Farmers are suffering from depression, anxiety, stress
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The Mental Health Commission of Canda reports a survey of 1,100 Canadian producers found 57 percent of farmers had anxiety, 45 percent had high stress, and 35 percent had depression. This is a high number considering the national average for anxiety is more than five percent, seven percent for depression, and 22 percent for stress.
“(There’s) a lot of stress in farming,” said Gerry Friesen, CAO of the Farmer Wellness Program. “I break it down to two categories. One is on an annual basis there’s more and more decisions that a farmer has to make and, I know I age myself a bit by saying this, when my dad was a grain farmer for example there weren’t that many decisions….What really is a bigger stressor is things outside of their control and this is often the one that they have a problem dealing with…So, all of that can culminate into incredible stress.”
Citing a 2021 survey, Friesen said suicide ideation was quite high for farmers and that one in four farmers surveyed felt their life wasn’t worth living and had thoughts of suicide.
“All of that points to the need of these folks needing some sort of resources out there to help them cope and help them get better and be mentally well,” he said.
Friesen said farmers feel isolated working alone for long stretches of time. He also said there is a stigma about mental health in the farming community.
“There’s still a shame associated to admitting to having mental health issues and because the farming population is…two percent of the population it’s a small community. You want to protect yourself from the neighbours finding out, which can become difficult. That’s stigma remains although I’m happy to say it’s reducing, but we still have a long way to go.”
Friesen ran a hog and turkey farm for 25 years and came from a long line of farmers. He was diagnosed with depression and anxiety in 2004 while he was running his farm. In 2007, he got involved with the Manitoba Farmer and Rural Stress Line, a free crisis line which helps farmers with mental health issues over the phone. It was also during this time that he stopped farming.
“During that time, we would sometimes talk about providing in person counselling for the folks that were calling into the farm line, but there really wasn’t the resources available at the time to do it. Four years ago now, I got a call asking whether I would want to start a Manitoba Farmer Wellness Program,” said Friesen, who in 2010 started publicly sharing his mental health story.
The program is run with Winnipeg’s Klinic. It offers nine free sessions with a counsellor selected by the farmer. After the nine free sessions, there is a fee for the service. The service is only open to people 16 years old and older who are farmers, their family, and employees.
“What was really important was that number one, counsellors needed to have a background in agriculture so they could understand the unique stressors that farm families and employees face. Secondly, it had to be free. We were able to deliver on that,” said Friesen.
Friesen wouldn’t say how many farmers had called the wellness program but he did say in year two of the program the uptake doubled and this year, in the third year of operation, in the first half of the year the program had already surpassed the numbers it had last year.
To contact Manitoba Farmers Wellness Program, visit mantobafarmerwellness.ca and book an appointment with a counsellor. Farmers can also contact Manitoba Farm Rural Northern support services for free at supportline.ca and 1-866-367-3276 with lines open 24/7. Southern Health also has a crisis line at 1-888-617-7715.