May Mental Health Resource Round-Up!
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and as a group focused on well-being, including most certainly (and importantly!) mental health, we thought we’d make a shortlist of resources and recommendations relating to mental health and agriculture. While some of these are specific to the Rocky Mountain region that we serve via the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, many are national, some are international and some are available to anyone and everyone via the amazing miracle of the interwebs!
Check them out. Click on a few links. Watch a few videos. Pass them on to someone who needs them. Connect in person, connect virtually, help us build a community of people who care!
Crisis Helplines and Resources for Tough Times
Are you in crisis now, or are you concerned that someone you know is? You are not alone!
We have sourced free, reputable crisis hotlines available for Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico. Not from one of those states? Click on any of the links, and you will find national resources as well.
On the fence about calling? Call anyway. You don’t have to be “sure” you need help. You don’t have to know, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a friend or family member is in crisis. The folks on the other end of these lines are trained professionals, and they’ll help you figure out what’s next.
Want to Know (Really Know) You’re Not Alone?
Hear it from other farmers and ranchers.
Sometimes, it can feel contrived to hear the words “You’re not alone.” Especially when they come from well-intentioned people outside of the agricultural community. How can they possibly understand the stressors farmers and ranchers face? Even if they mean well?
It’s different to speak with someone who has been through exactly what you’re facing. It’s reassuring to listen to stories of success through struggles that match one’s own. And now, all over the world, people are starting to talk about mental health and the unique struggles of managing mental health in agricultural professions. Take the members of this ranching community, working with the National Grazing Lands Coalition to speak frankly about mental health in ranching and share their own experiences.
Or this Canadian farmer, working on the cold, windswept plains of our neighbors to the north, talking about the stress of farming, the toll it took on his mental health, and how he worked through it.
Jean-Martin Fortier, one of the heroes of market gardening, speaks here about “The Hidden Side of Farming.”
Farmers as far away as New Zealand and as close by as our own backyards are opening up to speak about their experiences with mental health in the agricultural world.
Click on any of the links above to hear their stories.
Need an extra-inspiring story? Check out this one about farmer Jeff Ditzenberger who, after nearly taking his own life in 1992, has worked tirelessly for the last 30 years to advocate for mental health awareness among other farmers.
You are, truly, not alone.
A Few More Things to Check Out…
Do you live in Colorado? An amazing resource is available to members of rural agricultural communities and those who work in agriculture: free vouchers for mental health services. It only takes a few clicks of a button to access yours.
Riding around for hours doing spring planting or checking fences? Check out The Rural Realities podcast to listen to a host of boots-on-the-ground episodes about life in agriculture.
Want to stay in touch with us, and get regular updates on what we’re doing to try and build well-being in the Rocky Mountain region? Follow us on social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! Or contact us anytime for more information or resources.
Let’s all work to be well.
— Your Agwell Team
