Mental Health and Agriculture

Have you ever heard the saying, “Farmers are the backbone of America?” At BasiCare plus, we couldn’t agree more. Our President, Eric Cohen, is a 3rd generation Pecan farmer in Georgia who is a part of Leadership Georgia and plays an active role in Georgia Agribusiness. Eric is passionate about helping his community, and joined BasiCare plus to bring our services to the rural community. Eric wants to focus today’s post on the mental health and well being of Farmers and Ranchers.

Farming and Agriculture: A Post From Our President

Farmers are under constant stress and uncertainty. First, we have no control on the prices. I truly believe weather, tariffs, and policies put into place by politicians who don’t always understand agriculture, create nightmare scenario’s for farmers. A person can only take so much stress. Suicides are extremely high in the farming sector. According to the National Rural Health Association, suicides among farmers are three and a half times higher than the general population.

I’m from south Georgia, and come from a large farming community. Unfortunately, on October 13th, 2018 we experienced a category five hurricane: Hurricane Michael. Michael was a nightmare for the farmers in Georgia and Florida. It destroyed all of my Pecan trees which covered 1600 acres that had been built up for over 20 years. I, along with hundreds of farmers, found myself in crisis. I remember getting calls from people asking how they could help and my response was always “Mental Health.” We desperately needed therapy and most of us didn’t have access. I was in constant contact with former Ag Commissioner, Gary Black who sits on our board to provide help to our community.

Eric Cohen, President of BasiCare Plus

Mental Health Counseling with BasiCare Plus

BasiCare Plus cares about the mental health and well being of everyone. Whether you are rural or urban, we believe everyone should have access to the care that they need. With our Complete Individual bundle, you and eight dependents will have access to our counseling on demand service, along with over 130+ prescriptions associated with mental health.

The BasiCare team thanks all of our hard working farmers and those working in agriculture.