Suffolk farmer backs new VR project tackling mental health crisis in agriculture
The virtual reality project is designed to help doctors and rural communities better understand the mental health challenges faced in farming.
A Suffolk farmer has praised a new virtual reality project designed to help doctors and rural communities better understand the mental health challenges faced in farming.
The Rural Minds Project, launched by three Suffolk doctors and the University of East Anglia (UEA) in collaboration with Cambridge-based Revolve Labs, uses immersive VR storytelling to place viewers directly into the daily realities of a struggling farmer’s life.
What is the Rural Minds Project?
Through 360° film and interactive experiences, users step into scenes showing isolation, financial strain, and the emotional toll of rural work, with the aim of improving empathy and early intervention among healthcare professionals.
The initiative is funded by the Felix Thornley Cobbold Agricultural Trust and will be showcased at the House of Lords today (21st October 2025).
Dr Jordan Tsigarides, Rheumatologist and Chief Medical Officer at Revolve Labs, said:
“The Rural Minds VR experience allows you to step into the boots of a farmer struggling with his mental health and truly shines a light on this difficult topic.
As doctors, our training doesn’t emphasise the unique challenges that the agricultural community face, leaving us ill-prepared to identify and support those in need. This project hopes to change that by raising awareness, improving understanding, and ultimately saving lives through connection and support.”
The resource will be free to access for GPs and healthcare workers, with browser-based and headset-compatible versions available. It will also be shared directly with farming communities through rural support charities and events.
"Standing alongside our farming communities"
Dr Daniel James, one of the GPs behind the initiative, said:
“The Rural Minds project is about listening to and standing alongside our farming communities. Behind the hard work and resilience of rural life, there can be real struggles with isolation, stress, and mental health.
By raising awareness and creating practical ways for doctors to understand and respond to these challenges, we hope to make it easier for people to reach out seeking help.”
"It's incredibly powerful"
James Forrest, a Suffolk farmer and chairman of the Felix Thornley Cobbold Agricultural Trust, helped advise on the project and appears in some of the VR filming. Speaking about his involvement, he said the initiative is “vital work” that could help change how mental health is understood and handled in rural communities.
He says the initiative could make a vital difference.
“It’s entirely credible,” he said. “It shows the farmer sitting in his kitchen with his wife, and her being really worried about him. He’s really worried that he’s failed. No one’s giving him any help, and so he eventually… well, you can see how it all becomes too much. It’s incredibly powerful.”
It’s vital work that’s being done here,” he said. “Men often keep things to themselves. I don’t think it’s a macho thing, it’s just perhaps not having the courage or feeling comfortable saying some of these things out loud.
If you’re ringing the doctor, it’s the receptionist who needs to just be a little understanding, because sometimes they can be so busy, but it’s the same old thing, isn’t it? Resource. If there aren’t enough people, not enough doctors, everything’s going to be rushed, and sometimes things of this importance mustn’t be rushed.”
He said the consequences of suicide are “far-reaching” in farming communities.
“It sends shockwaves through their group of friends. In farming, it’s quite a close-knit community; if you’re a farmer, you know lots of other farmers, and lots are related to one another. It really does have huge knock-on effects,” he said. “It’s the sadness and the despair not only of those going through the problems, but also of those left behind.
Dr Tsigarides said the project’s goal is to use technology to bridge that emotional gap and start conversations that could ultimately save lives.
The project will be formally launched today,( October 21, 2025) at the XR Lab in Bury St Edmunds.