Rural Minds Matter, operated by the Stigma-Free Mental Health Society, recently made a stop at the Connections Clubhouse in Prince George to open up conversation about the impacts of mental health on rural communities.
The event featured guest speakers Mike Skrypnek of the Stigma-Free Mental Health Society and Wendy Bennett of AgSafe.
They were joined by panelists Stella Suhr, a project planner for programs and quality assurance at the College of New Caledonia (CNC), and Gillian Johnson, a Grade 7 teacher in School District 57.
Speakers and panelists shared their personal experiences with mental health, discussed how isolation and lack of support affect rural communities, and outlined the barriers many rural residents face when seeking help.
They also addressed the personal and communal stigma farmers and others in rural areas often encounter — including the potential financial and emotional cost of taking time away from work to seek treatment.
“All the things that make it great to live in a small town — like that individualism, that ruggedness, that self-reliance — they hurt you when you're struggling,” said Skrypnek. “You're not wanting to talk about it with anybody. Then suddenly you're like, ‘I can take care of this myself,’ until it's a real problem. Then it becomes a crisis, and you might have the propensity to harm yourself through substance abuse or direct harm, or harm others through your actions — either abusive actions or messing up at work.”
Skrypnek noted that two key types of barriers prevent rural residents from seeking help: structural and cultural.
“The structural things are geography. It’s just sometimes a two-hour drive,” he said. “It could be that there's a lack of resources. Therapists are not here, counsellors are not here, or maybe primary care physicians to introduce you to those people are not here. So those structural and geographical things are challenging at first. Then the cost of logistics can be overwhelming.
“If I leave my small town to go into the bigger town for a support appointment, and then that appointment gets bumped two days, I'm probably staying. Now I'm staying overnight, I’ve done the drive, I've lost the work time, and I'm away from my family. I might not be able to pay rent next month because I spent three more days where I wasn't supposed to be.
“Then you add on the stigma of talking about mental health — admitting you have a problem openly — when rugged individualism is the way you survive in a tough rural area. Then you're telling people, ‘I'm weak and vulnerable,’ or at least that's our perception. When culturally that's not acceptable, suddenly we have another reason not to go for help.”
The panelists emphasized that building and relying on community support is one of the most effective ways to address these issues.
“We need to take care of each other,” said Bennett. “Having peer support, having small communities getting together to watch out for individuals, getting to know your neighbours, and having community plans.
“Knowing that when the guy shows up at the coffee shop every Monday at eight o'clock and he hasn't been here for the last couple of weeks — maybe something's going on. Or your neighbour whose lawn is always meticulous and perfect, but it hasn't been mowed in four or five days — ask why it's like that. Having something in place so you feel safe to have that conversation and say, ‘Hey, are you okay?’ Because a lot of people don’t ask if others are okay — they're afraid of the answer.”
Bennett has travelled across B.C. visiting rural communities and searching for ways to help. She shared one of the most impactful stories from her time at AgSafe.
“I have one farmer in the Lower Mainland who lost two barns of chickens to avian influenza,” she said. “His whole barn became infected. They had to depopulate the barn — that was very traumatic for him. Then it happened again, and then he lost a friend to suicide.
“Because AgSafe was able to offer counselling for him at no charge, he found a counsellor that suited his personality and treatment style. He called me a couple of weeks ago and said we basically saved his life — because otherwise he wouldn’t have had access to counselling. No chickens, no money — he wouldn’t have had the ability to fund the care that he needed. But because we had a program in place, he called to let us know he was back on his feet, and that we probably saved his life.”
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