Rural America Is Having A Mental Health Crisis, This Farmer Is Fighting It

One night in 1992, farmer Jeff Ditzenberger walked into an abandoned house near his farm in Monroe, Wisconsin and lit it on fire. He had no intention of walking out alive. But as the walls caught fire around him, he changed his mind. And he walked out.

VICE News got a chance to meet Ditzenberger and some of the farmers he who say he’s helped them open up about their mental health struggles. Watch to hear his story:

In 2015, Ditzenberger started a support group called Talking, Understanding, Growth and Support — or TUGS — to informally get farmers and other rural people together to talk. Ditzenberger hopes it can help overcome what he says is a stigma around talking about mental health among farmers.