Real cowboys can talk mental health
In Wyoming, we take pride in being fiercely independent.
We stand on our own two feet. We pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.
We can change a tire. We can prepare a meal over a wood stove or an open fire. We can easily survive a power outage or a blizzard.
Most of the time the ability to survive on our own is an admirable trait.
However, there is a time when our unwillingness to seek help from others can be detrimental to ourselves and our loved ones.
This is especially true of mental health issues. And this is especially true in Wyoming.
Following the screening of PBS Wyoming’s State of Mind “Frontier State: The Luke Bell Story” in Cody last Tuesday, a panel discussed the Wyoming culture and the taboo of addressing mental illness and seeking help.
Josh Foster of Downrange Warriors told the panelists that screenings and public discussions help de-stigmatize the topic.
He said it is difficult for people to share stories unless they connect to the person across from them. “People have a hard time sharing,” Foster said.
There is no question a great deal of work needs to be done on the issues of mental illness.
The Wyoming legislature, of course, needs to be involved.
Funding is an absolute necessity, but just throwing money at a problem is not going to be the solution.
It is going to take a substantial effort within communities across the state to encourage discussions on mental health issues; to prod Wyoming’s legislators to increase funding for awareness and counseling; and to provide a way for those with mental health issues to talk about them and to seek help.
We as individuals in Wyoming with a tough, cowboy mentality will be better off being part of a community that cares for each person and looks to others for help rather than trying to fight through those issues alone.
It takes courage—a tough Wyoming kind of courage—to tell someone else you are struggling with a mental health issue.
But if we really are cowboy tough, we can summon the courage to begin the conversation.