Heartland Clergy Train to Prevent Agriculture Workers’ Suicides

LAKE BENTON, Minn. (AP) — Factors largely outside of farmers’ control – from the increasingly unpredictable weather to growing costs of everything from fuel to loans – make the threat of losing the beloved family farm a constant worry.

That’s been affecting mental health and driving an uptick in suicides among agricultural workers.

So heartland states like Minnesota and South Dakota are training rural clergy in suicide prevention, teaching pastors how to start conversations about mental health and how to respond to them.

Dozens of faith leaders are learning to destigmatize seeking help for mental health among particularly self-reliant and proud congregations, so that they can stay healthy and continue to grow the crops and raise the livestock that feed people across the United States and beyond.

Children's Advocacy Project Pinwheels for Abused Children

In 2008, Prevent Child Abuse America introduced the pinwheel as the new national symbol for child abuse prevention. Why? Because by its very nature, the pinwheel connotes playfulness, joy, and childhood. It has come to serve as a physical reminder of the great childhoods we want for all children.

Source: Heartland Clergy Train to Prevent Agriculture Workers’ Suicides

Filed Under: farmers, suicide, Ranchers, South Dakota, Counseling, minnesota

Categories: Local News