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Identifying symptoms and addressing mental health challenges in agriculture

Workshops are underway in Indiana to help recognize stress and reduce stigma surrounding mental health in agriculture.

The Healthy Minds, Healthy Lives program was created by the Indiana Rural Health Association.

Program Director Kathy Walker says the suicide rate among farmers and others in the agriculture industry is higher than the general population.

“The farming and agriculture community have some unique stressors and fluctuations and things that they just can’t control,” he says. “It presents a lot of stress and then they really can’t escape it. (Farmers) face these stressorss 24/7, 365 days a year.”

She discusses some of the signs and symptoms.

“Changes in routine behaviors; sleeplessness; anxiety, irritability, and anger that’s not normal for that person,” she says. “Verbal clues too can be indicative of struggles.”

Indiana Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch helped kick off a recent workshop in Boone County.

“There were some really bad things that happened during the COVID pandemic, but there were some good things that happened. In terms of the mental health, we all experienced some kind of mental health challenge: anxiety, depression, fear, uncertainty. We all experienced that and that was the bad. The good was that we all experienced that so now we are so much more aware of mental health challenges,” she says. “These workshops are geared to be able to remove the stigma, get people talking about it, and provide resources to help those in the ag community, whether they’re our family members, neighbors, or someone we see in the community struggling. We see farmers and people in agriculture as being strong and stoic and it’s true because they have an awesome responsibility. They’re responsible for feeding Hoosiers, Americans, and the world. And yet, they’re human and they’re just like each of us. We want to educate people through these workshops, so they know how to connect someone who is struggling and get them help. We want our farmers and people in our agriculture communities to be healthy mentally, emotionally, and physically.”

She says there is still work ahead with addressing mental health.

“The Indiana General Assembly created the Behavioral Health Commission, which will submit recommendations this fall to help better address mental health challenges in Indiana,” she says. “Next year is a budget session so that will hopefully allow us to get more resources so that we can grow the amount of behavior specialists in the state. This summer, the national 988 suicide hotline will go live and be in place and that will be another tool. But, it’s going to take all of us working together to address mental health.”

The Boone County workshop featured presentations from FFA, the AgrIInstitute, Upper Midwest Telehealth Resource Center, Purdue Farm Stress Program, and more.  

The workshops are part of a partnership with the Indiana Rural Health Association, Purdue Extension, and the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. ISDA received a $500,000 grant from the National Institute for Food and Agriculture’s Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network in October.

The one-day workshops are taking place across the state now through July. Attendees will receive Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR) certification. They will also learn about telehealth options and other mental health and stress management information.

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