Christi Friesen reflects on a pivotal moment during the arduous harvest season when her husband noticed a shift in her demeanor. The cloud of depression that had lingered over her began to lift, evident in a smile that emerged at the season’s end. The challenges leading up to this point were formidable, with three relentless storms blanketing their Peace River, Alta., grain farm with approximately 20 centimeters of snow in October.
Recalling the intensity of that period, Friesen expressed her despair upon discovering their crops, once destined for harvest that day, buried beneath a white shroud. “It was an awful year,” she recounted in a recent interview.
While the agricultural community in Canada routinely grapples with the inherent stresses of their profession—ranging from the unpredictability of nature to crop diseases and geopolitical conflicts—a pervasive silence envelops the issue of mental health due to existing stigmas.
Andria Jones, a professor at the University of Guelph’s veterinary college, has dedicated her research since 2016 to understanding the mental health challenges faced by farmers. Collaborating with Rochelle Thompson, a student, and Briana Hagen, a research associate, Jones examined responses from nearly 1,200 Canadian farmers.
Their findings revealed that one in four surveyed farmers reported contemplating the worthiness of their lives, entertaining thoughts of death, or contemplating suicide over the preceding 12 months. Alarmingly, the research disclosed that farmers were twice as likely to entertain thoughts of suicide compared to the general population.
Jones noted that 75% of farmers admitted to experiencing moderate or high levels of perceived stress. She emphasized that climate change has exacerbated these stressors, heightening the risks of flooding, fires, droughts, and disease transmission within the farming community.
The pressure to maintain the farm, coupled with an expectation not to display vulnerability, contributes to the reluctance of farmers to acknowledge mental health struggles. Jones remarked, “Mental health struggle was often seen as a weakness… in some circles it still is, maybe.”
An analysis, published in the journal Rural and Remote Health in August, scrutinized 14 studies conducted in India, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Lead author Rebecca Purc-Stephenson, a psychology professor at the University of Alberta, identified seven themes contributing to farmer suicide, including financial crises, isolation, access to toxic pesticides and firearms, and an unpredictable environment.
Purc-Stephenson emphasized the unique stressors associated with farming, attributing them to the industry’s distinctive culture and lifestyle. “Farming is not like a regular job where I can quit work at five and go home and not think about it. It’s a lifestyle, it’s a vocation. Your work is your life, your life is your work,” she said.
