By Bruce Cochrane.
A researcher with the University of Guelph says resilience in dealing with stress is not something we need to be born with but in fact coping skills are something that can be learned.
Researchers at the Ontario Veterinary College are in the process of analyzing data gathered through a survey of Canadian farmers on stress, the results of which will be used to develop resources to help farmers cope with stress
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Dr. Andria Jones-Bitton, a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Associate Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Population Medicine at the University of Guelph, says over 1,100 agricultural producers from across Canada participated in the survey and feedback indicates this is an area of importance to farmers and to Canadians in general.
Dr. Andria Jones-Bitton-University of Guelph:
I'm deep into the analysis of that baseline prevalence data on perceived stress, depression, anxiety, burn-out and resilience and I hope to have results to share on these measures by the end of May.
I anticipate that the results are going to confirm what many of us know anecdotally and that's that farmers are a highly resilient population.
They are resilient people that manage to carry on in the face of some pretty significant challenges.
I think what will be important beyond that formal recognition is investigating what factors are associated with high resilience in some farmers and then what factors might be associated with low resilience as well.
Fortunately resilience is not something that we need to be born with.
It's a skill that we can develop with practice.
Even if the results of our study confirm our first hand accounts that there is high farmers resilience, many people could still benefit from strengthening those skills.
Dr. Jones-Bitton says there's a recognized reluctance for farmers world wide to seek help and suggests, to change perceptions of mental health in agriculture, people will need to be brave enough to speak openly.
Source: Farmscape