Farmers just like other members of our society get stressed beyond the snapping point. If not recognized and treated, a co-worker may get unbearable to work with. A family may receive the brunt of anger built up inside a mom, dad, or even a child. Someone may massacre people in a college or grade school before that person is diagnosed with extremely violent thoughts. Children and even farmers may end their own life before a severe problem is recognized and treated.
When I was a kid, mental illness and suicide were never even talked about. Anyone singled out was put away in an insane asylum. Families who had someone who was disturbed or ended their own life was thought of as having a funny streak in them. The main reason that most people thought that way was because they had little or no training in recognizing mental problems or how to help find someone who could help. Everyone was thankful that neither mental health nor suicide were a very common problem.
We take for granted that our first responders are trained to recognize signals that point to a mental health problem. Things have changed in the past half century. Today some people make more and bigger decisions before they get out of bed than our grandparents made in the entire day or even during a week.
After watching the news where some horrendous results occurred because a bad snap decision was made before analyzing the mental state of the person they were called to deal with, I wonder if those first responders were well enough trained?
Our ministers and priests were the first people to recognize a lack of training in recognizing signals of an unstable person and how one should react to them.
The three most unpopular subjects for a farmer (and everyone else) are: estate planning (your will), farm safety (workplace safety), and mental health.
A good estate plan can take up to 10 years to do well. A poorly thought out and completed plan can result in the provincial and federal governments and lawyers ending up in a better financial state than the person who ends up with the farm.
Inadequate farm or workplace safety results in serious injuries or death to some who had planned to be with the family on earth that night.
Inadequate training on reading the signals and suicide prevention and first aid can lead to saying goodbye to a loved one after they are gone and maybe also result in the end of the farm too.
Remember the saying, “It’s too late to close the stable door after the horse is gone.”
There are still a few spots left for the one day Suicide Prevention workshop on May 8 in Shawville. Call Emilie at 450-472-0440 ext. 223 or Chris at 613-720-1793.
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family for generations. gladcrest@gmail.com
