Latest News From Mental Health

Promoting mental health involves fostering supportive environments, reducing stigma, providing access to care and resources and encouraging self-care. Here's how The Maschhoffs is helping their employees manage stress.

It’s important the friends, family, and business professionals close to farmers are prepared and able to effectively communicate in a mental health crisis.

From improved telehealth services to reimagined small-town hospitals, the National Rural Health Association is working to help folks in farm country tap into more and better medical care options.

More than 1 in 5 U.S. adults live with a mental illness. U.S. Representative Jim Costa (D-CA) says Congress cannot ignore the mental health crisis in America anymore. 

September is National Suicide Prevention Month. According to the CDC, between 2000 and 2020 suicide rates climbed 46% in rural areas. By comparison, the rate in metro areas climbed 27.3%. 

It was way too late on a Sunday night to be doing laundry at a coin laundromat in an unfamiliar part of town. But we had no choice. There are some things in life you just have to do even when you don’t want to.

It's no wonder farmers experience higher levels of anxiety and depression because of the many factors they deal with that are out of their control. But how does that affect their family? A new study sheds light.

A new collaboration involving the Minnesota Pork Board and the Minnesota Pork Producers Association will improve access to mental health care in rural and outstate Minnesota.

The other night PORK editor Jennifer Shike and her daughter had a conversation she hopes they never forget. Here's why it's one we can all relate to.

Farming is getting far more complex, says Ted Matthews, director of Rural Minnesota Mental Health Support. Because of that, it’s more important than ever to take care of yourself.

Jacob Peak oversees 13 production partner sites for The Maschhoffs, all of which are close in proximity. In October, disease pressure surged through the area creating an overwhelming complex and complicated situation.

With the current economic situation, both in agriculture and even personally, it is easy to feel stress and overwhelmed. Here are some suggestions on how to manage stress and work through a difficult time.

It doesn’t matter if it’s spring, summer, winter or fall, weather is always on producers’ minds. While slower seasons can offer relief, winter can drain emotional batteries. Here are two steps to help find relief.

Humans tend to pick up things they think they need to carry – it can be anything from a side comment from a colleague or an awful interaction with a family member to an unavoidable decision on the farm.

After 30 years working in the field of rural mental health, Ted Matthews understands the factors that stress farmers and knows how to help them.

A little bit better is a little bit better, said Ted Matthews, director of Minnesota Rural Mental Health. Matthews dispels myths about mental health, counseling and anxiety on the farm.

My 28-year-old nephew, Brooks, was a multi-generational 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, a reader shared.

When a mental health crisis hits, Shannon Ferrell, Oklahoma State University ag law specialist, outlines seven resources to keep handy in the event you are the first responder to help someone in need someday. 

It started with a broken baler. The farmer panicked. He had recently lost his brother to cancer and his father to old age. Not to mention he had 2,500 acres to farm, 250 beef cows to attend to and his crop just froze. 

“Suck it up buttercup.” This familiar phrase is one many farmers and ranchers learn early in life: be tough, self-reliant and resilient. But experts say that approach doesn't work when dealing with stress.

Trade war. Ethanol headaches. Daunting price outlooks. 2020 has been overwhelming for farmers so many reasons – and that’s not even considering the rug that really got pulled from under us, says John Phipps.

Minnesota farmer Bob Worth shares tools available to combat farm stress and depression and talks about the impact on his own family.

Social withdrawal is a key thing to watch for in our friends now, but with social distancing , that’s hard to see, says Val Farmer, a clinical psychologist and author. It's important to get your friends talking.

Health is the most important asset for any operation, says Sean Brotherson, an Extension specialist at North Dakota State University. He shares a few ways to prioritize your health, especially in times of crisis.

Wellness doesn’t just happen. It’s a choice that requires prioritization and accountability. From how you spend your time to who you spend it with, it all requires a balance that’s often challenging to find.

Are you operating at peak capacity? A veterinarian shares why it’s so vital to take care of you.

When it comes to mental health information, a new study shows farmers want to receive information face-to-face from their innermost circle.

If employees are experiencing mental health issues at home, they are sure to be present in the workplace as well. Here are four ways to support employees and create a healthy working environment.

Farming is stressful—this year proves challenging for even experienced farmers. However, it’s important for you, friends and family to remember that stress on the farm should be just that—stress on the farm.

The emotional toll of farming today is weighing on many livestock producers and farmers.

Younger rural adults reported experiencing more mental health challenges now than a year ago, according to an April 2019 rural stress poll conducted for the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Calls to the Wisconsin Farm Center, which helps distressed farmers, were up last year, including a 33 percent increase in November and December compared to the same two months the previous year.

Rates of depression tend to be higher in rural areas, yet rural residents may have a harder time accessing mental health care. A new $13.3 million study will help get the right treatment to the right patients.

Rates of depression tend to be higher in rural areas, yet rural residents may have a harder time accessing mental health care. A new $13.3 million study will help get the right treatment to the right patients.

Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) have introduced legislation to provide farmers with resources and to respond to difficult times.