feeling a lot of stress, I'd recommend they go to a www.FarmStateOfMind.org. And we have a great website there that has crisis hotlines, treatment locators, tips for helping someone in emotional pain, ways to start conversations, and resources for managing stress, anxiety, or depression. I think particularly helpful that you'll find there is sort of some of the warning signs for stress. And things like looking at change in the appearance of somebody's farm, for instance, or their care of their animals and different things like that. So really good signs you can watch for and your friends and family and neighbors, to see if maybe they may be struggling, and there's resources there to help.”

If you or someone you know is feeling stress, anxiety, or similar mental health challenges, please visit www.FarmStateOfMind.org.