Mental health in United States agricultural workers
[6][7][8][9][10][11] For example, in a 2019 international review article, 71% of studies that compared farming to non-farming populations found that farmers showed worse mental health.
As previously indicated, 2015 data from the U.S. National Violent Death Registry System (NVDRS), maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a suicide rate of 32.2 per 100,000 farmers, ranchers, and agricultural managers.
Agricultural work is equivalent to being an entrepreneur without the access to capital and where the probability of showing a profit is not only uncertain, but unpredictable.
[28] While U.S. farmers can use the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker program, the system has been called burdensome, as it requires legal assistance and extensive paperwork.
[32] Aside from the physical demands of farm work, exposures to pesticides and other chemicals, viruses, bacteria, and other human health pathogens are also likely.
[34][35] Environmental stressors such as climate variability will make farming a greater challenge in the future as droughts and extreme weather events become more frequent.
Extreme heat stress, made worse by climate change, will reduce product yields;[41][42] increase the use of inputs such as pesticides[43][44] and fertilizers;[45][46] and impact the health of farmers and field workers.
[47][48] Policy directed at climate change mediation will become important to addressing food security and sustaining agricultural markets, but farmers have no control of these factors.
[52] Farmers often feel that traditional medical care professionals do not understand farm culture and healthcare workers do not communicate with them in a way that encourages honest discourse.
[65][66][67][68] These stressors are manifested in the form of depression, anxiety, and alcohol abuse which they experience at a higher rate than non-farmworker Latinas.
However, this study also concluded that farm girls had higher overt risk-taking, which is associated with mental health issues and stress.
[73] This lack of social support and stigma may lead to a sense of isolation, poor mental health, and a reluctance to access rural primary and preventative healthcare.
[74][75][76] Some studies have reported higher levels of threats, property damage, and discrimination in rural LGBTQ+ individuals, as well as homophobia from neighbors.
[61] These farmers experience additional stresses and adversity due to racism, prejudice, low socioeconomic status, and poor social support.
[79] In 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act created a US$123 million USDA debt relief and loan forgiveness program for nonwhite farmers in another attempt to correct past discriminatory practices, but its future is currently uncertain.
[81] In a study of North Carolina migrant farm workers, Hiott et al. (2008) found that migrant farm workers who experienced social isolation and poor work conditions were more likely to have symptoms of anxiety and depression, and Sandberg et al. (2012) found that 28% of Latino farmworkers reported depressive symptoms.
[81] These workers also are disproportionately affected by healthcare access issues, including lack of insurance, poverty, and cultural and language barriers.
Moreover, some workers may not seek help for health issues due to fears over their immigration status, lack of transportation, and inability to get time off from their job.
[87] One is to develop a family and business plan for emergencies, which may include uncontrollable weather, machinery breakdowns, unexpected illness, fluctuating commodity prices, or other issues.
Being mindful of diet and of alcohol and drug consumption can ensure that these substances are not being used to mask a mental health condition.
Choosing to seek help requires complex decision-making, which may be challenging while experiencing a mental health disorder, or from barriers such as lack of access, knowledge of resources, or community of support (stigma).
[11] In addition, agricultural communities may normalize certain types of mental illness, such as depression, which propagates a perception that treatments are not necessary or worthwhile, or can be addressed through self-reliant means.
[89] Some may feel that they cannot receive treatment in a private way—either their car will be recognized in a parking lot, or they lack the privacy in their home to have a telehealth visit that won't be overheard.
[55] The early days of research on mental health on farmers, their families, and farmworkers was predominantly focused on alcohol and drug abuse.
[94] In interviews of rural leaders, Bentz et al. (1971) found that participants recognized mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and depression within their communities, but families could not do much to help them.
Responses to mental health challenges came from state agencies of agriculture, university extension, and farmer organizations through suicide hotlines, fundraising to support household needs, and family mediation services.
[101][102][103][104] Research on migrant farmworkers has focused on stressors, presentation of stress, depression, anxiety, violence, and the impact of the lack of medical care.
Soon after the recession, a near-decade-long drought in the Western United States and particularly in California brought to the forefront the woes of climate change.
