Another Voice: Rural Health Includes Mental Health, But Too Often, Residents Suffer in Silence – The Buffalo News
It’s important to remember that mental health is a crucial part of rural health every day.
Growing up on my family’s multigenerational dairy farm in Chautauqua County, I knew local residents struggling with mental illness in silence, but it did not hit home until my 28-year-old nephew, Brooks, died by suicide, leaving behind 3-year-old twins. My late mother, Elaine Winton, and I made a commitment to talk openly about this tragedy, which led to me founding Rural Minds, a national nonprofit organization. The mission is to serve as the informed voice for mental health in rural America, and to provide mental health information and resources.
Forty-six million Americans, approximately 14% of the population, live in rural areas, according to the USDA. Western New York includes 20% of the state’s rural counties. Rates for depression are higher in rural America than in urban areas, and suicide rates among people living in rural areas are 64%-68% higher.