Senator Marshall Participates in Documentary Highlighting the Significant Mental Health Challenges Facing Farmers and Ranchers  

Washington – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas) participated in a recently released documentary called Out of the Shadows, which showcases the mental health crisis that is plaguing rural America.

Specifically, the data shows that:

• The suicide rate has increased 46% in rural America in the last 20 years. 
• U.S. farmers are 3.5 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population, according to the National Rural Health Association.  
• 65% of rural counties across the U.S. don’t have a single psychiatrist. 
• 60% of farmers meet the accepted medical criteria for depression.
• Agriculture has the fourth highest suicide rate by industry.

You may click HERE or on the image above to watch the documentary. 

Highlights from the documentary include:

On what is happening with the rural mental health crisis today:

Senator Marshall: “I grew up in agriculture and I’ve just have never seen the amount of stress that I am seeing today in the world of agriculture. It’s the input costs, it’s the interest rates… you know, we were all brought up in agriculture, we were taught farm safety. And despite the best practices, we still lose a farmer about once a day across the country to some type of a farm-related accident. But we’re also losing a farmer, almost every day, to suicide as well.”

On the pressures of family legacy facing farmers:

Senator Marshall: “Think about the pressure on my farmers. I am a fifth-generation farm kid. Many of these folks today will be sixth generations. So for six generations, they’ve been able to keep this farm going. A farmer doesn’t inherit the land from their ancestors, they borrow it from their children. And I think some are just embarrassed by the circumstances. They’ve not been able to keep the family farm together.”

On the challenges facing rural communities when it comes to mental health:

Senator Marshall: “Most farmers have to travel 30, 60, 100 miles for any type of care, more than just an urgent care situation. So, there certainly aren’t the resources in rural America that you’d see in an urban setting.”

“…It’s just gone unrecognized, untreated for too long. It doesn’t have to be this way. There’s help out there. I just think the stress is so immense right now, on farmers. They need a word of encouragement, and that’s my job. My job is to be out there and be a message of hope.”

###