News

Everything is not really ‘fine”

New research is finding more than half of farm families are dealing with symptoms of depression or anxiety.

Josie Rudolphi is with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

“A majority of our respondents would rate their mental health as good, despite also meeting the criteria for perhaps mild, moderate, or even severe depression,” she says.

Rudolphi is partway through a five-year nationwide project studying how farm economics impact the mental health of farmers and their children.

“Sixty percent of adults met the criteria for at least mild symptoms of depression and mild symptoms of anxiety,” she shares.

She tells Brownfield that’s much higher than rates in the general population and, more surprising, the same prevalence of symptoms was found in adolescents.

“Net relationship or correlation between parent depression and adolescent depression is incredibly strong,” she adds.

Rudolphi says it’s likely the farm community has grown accustomed to the negative symptoms and accepts them as normal.

If you are in need of help and need someone to talk to please reach out to the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8.

Find more about the research here.