In a new study, University of Georgia researchers revealed that almost one in four U.S. farmers turns to binge drinking as a way to cope with out-of-balance levels of on-farm stress. According to a survey of 1,045 farmers in this study, this is an important concern for the agricultural community’s mental health, further exaggerated by cultural stigmas and limited access to health care in rural areas.
A study published in the Journal of Agromedicine revealed that nearly 96 percent of respondents reported alcohol consumption, with about 27 percent having two to three drinks or more per week. An alarming 23.4 percent of farmers admit to binge drinking on a weekly or daily basis. This survey, conducted from November 2022 to February 2023, also showed that farmers often had multiple drinks at a time: 34% had three or four drinks and 22.5% had five or six drinks at one time.
“Beyond cultural factors that act as a barrier to help-seeking, like resilience and the stigmatization of mental health in the farming community, farmers are also isolated from both social support and healthcare resources,” the study said. The combination of isolation, intrinsic risks, and financial pressures in farming works to drive this self-perpetuating cycle of poor coping strategies.
Christina Proctor, the study’s lead author and a clinical associate professor at UGA’s College of Public Health, emphasized that alcohol is often seen as the “most acceptable way” for farmers to manage stress. She pointed out that the stigma surrounding mental health care in rural areas, coupled with the fear of being perceived as unable to handle their operations, drives many farmers to turn inward and rely on alcohol.
It also underscored that farmers need help accessing healthcare in general: distances are long, and specialists are few and far between. In particular, the farmers were very concerned about not being able to afford specialty care, the lack of insurance, and a lack of knowledge regarding where to seek help for substance use disorders.
This might explain variations since younger farmers had higher ratings of stress and alcohol consumption. Additionally, 71% of those who responded were owners or managers of farms; few farm workers and spouses responded; this tends to overlook their problems.
Proctor, however, underlined that the community could moderate these factors. Farmers who felt they could rely on community resources and peers did not engage in heavy drinking. To eradicate mental health stigma from the countryside, she implored a collective effort to ensure that everyone—from the bankers to the feed store manager—is trained to discuss mental health openly and honestly.
“Knowing the stigma that exists within rural farming populations about seeking care and then looking at death by suicide numbers, it really is a public health issue because there are drastic, traumatic outcomes associated with not being able to ask for that care, using alcohol to cope and then feeling hopeless,” Proctor said.
This research underlines the need for immediate action to support farmer’s mental health, an area that requires much greater support for both welfare and global food security reasons.