Many farmers tend to leave their mental health symptoms untreated. In fact, a study showed that nearly 40% of farmers indicated that they would be unlikely to seek help for their mental health. So what happens? Just like their physical health symptoms, some farmers may ignore their symptoms while others try to ‘tough it out’ and hope that things will just get better on their own.

You already know that farmers are the kind of folks who do it all by themselves. That includes handling their emotions (yes, they have those) and stress too. That is a totally okay approach, but when it comes to chronic stress that leads to depression and anxiety, trying to fix it is like trying to tape the header back onto your old swather.

We’ve all felt anxious at one point or another in our lives. It’s a very normal reaction to stress. It’s feeling worried, panicked, fearful, and uneasy about a future concern. We might even feel faint, sweaty like our heart is racing, or we get jelly legs. Because these feelings can be so unpleasant, our anxiety can lead to us avoiding certain situations. 

Whether you’re thinking of talking to a therapist or you’ve already booked your appointment, thinking about your first session might be nerve-wracking for some.

If you’re a farmer, you know that farming is big business. According to some recent statistics, farms across the country contributed to the Canadian economy in a major way: $87 billion in just one year to be exact.  

But here's a question for you: What province contributed the most to this total? If you said Alberta, you’d be right! Our farmers reported $22.2 billion -- that’s over 25% of that Canadian total. 

Everyone feels sad or “blue” every once in a while. We might say something like, “I’m not myself lately,” when we feel a bit down or miserable. Usually, these feelings pass in a couple of days or less. 

But if you’re feeling an ongoing sense of sadness and hopelessness that doesn’t seem to go away after a couple of weeks, and it's starting to interfere with your daily routine, it could be a warning sign of a deeper problem.

Many years ago, my dad was asked to be the coach for a youth baseball team in our town. He had a ton of things already on his plate, but as is so often the case, if there weren’t any volunteer coaches, there would be no youth sports for the kids in town. 

So my dad, and other farmers in town agreed to be coaches. Sure, my dad knew how to play baseball, but to coach a bunch of 10-year olds? You could say that a little bit out of his comfort zone! I remember looking at my brothers at the time, and I bet we were all thinking, “This is going to be interesting…” 

DID YOU KNOW THAT REPETITIVE FARM TASKS CAN BE A STRESS RELIEVER?

When you’re feeling stressed, it may be a good time to pull out your Hotsy and spray down your equipment. We’ve heard from some farmers that cleaning your machinery with a pressure washer is a huge stress reliever on the farm. Additionally, there is evidence to support that mundane tasks in general, can be a great stress reliever.

It’s no secret that working in the agriculture industry is accompanied by managing a load of stresses on a daily basis.

So how do you manage that stress?

We asked a few farmers how they manage their stress, and one of the most common tips they gave us was to focus on what you can control.

Link to a replay of Dr. Rebecca Purc-Stephenson’s presentation from the National Symposium on Agriculture Mental Health held on March 8, 2023.

Link to our replay of the live webinar held on January 25, 2023.

A resource with tips on how to approach farmers to ask how they’re really doing.

3 simple tips walking through how to initiate the conversation around mental health with farmers.

Have you ever had to speak in public and felt really nervous about that? Your palms were sweaty, your heart was racing, and you had butterflies in your stomach. But once you finished speaking and sat down, you calmed down and started feeling like yourself again. Feeling nervous like this is perfectly normal and very common. But imagine if that feeling of nervousness and impending doom stuck with you all day?

Depression is a severe mood disorder that affects nearly 34% of Canadian farmers. While we often think that it’s just about feeling unhappy and hopeless, depression might also manifest itself in angry outbursts, taking unnecessary risks, and drinking more than usual.

From sun up to sun down, a farmer’s life is busy doing this and that and going here and there. Unlike someone with a 9 to 5 job, a farmer can’t easily hang their hat at the end of the day because farming is a lifestyle, and your family might also be your employees.

Our bodies are hard-wired to deal with stress so that we can protect ourselves from predators. Even though most of us don’t face these types of threats anymore, that doesn’t mean our life is free of stress. Quite the opposite! We face many daily demands, such as having heavy workloads, paying bills, fixing equipment, and caring for our family. When we interpret these hassles as threats, we’re on high alert, under pressure, and irritable.

A resource with ways to start the conversation with farmers around their mental health.