Anxiety for Farmers and Their Families
Anxiety For Farmers and Their Families
While farmers and their families living in rural and remote areas effectively avoid the everyday chaos surrounding the hustle and bustle of the 9-5 inner city lifestyle, they nevertheless, have their own series of psychological challenges and stressors – predominately involving increased anxiety and depressive symptoms due to the increased uncertainty of their financial, meteorological, climatic, and social circumstances. It is when these factors escalate in intensity and become unmanageable that they can have severe repercussions across all areas of farmers AND their families lives, often affecting their relationships, productivity, and overall physical and mental wellbeing.
More often than not, anxiety related issues in farmers are left unacknowledged and untreated for a number of reasons – some of which include the stigma associated with seeking help for mental health issues (particularly for males who perceive this as a weakness), the belief that seeking psychological treatment is unfeasible due to lack of local services/ resources, or the belief that speaking up and seeking support would lead to degradation and shame for their well-known “character” caused by small town word of mouth.
Alarmingly, the mental anguish farmers and their families experience has seemingly only just begun to spark public acknowledgement, particularly after the widespread drought declarations in May, announcing that Queensland is suffering the most widespread drought in its history – now spread across more than 80% of the land. Despite this, the truth is, more awareness needs to be raised on the importance of acknowledging and seeking help for Australians experiencing such emotional difficulties in rural and remote communities – particularly for the individuals themselves, in knowing that their psychological distress can be managed more effectively and treated with the appropriate support.
It is essential for individuals to acknowledge that they are not alone and that effective psychological help is attainable and treatment is achievable – and more importantly, that seeking necessary support is NOT by any means a weakness in their character, nor does it result in a loss of their self-independence or resilience.
Some of the common causes for heightened anxiety in farmers include:
- Longer working hours and physically demanding conditions
- Lower income / increased financial uncertainty
- Decreased accessibility/ proximity to appropriate psychological treatment facilities
- Increased isolation / lack of social contact
- Stigma associated with seeking help – particularly for males who feel less inclined to talk about their feelings (due to embarrassment, perceived loss of character, fear of ridicule etc).
- Increased pressure for other family members to leave the family farm business to seek other more sustainable work
What are the warning signs of overpowering anxiety?
- Decreased ability to cope or feeling overwhelmed with everyday tasks
- Increased fatigue
- Increased irritability
- Decreased enthusiasm, motivation, or interest in other (once enjoyable) activities
- Relationship breakdown or increased conflict
- Decreased energy and impaired concentration
- Feeling a sense of hopelessness
- Reluctance to share worries with family or friends
- Increased tendency to turn to alcohol or drugs as a form of “self-medication” and therapy to cope
So, what treatment is on offer and why is it necessary?
The first step in overcoming anxiety, or any other mental health issues for that matter, is acknowledging the need to seek help – and for some, this is the roadblock preventing their recovery. There are a range of different approaches to treat anxiety, and the effectiveness of each will depend on the individual, and will often need to be tailored to meet their needs – some of which may include a combination of medication and different methods of psychological therapy. The most effective form of treating anxiety long-term however, is called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). The core components of CBT involve restructuring the individual’s negative thought patterns (cognitions) and replacing these with more realistic, positive ones – achieved with the ongoing support and guidance from a specialised psychologist, teaching them new methods of dealing with their overbearing emotions, and thereby enabling them to manage the stressors of their daily life more effectively.
At Anxiety House, we recognise the various challenges associated with seeking psychological treatment particularly for those in remote locations who may find it difficult to travel to facilities in due to practicality or time constraints – this is why we offer online Skype therapy sessions, for those who can experience the psychological benefits of therapy from the comfort of their own home.
Our recommended therapist at Anxiety House
Alison Marland – Clinical Psychologist
What is your experience?
- Interest in working with clients with a range of anxiety issues
- Clinical supervisor and STAP trained
- Experience working with clients with a range of presenting issues and of various ages in private practice setting.
- Worked in tertiary referral adolescent mental health team
- Five years of working in university sector in training postgraduate clinical psychology students.
- Provision of online therapy services
Sophie Lucas is our Anxiety House blogger and is studying Bachelor of Communications at UQ. Sophie is passionate about anxiety recovery and loves to write about research and provide EDUCATION about anxiety. Sophie and Director Dr Emily O’Leary carefully think about each topic and try and provide the most up to date information. We have a number of scheduled blogs coming up, but we really want to hear your IDEAS! What topics would YOU like to know more about?
If you have any comments or queries feel free to contact us at blog@anxietyhouse.com.au
Sources
https://www.beyondblue.org.au/resources/for-me/men/what-causes-anxiety-and-depression-in-men/men-in-rural-and-remote-areas
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/13/drought-tightens-grip-on-queensland-as-record-80-of-state-succumbs
http://www.aghealth.org.au/tinymce_fm/uploaded/Chartbooks/mental_health_rirdc.pdf
https://www.chf.org.au/pdfs/hvo/hvo-2009-5-addressing-depression-anxiety-rural.pdf
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/month/aus/summary.shtml
http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/54/2/92.full.pdf
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