Farmer mental health: Demand surges in regional communities

The number of farmers seeking mental health support has surged in recent months, with remote areas facing wait times of up to six months for help.

The number of farmers seeking mental health support and counselling services has doubled, according to one charity.

And with data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reporting many remote areas have as few as zero psychiatrists in the regions, gaps in mental health services are emerging.

Registered charity This Is A Conversation Starter – a free mental health counselling service with a focus on blue collar workers and farmers – has seen the number of people accessing counselling services increase, with 16 per cent of calls in the past quarter from farmers or people from rural areas – a 50 per cent increase on eight per cent four months prior.

TIACS co-chief executive Jason Banks said the rise in demand was not surprising.

TIACS co-founders Dan Allen and Ed Ross. TIACS figures show a 50 per cent growth in the number of farmers reaching out for mental health support. Picture: Supplied.

“The situation has quickly escalated to a matter of serious national importance and not enough attention is being paid to support those who live and work on the land and surrounding communities,” Mr Banks said.

“I strongly believe that the number one cohort of people reaching out to us during the next 12 to 18 months will be farmers.”

HealthBright clinical director Michelle Olaithe works to bring physiological and psychiatric care to people across Australia via HealthBright’s telehealth services.

“We’ve found about 40 per cent of our clients are from regional and remote Australia,” Ms Olaithe said.

She said wait times as long as six months for people trying to access psychologists was driving more people to use a company such as HealthBright to fill the gap.

“Even in metro areas, the longer a person has to wait for care … it results in more symptoms, more severe symptoms, and that doesn’t matter what area they are in,” Ms Olaithe said.

“But if they’re in regional and remote areas, their wait times are just that much longer, because the services are just not there. That means we’re going to definitely see increased rates of symptoms in severity, and risk in this areas.”