Dr. Kimberly Lansing (Gunderson Health photo)
Farmers are traditionally the first to jump in and help when a neighbor is in trouble, but farmers may be very slow to help themselves, especially when it comes to their mental health and dealing with stress.
Dr. Kimberly Lansing, a rural medicine specialist with the Gunderson Health System, says spring planting season looms in Iowa, what may be one of the most difficult times of the year for farmers and too few will seek counseling to cope.
“Often, there are worries about a stigma associated with mental health, and people are afraid to seek help,” Lansing says. “Sometimes, they don’t know where to seek help, and so it’s a very interesting kind of plus-and-minus to a farming community.”
A University of Iowa study finds suicide rates were 45-percent higher for people in rural areas, and farmers stood out as having even higher rates compared to the general population. The UI study found farmer suicide rates for the Midwest were three times the national average.
Help is available through a variety of resources, including the Iowa Farm Bureau and the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Lansing says farming is an exceptionally difficult career path, with continual challenges from the weather, equipment, labor, and the commodities markets.
“It’s always been this sort of a ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps,’ you know, we’re the tough American farmer and people depend on us,” Lansing says. “It’s less than 1% of the population that are farmers, and they’re feeding this entire country, so there’s a responsibility that comes with that.”
Some farmers have been on the same land for generations and she says nobody wants to be the one who loses the farm. Social isolation can be a real problem for farmers, Lansing says, and we need to learn to lean on each other more.
“People that are close to them, neighbors, fellow farmers, it’s really important when you do see these folks, to really kind of try to pick up on how things are going for them,” Lansing says. “It doesn’t hurt to grab an extra coffee, an extra pastry, and pop by your neighbor’s farm and say, ‘Hey I haven’t seen you in a while. How’s it going?'”
Lansing says farmers need to consider how quickly they’d rush to help a neighbor in need. “And try to give yourself that same amount of compassion and realize that you’re not just a number, you’re not just another farmer, you are part of the whole puzzle,” Lansing says, “and we need you to be there and we need to help you do your best to do what you love to do.”
The Gunderson Health System includes a hospital in West Union, and clinics in Fayette, Decorah, Waukon, Lansing, Postville and Calmar.