The beginnings of a major look at the mental health of rural Georgians have been released and the results help to shine a light on the difficulties rural Georgia faces for mental health treatment. In the state of Georgia, the suicide rate among farm workers is more than three times that of the average worker.
Part of an ongoing study from the Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center (GRHIC) at Mercer University, in partnership with the Georgia Foundation of Agriculture (GFA) and the Mercer School of Medicine, the pilot survey received responses from more than 500 farm owners, workers, managers or their spouses about mental health.
“This preliminary research is an important first step in laying the groundwork for our foundation’s response to this growing challenge for Georgia farmers,” GFA Executive Director Lily Baucom said. “The statewide survey will help inform our strategy on this important issue long-term.”
The study was distributed wide geographically, with farm owners from 135 counties and farm workers representing 86 counties around the state completing the survey.
The study found that half of farmers are happy with their occupation, but do experience high levels of stress from different sources. Per the report, “most farmers worry at least one to three hours per day, and about half felt loneliness, sadness, or depression, with a third feeling hopeless. A third (31%) had suicidal ideation at least once in the past year. Less than a quarter of the participants had access to a psychologist. About 12% said they would like to visit a mental health professional but has not done so yet.”
Some of the sources of worry are relatively unique to the agriculture industry. Farm workers most identified source of stress was retirement savings, while farm owners top concern was the impact of weather on their income. A large majority (65 percent) of farmers relied on their farm income to sustain their household. Succession planning was also a top worry, with nearly half of participants worrying about it moderately to extremely often. In an industry that skews much older than most, and with many children choosing not to go into the family business, older farmers are left wondering what will happen to their land when they retire.
The GRHIC noted in their report that one of the generally accepted healthy coping mechanisms for stress is recreational activities but the survey showed that two-thirds of participants did not have access to these activities. Rural areas are less likely to have some of the recreational opportunities the suburbs or city might have, and, despite being surrounded by forest or farmland, recreational parks are relatively few. The survey results also showed that the most popular coping mechanism to deal with stress or anxiety was alcohol. Not an answer a medical survey will generally look favorably on.
Click here for the full results from the pilot survey.
A broader statewide survey is planned for January.
