new evidence compiled by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) suggests that serious depression among farmers is a real contemporary issue, one that in some cases can lead to farmworker suicide. The culprit, according to the NIH? Pesticides, which farmers both inhale and absorb through their skin as they apply them to their crops. These dangerous chemicals, researchers found, alter farmers’ brain chemistry, increasing their risk of depression by up to 90 percent.
http://munchies.vice.com/articles/pesticides-are-causing-farmers-to-become-suicidally-depressed
Here is the report
Pesticide Exposure and Depression among Male Private Pesticide Applicators in the Agricultural Health Study
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/1307450/ 
