Sheldon Kennedy set to speak at Agribition about mental health

Former NHLer and mental health advocate Sheldon Kennedy is to speak at Canadian Western Agribition on Wednesday afternoon.

He’s to speak at 1:50 p.m. at the Grain Expo, discussing the importance of mental health with farmers.

While he’s not the most experienced farmer, Kennedy did grow up on a dairy farm and now works with grain at a farm in Lucky Lake.

“We started in Alberta and moved our land there and moved out here. We’re expanding irrigation on our land, but I’m learning. It’s what I’ve wanted to do — it’s what I’ve always wanted to do and it’s quite exciting,” he told The Greg Morgan Morning Show.

While speaking with Morgan, Kennedy said he wants to be able to tell farmers on Wednesday that it’s OK to reach out for help if something isn’t feeling right.

“I think the main message is about mental health and resilience,” he explained. “We need to (know) how to handle ourselves if we aren’t feeling well and identify if we’re not feeling well.”

Kennedy said he was surprised when he was asked to speak at Agribition, but mentioned he was down for it when organizers wanted him to speak about his mental health journey and explain how he got to where he is today.

“I was in some pretty low spots and somehow found a way to do OK and feel OK. And I think that’s the key, to feel OK,” said Kennedy, who rose to prominence after speaking out about the sexual abuse he endured at the hands of his junior coach, Graham James.

“Mental health, anxiety, worry and stress compound and keep picking up steam when we don’t address them, and I think that’s really what I want to talk about.”

Kennedy added there’s a lot of farmers who experience loneliness and the stress that comes with farming.

“One of the biggest challenges with mental health is isolation and I think when we look at our farmers in a lot of cases, they’re in isolation whether they work in the field or not. I look forward to (speaking),” he said.