Farmers receive help to Boost mental health
Ex-farmer hopes seeking mental health help puts him on the road to recovery
Finally talking openly about his mental health issues and asking for help took an immense weight off 44-year-old Dean Horn’s shoulders.
Despite a long history with anxiety and depression, which came to a crisis point at the age of 19 when he almost took his own life, he hasn’t really been able to talk about it until now.
A former longtime cattle and grain farmer, the unique challenges of working in agriculture along with a family history of depression have taken their toll.
“I need help,” said Horn, originally from Spiritwood. “I want to be a healthier person. If I don’t do anything here, I’m not going to see 60.”
Horn, who now works showing cattle, was one of about 20 people who attended a mental health workshop offered at Agribition on Tuesday morning.
The crowd was small but supportive. They listened as he talked about the stress of cattle prices going down and other difficulties inherent in the agriculture industry, and many offered resources they thought might help.
“You wake up in the morning and all of a sudden you see that sunshine and you’re just like, yes,” Horn said later in an interview. “Then all of a sudden when you go outside you see a dead cow or you look at the prices and you get a letter from collections or something like that, and it just eats at your gut.”
He also spoke about his brother and partner Dale, who after his own struggle with anxiety and depression took his own life in July 2016. “There was always a shadow pushing him down, and that’s how I am too,” said Horn.
“There’s some general signs and symptoms of anxiety and depression, but people experience them a lot differently,” said workshop facilitator Adelle Stewart. “The most important piece of it is to understand what’s normal for those people that are close to you, and then when you start to recognize prolonged or progressive change in their behaviour ... it’s potentially time to open a conversation.”
That’s one of the messages Stewart hopes people took away from the workshop. The other?
If you’re not OK, it’s OK to look out for yourself.
During the workshop she talked about different ways to achieve mental wellness, including rest, nourishment and exercise and maintaining mental wellness through things like mindfulness.
Director of operations at Bridges Health and a certified life and business coach, Stewart works with all sectors of business, but she said agriculture definitely comes with its own unique set of challenges.
“A lot of those are reliant on things that are well outside of our control,” she said.
Factor in things like shift work, seasonal work, reliance on expensive machinery not to break down and fluctuating market prices, and it’s no wonder the stresses of the job begin to take a toll.
Horn’s biggest take-away from the workshop is the knowledge he isn’t alone.
“I’m not the only person out there that’s hurting,” he said.
Now that he has some resources, he hopes he has the strength once he’s home again to follow through and get the help he needs.
His advice to others who may be experiencing mental health issues but haven’t been able to reach out, is not to wait as long as he did to finally ask for help. “Don’t be afraid to talk, open up,” he said.
For more information on services offered by Bridges Health, visit bridgeshealth.com.
For mental health resources, Stewart recommends sk.211.ca, which helps connect people with the resources they need via text, phone or web chat.