Wendy Blackwood, a licensed professional counselor with Healing Path Counseling, works to spread the word and normalize the conversation about mental health among farmers and ranchers. She spoke out about depression in an all-new “Good Roots” segment that premieres live-streaming on “Arkansas Week” on Friday, January 20 at 7:30 p.m. on Arkansas PBS and on her myarpbs.org/watch. We are talking about recognizing the signs.
Farming is considered one of the most stressful occupations in the United States, with suicide rates about 50% higher than the national average, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“There are several reasons why farmers don’t go out and help themselves,” says Blackwood. There are a lot of “pull yourself up with bootstraps” attitudes.
“There is a stigma that it is not good to help because they think they can handle it on their own.”
Dr. Cy Shurtleff of the Morrilton Veterinary Clinic says sometimes it’s just a matter of starting a conversation.
“We work on animal health, but that spills over into economic issues and everything related to that farm,” Schultref said.
It may not always be easy to recognize the signs of depression, but Blackwood said you should look for things like anxiety, irritability, fatigue, or a hopeless outlook. Normalizing mental health issues and making them part of daily conversations, he added, can be life-saving, especially in places frequented by farmers and ranchers, such as coffee shops, equipment stores and barbershops. rice field.
Anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts or struggling with mental health issues should call 988 to contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Farmers can also call 1-800-Farm-Aid or visit farmaid.org to access a network of support services.
“Good Roots” segments and bonus footage are also featured on all Arkansas PBS digital platforms, including YouTube, Facebook and the PBS Video App. The blog series accompanies a segment on myarkansaspbs.org.
This episode of “Good Roots” is funded through a Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network grant offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture. Additional information is available at myarpbs.org/GoodRoots.
