How to Protect the #MentalHealth of #Farmers | The Tyee https://thetyee.ca/News/2023/12/04/Protect-Mental-Health-Farmers/ “During the peak of #wildfire season the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Food said there were 175 agricultural properties under evacuation order or alert.
But you’ll rarely hear a farmer complain,….
“Just last week someone was telling me how their grandpa used to say ’don’t cry because crying won’t fix anything,” she adds.
But that doesn’t mean farmers aren’t suffering.”
“According to research from the University of Guelph, one in four Canadian farmers said in 2021 that they’d thought about suicide in the past 12 months and more than three-quarters reported moderate to high stress levels. Women fared worse than men in every measurement of mental health except when it came to drinking.”
“AgTalk is an online message board, accessible through Do More Agriculture’s website, where farmers from across Canada can anonymously post about their thoughts, feelings, hardships and concerns — a bit like Reddit but everyone has agricultural experience. The message boards are monitored by mental health clinicians who can directly message a poster if they display red flags, for example talking about self-harm or hopelessness.” https://www.domore.ag/agtalk