Mental Health Stigmas in Rural America: Mental Health Awareness Month

Mental Health Awareness Month

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Farmers, ranchers, and producers face difficulties from every direction. Whether it's drought, trade, natural disasters, or policy changes, all these struggles can lead to one thing. Stress.

May is National Mental Health Awareness Month. In rural America, there can be a stigma about what mental health is and getting help if you're struggling. I spoke with Beth Christian's

High Plains Mental Health, a senior clinical outpatient supervisor and therapist about what

this stigma looks like in Kansas.

"We have seen a lot of good education and outreach in our part of the data Kansas in the last probably five to ten years over mental health, how to reach out, get resources. There's been a lot of good education in the schools, but there's still belief out here that, you know, I can just push through this. I'm strong and not that people aren't strong, but they often believe that if they just keep pushing through it and not talking about it, that it'll just automatically get better," Christians said.

While producers can be stressed about an array of things, many of them are out of their control.

"You know, there's a lot of external stress on farmers that they really don't have a lot of control over. And so it just takes a lot of faith on their part to say, I'm just going to do the hard work that I do every year and hope that this is the year that I end up in the black instead of the red," Christians said.

Christians emphasize the importance of checking in on family and friends.

"I think with farmers, the unique challenge that they have is a lot of their day is usually spent by themselves. They're working 12, 14, sometimes 16 hour days in the tractor in the combine with their own thought. And so just being to be diligent to reach out to other farmers, to family, even just some of your friends from the community, just to say to check in," Christians said.

If you are in a Mental Health Crisis, call 988 to speak with someone.

To learn more about meeting with a psychiatrist or pursuing telehealth, visit https://hpmhc.com.