Often overlooked and less analaysed, lack of definitive mental healthcare in rural areas has rendered farmers hopeless in an ailing agricultural sector. Experts suggest that there is a need to address psychological issues in farmers to prevent suicides
BHUBANESWAR: Minaketan Bhue, a 53-year old man from Bargarh, still remembers the day when he last saw his son, Baishnab Bhue. A 28-year-old farmer of Podmunda village, Baishnab was reportedly under mental pressure due to crop damage and later committed suicide.
Often overlooked and less analaysed, lack of a definitive and proper mental health care in rural areas has rendered the farmers hopeless in an ailing agricultural sector. With Odisha bearing the brunt of regular natural calamities, experts suggested that there is a need to address psychological issues in farmers.
“Suicidal thoughts are usually common and in most cases, temporary. It’s only when the thoughts becomes overpowering, that the suicidal tendency becomes fatal. One of the biggest symptoms of suicide is depression. Dejection, helplessness and loneliness are also some factors which forces a person to take its own life,” explains Nisha Rath, a psychologist here.
The case of Baishnab Bhue is a testament to this. After taking loans from unofficial sources, Baishnab had grown paddy over 3.5 acre and vegetables on half an acre. He went under immense distress after his crops got damaged due to deficit rain until early July. Succumbing to lack of any moral support, he eventually decided to end his life.
Even the government has maintained a stoic silence on farmer suicide cases. While National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data should be updated every day, data on farmer suicide was last recorded in 2015. The NCRB data shows that in 2015, as many as 8,007 farmers and 4,595 agricultural labourers committed suicide.
Working with a private NGO here, Pratiksha Nayak says that the present scenario of mental health of farmers in the state is ‘insidious.’ “The distress level among farmers is lethal. Neither the rural people understand the mental issues nor is there anyone to talk to these farmers. They don’t talk openly to us and thus we first cultivate trust, talk about the problems and then bring in regulatory interventions to solve those problems,” she says.
Psychologists have suggested that intervention at correct time can stop a distressed individual taking the extreme step. For instance, Shivanna, a distressed farmer from Telangana was saved from committing a suicide after local government support helped him when one of his cotton plantations was inundated.
Pratiksha was also of the opinion that while NGOs and individual organisations are identifying and working on the issue, government support is crucial for nipping the issue in the bud. Although the state government has run a number of helpline numbers, most government-run hospitals do not have psychiatric drugs. “Besides, there aren’t enough psychologists with the government as the issue isn’t taken seriously,” Pratiksha says.
With climate change being observed worldwide, Odisha has also experienced its share. Be it recurring cyclones or constantly changing rain patterns, farmers have been worst affected by it.
To this, environmentalist Sasikant Sahoo says, “The need for mental support to farmers in these changing climates couldn’t be stressed more. A lot is said about reforming the agricultural sector to improve the economic conditions of the farmer but no one attempts to focus on possible psychological problems arising out of economic stress.”
Aviral Mishra,OP