According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the suicide rate in rural areas is 45% higher than urban America. There are multiple factors that could be to blame for such a higher rate like crop prices, milk prices, the negative outlook on mental health counseling, or even the internet connection challenges rural areas have. Some of these may seem like no big deal, but when they all pile on top of each other, the stress adds up fast.
Luckily, Senators Chuck Grassley and Jon Tester inserted their Seeding Rural Resilience Act into the National Defense Authorization Act, which is currently on President Trump’s desk. The SRR Act is a bill that focuses on trying to lower the rural suicide rate. Within the bill there are three initiatives that will work together to achieve this goal.
- Put a Farmer-Facing Employee Training Program in place. Basically, it would force USDA to provide stress management training to places like FSA and National Resources Conservation Service Employees.
- The second initiative is to team the Department of Health and Human Services with USDA to create a PSA campaign that focuses on getting rid of the negative stigma behind people in rural areas prioritizing their mental health and treating it.
- The third would be to have the Secretary of Agriculture work alongside those at state and local levels to figure out the best ways to approach mental stress on farms.
This won’t be an end to all of the issues behind mental health, but it’s a step in the right direction. This gets the conversation started and hopefully, it’ll make people realize how important taking care of your mental health truly is.
