We are often told that we need to look after our mental health – but what exactly does that mean and how do we do it? What do we even mean when we refer to our mental health?
What is mental health?
Farming can bring with it feelings of chronic stress, social isolation, as well as economic worries and concerns. We get up every morning feeling a certain amount of stress. Our first thought is always, “Are the animals okay? Did anything happen during the night?”. It can be understandably easy for us farmers to feel overwhelmed, stressed and anxious. While a certain amount of stress is normal and useful to get you through the day, feeling overwhelmed and anxious on a daily basis can damage our health over time.
We are often told that we need to look after our mental health – but what exactly does that mean and how do we do it? What do we even mean when we refer to our mental health?
Positive Mental Health means a state of well-being that helps us to cope with the normal stress of life, work and contribute to our communities, and develop as people.
Your mental health can control how you:
think, behave and feel about yourself, the world about you and your life
cope with our workload, solve problems and overcome challenges
interact with other people, build relationships with others and contribute to your communities
look after ourselves and others, and
take part in and enjoy our lives outside of farming.
Another term we often hear nowadays is ‘Wellness’ – is that the same thing as mental health?
When people discuss wellness, they are often referring to both our physical and mental health. Wellness incorporates our health, the food we eat, or our fitness routine as well as how we are coping and feeling in our daily lives. Wellness, can be thought of as a 360-degree approach to daily life.
We all have those moments where the world feels like its falling apart, where simple tasks are a chore, and happiness seems just out of reach.
But there are things we can do daily to help ourselves.
It starts with your own physical and mental health, from nutrition and sleep to daily movement and a bit of self-care.
Tips for taking care of yourself
Take care of your body: Regular exercise reduces symptoms of stress, depression and anxiety.
Ask for and offer help: Assess your mental health from time to time and ask for help if you need it.
Learn to recognize when someone else may be having problems and assist them in contacting resources for support.
Have some fun: Once a week, do something you are passionate about. Having interests that are all-consuming and that we can “get lost in” bring us increased happiness and creativity.
Give yourself permission to experiment and find what works to reduce your stress or anxiety levels, even if it’s something you’ve never tried before. Try it, you might find it effective. But if it isn’t – just try something else. The key is to keep searching for your own solutions.
When should we seek help?
But mental health problems are often something that we cannot tackle on our own. At different times in our lives, we may need to get some help and support for our mental health.
This might arise at particularly stressful times, due to financial worries for example, or because of sudden worrying changes in how we are thinking, feeling, or acting.
Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Emotional exhaustion and burnout are all relatively high among the farming community.
When taking the simple self-care steps above is just not working for you, it is time to seek further help.
Feeling stressed or suffering anxiety for periods of time can take a toll on your mental and physical health. Our bodies respond to stress by releasing stress hormones. These hormones make blood pressure, heart rate, and blood sugar levels go up. The first symptoms are relatively mild, like chronic headaches and increased susceptibility to colds. However, with increased exposure to chronic stress, more serious health problems may develop.
Some stress-influenced conditions include but are not limited to:
Mental health disorders, like depression and anxiety
Acne and other skin problems
Heart disease, high blood pressure, and abnormal heartbeats
Weakening of the immune system
Menstrual problems
Obesity,
IBS and other bowel diseases
Sometimes, we just accept feeling bad because we’ve been living with those feelings for so long. Seeking professional help is OK, starting with your family doctor. Your GP is trained to help you in these circumstances and can signpost you to the services that will help you best.
If you just want to speak to someone about whatever it is you are going through there are lots of choices when it comes to helplines and counselling services.
We have put together a list of these services here: Helplines and counselling services.
This is often a good place to start as it can help you get the thoughts in your head straight. We would encourage you to follow this up with a visit to your GP.
It’s important to establish ways to recognise the warning signs of distress, depression, etc., and use them to self-assess. We would encourage everyone to try out the Mental Health Dashboard Assessment.
If there is any doubt in your mind, don’t drag it out, find qualified people who can help.
If you or someone you know is struggling, there’s lots of support and people who care.
You are not alone.
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