Assessment of Mental Health and Psychological Counseling for Farmers

Farmers at present are undergoing various kinds of stresses due to troubled situations such as high temperatures, heavy rains, periodic droughts, indebtedness, and low crop productivity. Isolation in farms affects them. They often show distress symptoms of clinical disorders like anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress, and suicidal tendency. Due to changing environment, they are facing increased levels of stress, worries, depression, problem in sleeping, emotional outbursts, dramatic changes in weight, substance abuse, and feelings of failure. Farmers can manage tough times by staying focused, connected, tuned to mass media channels for updated information, maintaining, and participation in social work. Farmers should keep sustained social contact, do plentiful of exercises, read an interesting book, participate in social activities, and involve in fun and frolic. In State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), psychology courses on mental health of farmers should be offered to agriculture students during graduation so that they can understand farmers' problems better and are trained to counsel farmers on proper psychological health care.