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Drought Takes Harsh Toll On Farmers' Souls

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By KRISTIN M. HALL, The Associated Press

Published: November 25, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - American farmers no longer have to stoically face all that nature and the economy can dish out.

At least eight states offer free mental health hot lines to assist farmers and producers through difficult patches. During times of exceptional drought, such as the one that has covered the Southeast this year, the hot lines report a jump in calls from farmers needing emotional counseling and stress management.

The confidential hot lines offer a variety of resources such as vouchers for therapy sessions, referrals to mental health providers and trained financial experts who can analyze a farmer's bills. Some hot lines are operated by nonprofit or religious organizations. Others, like Tennessee's, are a part of a university's agriculture department.

Agriwellness Inc., a nonprofit devoted to the behavioral health of people in agriculture, coordinates hot lines in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North and South Dakota and Wisconsin and gets an average of 12,000 to 14,000 calls a year.

Michael R. Rosmann, executive director of Agriwellness, said drought is especially tough on farmers and producers because its effects last over more than one season.

"It wears down people's spirits. You don't know when it's going to end and what you're going to do about it," Rosmann said.

Richard Jameson, 53, a farmer in western Tennessee, watched his cotton and soybean crops shrivel under several weeks of extreme heat and a prolonged drought this year. He said it would have been harder to weather the crisis if he hadn't decided on his own to seek therapy about nine years ago.

"I was waking up at 4 a.m. every day with my heart pounding," Jameson said. "I had gotten to a point in my life when I knew I needed help."

Jameson said his regular visits to a therapist in Memphis, about 50 miles from his Haywood County farm, help him realize that he isn't alone in dealing with depression.

"Farmers often work by themselves. That near isolation can really exacerbate feelings of worthlessness, anxiety or depression," Jameson said. "We feel like nobody in the history of mankind has any idea what we go through."

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