RESOURCES | KansasAgStress

Support for farmers and ranchers through a variety of events and programs.

Being depressed can make you feel helpless. You're not. Along with therapy and sometimes medication, there's a lot you can do on your own to fight back. Changing your behavior, your physical activity, lifestyle, and even your way of thinking, are all natural depression treatments. Below you will find a list of resources that can help keep you involved and informed of today's current events.

You’re invited to the USDA Mental Health Awareness Month Virtual Workshop Series taking place on Tuesdays starting May 9 through June 6, 2023 from 2:00-3:30pm ET. The workshop series convenes farmers and ranchers, faith leaders, rural health providers, USDA employees, and Federal, state, and university partners to dialogue and discuss mental health challenges, stressors, and the resources and services available to address them. Click here and see below for more information and to register. These meetings will be conducted virtually using Zoom.gov. A link to the workshop will be provided upon registration. If you have any questions, please contact center@usda.gov; please note that you will need to register for each workshop separately.

Farm Stress and Suicide Prevention: Data, Challenges, and Opportunities co-hosted by the American Farm Bureau Federation

Tuesday, May 9, 2023, 2:00 – 3:30 PM ET

Farm Stress and Suicide Prevention Agenda

This session provides context for the issue of farm stress and suicide by focusing on available data, challenges, and opportunities for farm stress researchers, practitioners, and service providers. Panelists include the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, the American Farm Bureau Federation, Farm Aid, and others to discuss the state of the field and offer insights into their respective partner programs, resources, and emergent needs.

Veteran’s Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Workshop

Tuesday, May 16, 2023, 2:00 – 3:30 PM ET

Veteran's Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Workshop Agenda

Rural Veterans experience a significantly increased risk of suicide. In this workshop, you will learn how to act with care and compassion if you encounter a Veteran who is in crisis or experiencing suicidal thoughts.

Rural Mental Health Matters: Challenges, Opportunities & Resources for Communities cohosted by the National Association of Behavioral Health and Development Disability Directors

Tuesday, May 23, 2023, 2:00 – 3:30 PM ET

This session focuses on the resources and tools that are available in rural places, where over 60% of Americans live in mental health provider shortage areas. Speakers will examine current programs focused on giving rural and frontier communities the tools they need to thrive through creative problem solving. With perspectives rooted in rural services, behavioral health, and technology, the presentations and follow-on conversation will explore the importance of increasing the efficiency of providers in rural areas and other solutions, to challenges that rural communities face to ensure community wellbeing and economic prosperity.

Farm Stress and Suicide: Faith, Place, and Community Health

Tuesday, May 30, 2:00 – 3:30 PM ET

This session provides an overview of the USDA Center for Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and highlights the challenges faced by many Americans during Mental Health Awareness Month. A training on farm stress, health and wellbeing will be provided by The Well Church Initiative of Texas A&M Extension, to discuss and highlight tools and resources available to faith and community-based organizations as they support their congregants and communities.

LGBTQ+ Mental Health in Communities

Tuesday, June 6, 2023, 2:00 – 3:30 PM ET

This session will focus on the lived experienced of LGBTQ+ identifying folks in communities across the country. Discussion and dialogue will focus on mental health, the relationship to stress, and more.

Promotional Materials

Please feel free to download, print and share any promotional materials that appear on this website. The more people we reach, the more people we can help. Just talking about mental health issues, even to one person, helps break the stigma.

Training Opportunity: Mental Health Issues in Agricultural Populations

Offered by Kansas Train, this web-based training module is designed to assist nurses and other healthcare professionals to identify sources of stress among farmers and to recognize manifestations of stress such as anxiety, depression, and the increased suicide rate in the farming population. Interventions to decrease, modify, or eliminate the stress will be shared.

Mental Health First Aid

Mental Health First Aid is a course that teaches you how to help someone who is developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. The training helps you identify, understand, and respond to signs of addictions and mental illnesses.

Question. Persuade. Refer. (QPR)

Three steps anyone can learn to help prevent suicide. The QPR mission is to reduce suicidal behaviors and save lives by providing innovative, practical and proven suicide prevention training. The signs of crisis are all around us. We believe that quality education empowers all people, regardless of their background, to make a positive difference in the life of someone they know.

Training Materials: Rural Resilience Training

As part of their mission to support rural communities and agriculture during this difficult farm economy, Farm Credit has developed training materials focused on mental health and stress management. These Rural Resilience online courses are free and open to the public. They are made possible by grant funding from Farm Credit.

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Mental health is about emotional health, brain health, healthy children and families, and a healthy Kansas. Contact your local Community Mental Health Center if you or someone you know needs help, counseling or other support services.