Carle’s Mental Health and First Aid Training
What you need to know:
Tuesday, January 14 from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Farm Credit Illinois
1100 Farm Credit Dr., Mahomet, IL
Cost: $10 per person
Register online at carle.org/mhfa or call (217) 365-5460
Contact: SeedsofWellness@carle.com
BY DANI TIETZ
dani@mahometnews.com
There is a lot that farmers will talk about.
They can tell their family’s history, they are often a walking almanac, they know how the weather will impact the growth of their product and they often can tell you who showed up for breakfast at the local diner.
But, talking about the stressors that lead to mental health issues has not been a topic readily discussed among the ag community.
“They are trained to be stoic,” Amy Rademaker, Carle’s Rural Health and Farm Safety program coordinator, said. “ they don’t often show much emotion. Their dad never did, their grandfather never did.”
For decades, those stressors, including financial issues, business problems and fear, have led to higher rates of mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, in the ag community.
Rademaker said that over a farmer’s lifetime, even season-to-season, they can experience the perfect storm of stressors that are unlike any other professional experiences.
“We’re talking about one of the few professions that rely a lot on Mother Nature and things that are outside of their control,” she said.
Last year alone, farmers questioned whether or not they would be able to get seed in the ground with a record-rainfall during the spring months and the late harvest was thwarted for some as snow and below-freezing temperatures set in early.
Even with higher grain prices in 2019, low yields, tariffs and declining commodity prices left farmers feeling the financial strain.
“We’ve basically stacked things on top of each other and made it worse,” Rademaker said.
Those in the agriculture community, particularly production farmers, often carry this burden alone.
“How many other occupations do you work alone or with just one other person?” Rademaker asked.
“In the planting season and harvest season, there are people around, but you are stuck in a tractor for hours on end by yourself. The isolation is another key issue to deal with.”
Then there is the unintended stress that the legacy of prior generations and the promise of future generations holds.
“This is not just their job, this is their livelihood,” she said. “This is something they’ve inherited, this is what they plan to pass on to their children. If they fail, they feel like they have failed the family.
“That is an extra burden.”
But mental health issues within the agriculture community are nothing new.
Suicide rates among farmers have always been higher than those in the general population.
The Centers for Disease Control estimate that suicide rates in agriculture (Farming, fishing and forestry) are higher than for any other occupation: 84.5 per 100,000 persons in 2012, followed by workers in construction and extraction (53.3), and installation, maintenance and repair (47.9).
“We need to stay on top of this,” Rademaker said. “We need to address this long term, not just for the crisis we have seen in the last few years.”
Over recent years, Rademaker has seen a change that has been impactful and lasting.
With Carle, Rademaker hosts training for professionals, volunteers, family and friends so that they may be able to identify mental health issues before it’s too late.
“If we have an open conversation or dialogue, we can recognize as a society that mental health can be treated just the same as having high blood pressure, being diabetic, having a heart condition, asthma; all of these things that we consider acceptable and treatable, mental health should be one and the same,” she said.
“The more we talk about it, the more we remove the stigma from it.”
Rademaker has been surprised by the response she has received as she has presented her training course on how to help those mental health and substance abuse issues in the agriculture community.
Last February, Rademaker expected a small turnout for her session at a statewide Illinois Farm Bureau event in Chicago.
“I expected 10 people, and it was standing room only,” she said.
Regularly, attendees will stay after the presentation to ask questions or to share their stories.
Rademaker believes that those who understand the agriculture community are the best resources to identify when trouble arises and to help direct individuals to the help they need.
According to a poll conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation, rural adults said that they would be more likely to talk to a family primary care doctor, family member, close friend or a faith-based counselor about mental health issues.
That is why her eight-hour course at Farm Credit Illinois on January 14 will be open to those who have a first-hand relationship with members of the agriculture community: extension staff and volunteers, commodity group leaders, bankers, insurance agents, friends and family members.
“I think that builds a level of trust,” she said.
Those who will become “Mental Health First Aiders” will learn a five-step action plan to guide them through the process of reaching out and offering appropriate support.
“Just as CPR helps even those without clinical training assist an individual having a heart attack, Mental Health First Aid prepares participants to interact with a person experiencing a mental health crisis,” Rademaker said.
“I want to train people to understand and recognize symptoms so they can feel comfortable talking to people and, at the end of the day, making sure those people get the help they need and don’t become a statistic.
“I always want people to feel like they have the resources to do something if they feel they need to.”
Rademaker said that keeping the conversation going and looking out for one another is what will make a difference in the lives of individuals who suffer from mental illness.
“We have to as a society recognize and help people,” she said. “We’ve got to help as a society identify and connect these people to the help that they need.”
A trusted source that accepts calls nationally is Iowa Concern.
Run by the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, persons with an agriculture background can help those looking for help sort out what they are trying to process or get connected with the resources they need.
“They understand and can relate,” she said. “I think that is what’s important.”
Rademaker said that if someone is experiencing a mental health emergency, they should call 911 or the National Suicide Hotline.
