Depression, loneliness cited by callers to rural helpline

Almost half of all callers to a helpline for people living in rural communities in Cork and Kerry expressed feelings of depression and admitted to having suicidal thoughts.

According to new figures released by HSE South today, 325 people called the Farm & Rural Stress Helpline in the year to February 2007.

The helpline was set up in 2004 by the former Southern Health Board (now HSE South), Ballyhoura Development and Teagasc in order to help those living in rural communities in Cork and Kerry.

As many as 62 per cent of callers to the helpline were single and 55 per cent were male.

Half of all callers were living alone and 43 per cent cited loneliness or a lack of support as reasons for calling the helpline.

Over 40 per cent of those who called the helpline admitted to depression and suicidal thoughts and 40 per cent said they had previously received treatment for depression.

The audit also reveals that half of all helpline callers sought further support.

"People who live in rural communities are often affected by additional issues such as isolation; not just feeling lonely, but real physical isolation where they are miles from their nearest neighbour or village. Lack of public transport and little or no access to services can also be a real challenge and can compound other problems that people may be experiencing in their lives," said Brenda Crowley, mental health resource officer with HSE South.

"We have been very conscious of promoting the service to people in rural communities and while calls to the helpline have been steadily increasing, and encouragingly many of the callers are older males. Our focus is to keep the issue of farm and rural stress in the public arena; this will help reduce the associated stigma and enable more people to talk about their problems and seek help where necessary," added Ms Crowley,"

The HSE South's Farm & Rural Stress Helpline is open daily from 6pm to 10pm on 1800 742 645