How have you been feeling lately? ♥️

🤯 Lately, more and more is being said about mental health. But is it an issue for rural America? Based on an American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) report, it is: two out of three farmers have acknowledged the pandemic has affected their mental health, and more than half are personally experiencing more mental health challenges than a year ago. 

    • Farmers continually work and live in an atmosphere that can be pretty stressful and unpredictable – the weather, markets, animal care, crop health, technology advancements, and diseases (animal or human). So that doesn’t come as much of a surprise, really…

🙏 Even though mental health problems are common and nearly half the people experience them, they’re still a taboo. However, mental health issues are here to stay, and we need to talk about them – especially because help is available, and there are no reasons to suffer and all reasons to have hope!

    • If you’re wondering, you can start by paying attention to the needs of your neighbors and the people around you, offering them your support, acknowledging what they are going through, and becoming well informed about mental health (check out the Mental Health First Aid for more information). Ah, and one last thing: helping others is great, but helping yourself is necessary as well.