COLUMBUS, Ohio — Mental health is a topic that people are talking about more often.

What You Need To Know

  • Farmers are 3.5 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population

  • The stigma has been that farmers don’t want to discuss their mental health

  • Alliances are being formed to break through the silence of farm stress and mental health

One group that often struggles with it is farmers. According to the National Rural Health Association, farmers are 3.5 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population.

It’s something Nathan Brown knows all too well, having lost a close friend and fellow farmer who was struggling with mental health.

“I’ve lost friends to suicide,” said Brown. “My heart has broken so many times.”

But he said it’s one thing to watch someone experience the problem, yet not always easy to discuss it.

“I’ve gotta speak out and tell guys it’s ok not to be ok and we’re all in this together,” Brown said.  

Brown isn’t alone.

Ty Higgins, with the Ohio Farm Bureau, said the stigma has always been that farmers don’t want to discuss their mental health. But he’s trying to change that. 

“We have formed an alliance that includes agriculture groups, academia and mental health professionals at the government agencies in Ohio to really break through the silence of farm stress and mental health,” said Higgins.

Higgins said while there are more mental health resources becoming available to farmers, he finds a lot of them don’t have a background in agriculture.

“Almost half of farmers across Ohio admit that they’re going through some challenges, we know what those challenges are, but the reason this alliance is so important is because as much as we know about agriculture, we don’t know a lot about mental health on the agriculture side,” Higgins said.

“There’s so many of us on a day to day that are struggling and talking with friends and neighbors and even some of my own struggles over the years has really highlighted the importance of talking about mental health and really trying to break that stigma,” Brown said.

Brown has taken it upon himself to try to change that stigma.

“We’re the ones who are supposed to be strong and we don’t always take time to ourselves, and it’s become really evident to me, I’m one of those guys who wants to go go go and but I gotta figure out how to take time to take care of myself,” Brown said.

Dee Jepsen, professor at Ohio State University and State Agricultural Safety and Health Leader, is an advocate for farmer’s mental health. 

“We’re really trying to break down those barriers and tell farmers to give it a try and talk to someone who would provide you with some of those dire resources that you might need,” said Jepsen.

To access those resources, Jepsen said farmers can dial 9-8-8.  

“You can call to talk to a counselor at any time regardless of your situation and seek some help immediately on the farm no matter the time of day,” Jepsen said.

“It’s a continuing thing a lot of the time when you struggle with mental health, it’s ok to reach out to mental health professionals, it’s ok to reach out to friends,” Brown said.