Suicide Prevention and Stress Management in Farmers: The Overlooked Role of Farm Finances

Farmers experience high levels of stress, disproportionately high rates of depression and anxiety, and have suicide rates much higher than the general population. The authors and colleagues have examined the unique characteristics of farmers (high time demands, stigma around mental health needs, lack of mental health knowledge and ability to access services) and how suicide prevention and stress management interventions must be shaped to respect farmers’ needs. In this short communication we add to that work, realizing that one cannot address farmer stress and mental health without addressing the significant financial stressors they face. We begin building a knowledge base to inform future interventions by identifying the financial topics farmers would most like to learn about and which would thus decrease stress. We surveyed 310 farmers at several regional commodity conferences, asking them to rate a list of financial topics as “not helpful,” “a little helpful,” or “very helpful.” Analysis showed that the majority of farmers saw all topics as very helpful. The most frequently selected topics involved learning about programs that would help farmers post-disaster and programs to access government financial support. Interestingly, we found that for most of the financial topics, farmers who saw them as helpful were significantly younger than those who saw them as not helpful. We believe that addressing the financial information farmers need to reduce stress and promote success is crucial for provision of farmer mental health services. By integrating financial and stress management information in interventions, providers can promote vital mental health and well-being skills while also acknowledging and addressing the financial stresses farmers face. Tailoring programming to meet the needs of younger versus older farmers will be important to ensure programming meets varied farmers’ needs.