Mental health services tackle spike in agricultural communities

Farmers often struggle with difficult times in silence.

It’s sparked the creation of organizations like the Do More Agriculture Foundation.

One of the driving forces behind it was a series of 2017 Twitter posts by Saskatchewan producer Kim Keller.

#Ag we gotta do more.

I rcv'd a msg yesterday that kept me up thinking of how we do more. Farm stress is real. Suicide is real. 1/

— Kim Keller (@kimkkeller) June 24, 2017

“We fail each other when it comes to mental health,” it reads. “Why don’t we have more? Why haven’t we come together for those in the Farmers middle?”

The foundation’s executive director, Adelle Stewart, is a producer just south of Saskatoon.

Stewart told 650 CKOM that producers face a wide variety of stressers, including many that are out of their control.

“We have to battle being extremely flexible, but in order to run profitable business, you need to be extremely strategic. When you combine those two things, the battle is always uphill,” she said.

With agriculture making up 34 per cent of Saskatchewan’s 2018 Export Diversity, according to Canada Trade Online, the province has continued to offer resources geared to supporting mental health like the Farm Stress Line.

The provincial resource was initiated in 1989, and in 2012 Mobile Crisis Services was contracted to take it over.

The stress line is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Executive director John McFadyn said a spike in the numbers over the past two years shows that peak stress times hover around seeding and harvest.

In the 2018-19 fiscal year, the service received 757 calls compared to 320 during 2017-18.

McFadyn said there was also an increase due to the drought-like conditions in the province in late May and early June.

“It can be at any time of the season for farmers because there’s so many different things that aren’t in their control,” he said.

He explains weather and market conditions are the main concerns and the stress could cloud decision making.

“Farmers are like big CEOs of a company where they’re managing all different aspects of it. When there’s stress it puts stress on any other situation that they’re having to deal with,” he said. “It takes the focus away from planning, and you can get (overwhelming) feelings. It makes it more difficult to make decisions.”

When producers call the line, McFadyn said they are instantly connected with a crisis worker who begins with getting them to tell the full story, what’s worrying them, and what or who their supports are.

From there, they identify problems or a series of problems that surround situations. The crisis workers are there to help the producer solve their problems and begin to move forward.

Both he and Stewart agree the stigma is not disappearing, but the conversation around mental health is continuing to grow.

“There’s been a lot more outreach in the last two years with our agency going out to Ag forums, as well,” McFadyn said.

“We’ve seen some really positive steps towards people stepping up. When we speak in a room, there are those that are and are still silent, but I give them so much credit for being there,” Stewart explained.

She believes self-care is important for producers and encourages people to reach out for help, especially during this difficult harvest season.