I expect that everyone looks forward to the growing season with at least some apprehensions about the final outcome for next year’s crop.
It is a gamble, isn’t it? We can barely predict the weather, let alone control it. Goodness knows what the government is going to do and the international trading market bounces around more than a ping-pong ball. I have grown to admire the tenacity with which my farming neighbours go about their daily chores despite the uncertainties with which they live.
Sometimes the stress gets to a person. The warning signs that anxiety may be too much are problems with concentration or memory, a lack of energy, a loss of interest in activities that were once fun, sleeping problems, eating problems, feeling more irritable than usual, a heartbeat that refuses to slow down, and feeling unwell a lot of the time.
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The warning signs are signals that more problems might be on the horizon. People who are stressed do not do well with those who love them the most. They get irritable, pick fights and sometimes say things they wish they hadn’t. They cut back on money budgeted for the well being of their families and may put aside the maintenance schedule for their machinery. They do not look after themselves or those in their care and have been known to make life difficult for everyone.
Most people living on the farm cherish their independence. That is a huge part of what makes country living so attractive.
However, it is important to remember that all of us also live in a community and those communities are there to help. But you might have to ask for it.
Sitting down with your family and sharing your anxieties may reinforce everyone’s commitment to each other. They are there to help. With their support behind you, networking with neighbours whom you feel most comfortable with and swapping ideas for dealing with this year’s crop of unforeseen difficulties might not be a bad idea.
Beyond the community, most of our prairie provinces have farm stress lines committed to confidentiality and to the protection of the caller. They are well equipped with suggestions for dealing with some of the more uncomfortable feelings that go along with stress, and they have resources to help with financial problems that created the stress in the first place.
Help is just a phone call away whether it is a stress line, the family doctor or the visiting mental health therapist.
Jacklin Andrews is a family counsellor from Saskatchewan who has taught social work at two universities. Mail correspondence in care of Western Producer, Box 2500, Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 2C4 or e-mail jandrews@
producer.com.
