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SPOTLIGHT: Farm Stress: Starting the conversation

SPOTLIGHT: Farm Stress: Starting the conversation

SEPTEMBER 2022

Farming is one of the most dangerous and physically challenging occupations. It is also mentally and emotionally challenging. Economic, social, and environmental forces can be major sources of stress for farm families and rural communities. In a recent Capital Times article by Blake McCoy, ‘It’s OK to not be OK’: Farmers open up about mental health concerns, farmers, researchers (like UMASH’s Florence Becot), and other agricultural representatives start a conversation about the importance of mental wellness and the reality of farm stressors.

We’re not going to resolve the mental health challenges until we address the underpinning factors that shape that universal experience of mental health challenges…addressing those issues of mental health and really digging at the root causes and addressing them is important from the standpoint of not only the current farmers, but also from the future. How can we support agriculture?

Florence Becot, Ph.D., M.Sc.

 

Click the link below to read the article, and check out the resources and contact information below. As farmer Jeff Ditzenberger reminds us,

 

“It’s OK to not be OK. You matter.”

Read the Article


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