Rural Minds’ Founder Jeff Winton: Guest Opinion piece featured on DAILYHERD.Com
Reader Responds to Mental Health Struggles in Agriculture
The Letter to the Editor below was submitted in response to Toxic Grit: Is Our Greatest Strength Our Greatest Weakness on the Farm?
Dear Editor: My 28-year-old nephew, Brooks, was a multi-generational dairy farmer and father of 4-year-old twins. His death by suicide is a tragic and poignant indicator of a problem that is drastically increasing. My family is from upstate New York. I currently own a dairy farm and am the Founder and CEO of a communications firm working in the agricultural/ biotechnology/ pharmaceutical arenas. I find this article to be a needed and strong voice for advocates of rural mental health.
Your article is impactful for many reasons. I think it points to changing areas of healthcare, including rural-urban disparities, the potential benefits of telehealth, the need for educational outreach, and the mental health concerns facing a self-reliant population who internalizes distress and generally assumes a greater role in their mental and physical wellbeing. The following points are powerful when added to the statistic you included of one in five adults experiencing a form of mental illness each year.