Mental Health is a very important topic, that unfortunately has many stigmas surrounding it and is often not talked about enough.
Alexa Harrison, Research Assistant at Gateway for Rural Health says it is even worse when it comes to farmers talking about their mental health or receiving support, that’s why at Gateway for Rural Health they have started SHED talks.
SHED talks aims to reduce social isolation and daily stressors that farmers face.
Harrison talks about how she got into the project.
These SHED talks take place wherever farmers want, sometimes it’s at a café, or sometimes at a shed and they can be any size. They take the form of whatever the participants want.
They’ve had speakers, such as police officers talking about farm safety, agronomist talking about crops, and a farmer that shared his life experiences as a farmer, geared toward mental health.
The project itself is made up of different parts in order to help farmer in every way they can.
A study done by Andria Jones-Bitton said that stress among farmers leads to withdrawal from community and social community and that 1 in 4 farmers have felt or will feel that their life is not worth living at one point or another.
Harrison says after receiving some startling stats as part of the study, they knew now was the time to act and put the project into motion.
Harrison mentioned working toward a social work degree, she sees the value of mental health supports and that struggling is common, and it shouldn’t be a scary thing to talk about, but instead can be beneficial.
This project has meant a lot for her because she’s from a rural area, heard the stories, seen what it’s like for local farmers, as we do see agriculture deaths too often in our area.
It’s important to move forward and not forget about our rural areas.
Gateway isn’t a point of contact for crisis, but they would recommend you get in touch with the farmers wellness initiative, a 24 hour hotline for farmers to call.
There’s also other supports and programs available to help you better recognize crisis or struggling such as Guardian network, In the know, and the brand new 988 mental health line.
Written By: K. Milhomens
