Brain health is commonly called mental health but for generations, the word mental health had a stigma attached to it that many people associated with “he’s a bit crazy.”
For years talking about mental health was almost taboo in many sectors. It was only two years ago that a handful of people began to listen, talk and encourage people to open up about the many, many different types of mental health.
After attending my first day-long meeting about suicide prevention and the many types of mental health, several . . .
day-long and two-day information sessions were held in both English and French in our region. Although I personally knew of ten local farm related deaths by suicide, it still was a subject that many very smart young farmers didn’t want to talk about or, God forbid, be caught at a meeting on that subject.
The biggest eye-opener for me when I attended my first meeting was when it was announced that one person in five has some form of a mental health problem. A migraine headache is one of the first signs of mental health problem. The second announcement that shook me was that one person in 20 had or will contemplate suicide sometime in their life.
Farmers have always been a very social group of fun loving, community-minded people. A couple generations ago there wasn’t much extra money around to fly south for a vacation (there wasn’t even an airplane). Very few could afford going to a big play in Montreal or Toronto but there was a party every week at someone’s farmhouse. It was always at a farmhouse with a big kitchen to dance in. Most farmhouses had a big kitchen to feed the big families and farm workers in. Many farmhouses had a piano and there were fiddles, guitars, spoons, harmonicas and all the girls liked to dance.
It was common to spot by the line fence, give the horses a rest and have a chat with your neighbour. Threshing, corn cutting, circular sawing the winter’s wood, barn raisings and many other big farm chores went better if tackled in groups and it gave the farm women a chance to get together preparing those famous farm meals.
Everyone went to church on Sunday and gave thanks for everything good that had come their way. Church was another place to socialize and where the announcements were made for the community to hear. If a farmer broke his leg, had a heart attack or if a family member died, neighbours just appeared and did chores, planted crops or harvested crops depending on the time of the year. When a son went to war, everyone rallied around and work got done.
After many years, times gradually changed, keeping up with the Joneses began to replace those fun-filled house parties. Those little nest eggs that our grandparents kept to help get through the hard times were replaced by mortgages that could scarcely be met, even in good times. The intensities of stress and frequencies of mental health problems became the norm. Frequencies of suicides are now higher in our farming community than in the armed forces. Accidental death on farms is now higher than in the police force.
This COVID-19 time has multiplied stress levels in every walk of life, even our children are quietly stressed. Please take a few minutes to call a neighbour, FaceTime a friend or their kids.
Don’t be embarrassed to talk about mental health or suicide prevention. There are support groups for families of suicide survivors, encourage friends to attend mental health workshops, or how to help prevent suicide. When we can get out again, take time to listen and observe your friends and neighbours for any sign of stress.
This is National Suicide prevention time in Canada. There are many free on-line courses available. Please take a minute to call and enroll. If you miss part of a course, no one will chastise you but you will have more knowledge in your pocket. Many of our churches and CLSCs can help you get enrolled for free.
My dad once said, “A little extra education is not very heavy to carry.”
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family for generations.
gladcrest@gmail.com
