Rural Minds Executive Director Chuck Strand appeared on the Mental Health Matters Podcast with host Andra Hollenbeck. The podcast is offered in partnership with NAMI-Southern Oregon (NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness).

The two discuss the mental health challenges facing rural Americans, the barriers to access to mental healthcare in rural areas, and addressing the stigma surrounding mental illness.

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, the May episode of Wheat World, The National Association of Wheat Growers’ monthly podcast, focused on how to tackle the mental health crisis in rural America. Host Elizabeth Rivera spoke with Jeff Winton, President and Chairman of Rural Minds, and Nathan Lawson, Kentucky producer and mental health advocate.

Forty-eight hours in September 2012 contained one of a farming family’s happiest days and one of its most tragic.

Brooks Winton’s older brother, Toby, had just gotten married, and the extended family had gathered to celebrate.

Two days later, Brooks, 28, took his own life, leaving behind a wife and 3-year-old twins.

“He gave me a big hug as I was leaving the wedding reception and said, ‘Uncle Jeff, I just want you to know I so appreciate everything you’ve done for my family and me,’” said New York dairy farmer Jeff Winton.

“I didn’t think anything of it because he was a very grateful, very appreciative young man that always went out of his way to thank people for things,” Winton said. “But little did I know he was saying goodbye to me.”

The unpredictability that comes with farming is one factor that can influence the well-being of producers. Crop success is contingent on timing and moisture, and the prices farmers receive for their products are dependent on demand and other external factors.

“It’s an occupation where there is so much out of an individual’s control,” Rudolphi told Agri-Pulse.

Addressing mental health in rural communities comes with its share of challenges, according to Chuck Strand, executive director of the nonprofit Rural Minds. Shortages of mental health professionals can force rural citizens to travel long distances seeking care, and telehealth may not be an option for those who lack internet access. The stigma associated with seeking mental health care can be another barrier, Strand said.

The National Grange has partnered with Rural Minds, a nonprofit confronting mental health challenges in rural America, to develop a Rural Suicide Awareness and Prevention program that uses a grassroots, person-to-person approach to providing information and resources. This also dovetails with the National Grange’s efforts to provide broadband access to telemedicine through which rural Americans can better reach mental health experts and clinicians.