Be strong; ask for help

As a society we’re learning about variants in mental health – and consequently how to treat the diseases as well as the stigmas associated with depression and anxiety. Every facet of our culture is prone to mental illness, but the agricultural and farming communities are an at-risk segment.

Karen Endres is the Farmer Wellness Program coordinator at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. She looks for ways to help Wisconsin farmers with their mental health. She’s not a psychiatrist or therapist. Rather, she said, she likes to consider herself a bridge between farmers and mental-health connections. Her job requires a lot of public speaking to farmer organizations as well as speaking at expos.

“I’ve been in the agricultural industry since I graduated college,” she said. “I worked at a dairy co-op for 10 years as head of communications.”

Her husband is a farmer; she said being around farming every day has helped her recognize how the industry provides increased stressors. Farmers work long hours. And they face the complications of working with a family business that has passed farms down through generations. Sometimes one sibling is picked to inherit the farm, forcing other siblings to figure out other options.

“A healthy farmer is a healthy farm,” Endres said. “Financially we’re constantly in a fluctuating market. Farmers are at the mercy of the weather. (They) work around big equipment and safety hazards.”

And there’s the fear of losing the farm. People in rural communities often feel isolated and cut off from assistance. Endres said there are fewer farmers than in previous generations, with a resulting breakdown of communities.

“I essentially go out and educate people,” she said. “A farmer may wake in the morning and find it difficult to get out of bed.”

Depression may have set in but the farmer isn’t fully aware of the symptoms.

“Some may not know there are better ways to cope,” she said. “A therapist can help them look at their life through a different lens.”

Endres hosts a podcast called “Rural Realities” where she talks about topics like stress in farm transitions, obstacles in life and suicide. She refers to what she calls the “four As” – affordability, accessibility, awareness and acceptability. She’s identified a pool of mental-health providers. They can meet with clients online, something many farmers appreciate because of the confidentiality and easy access to help.