Farmers’ mental health a priority, says FUW chief

The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) is urging decision makers and Governments to ensure that mental health services remain high on the agenda, ahead of World Mental Health Day on Sunday. 

The 2021 World Mental Health Day campaign ‘Mental Health in an Unequal World’, run by the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH), aims to focus on the issues that perpetuate mental health inequality locally and globally. 

FUW President Glyn Roberts (pictured) said: “I would say we are lucky in Wales and in our rural communities that we have the support of many mental health charities such as the DPJ Foundation, that our farmers and rural communities can call on for help.

“However, many people with a mental illness still do not receive the treatment that they are entitled to and deserve and together with their families and carers continue to experience stigma and discrimination.”

The WFMH has highlighted that access to mental health services remains unequal, with between 75% to 95% of people with mental disorders in low and middle-income countries unable to access mental health services at all, and access in high income countries is not much better. 

“Sadly, the gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ is growing wider and people with mental health problems are not always receiving the care they need. It’s vital that this doesn’t drop off the agenda at government level and I urge the Welsh and UK Government to ensure that mental health services are made a priority, so that it doesn’t become a postcode lottery on who receives that care and who doesn’t,” he added.