Farming can be incredibility stressful with multiple variables that are our of your control. Learn about the effects of stress on health and wellbeing and how to get equipped with simple strategies for managing stress in the midst of day-to-day farm operations.

1. Tools for Coping with
Farm-Related Stress
2020 Southern SAWG Conference
January 24, 2020
Dr. Robin Tutor Marcom

2. Stress
Your mind and body’s response or reaction
to a real of imagined threat, event or
change
The threat, event or change are commonly
called stressors. Stressors can be:
internal – thoughts, beliefs, attitudes
external – loss, tragedy or change

3. Stress
Normal response to perceive danger
as stress and use response to fight or
flee
Now, instead of needing this system
to stay safe from predators, we use it
to recognize other stressors

4. Compounded Stress
Depressed market prices
Increased production costs
Tariffs
Trade/Foreign competition
Weather
Increased labor costs
Tax re-evaluations
Intergenerational tension
Development encroachment
Litigation
Environmentalists
Commodity of scale
Immigration
Regulation

5. Compounded Stress
Environmental pressures
Public misperception
Healthcare costs
Limited time for family
Isolation
Kearney, Rafferty, Hendricks, Allen & Tutor-Marcom, 2014; Tutor-Marcom, Bruce & Greer, 2014; Weingarten, 2017; Tutor-Marcom, Grafft, Wilson, Bruce, Jayaratne & Roberson, 2018

6.  Relationship problems with spouses, parents and children(40%)
 Individuals may not know how their behavior affects others
emotions
 Adjustment problems such as anxiety and depression due to stress
(24%)
 Anxiety disorders including excessive worry and panic (11%)
Most commonly diagnosed issues:

7. How do we deal
with stress?
Figure and Reassure
Distraction/denial
Repression/escape

8. Who do farmers talk to?
Friends
Spouse

9. Galvanized by God

10. Coping can be affected by:
Age
Health
Quality of coping skills
Ability to recognize what we
can/cannot control
Attitude, meaning or perception
assigned to events

11. Physical
Effects
of Stress
↑ blood pressure
 Headache
 ↓ sleep
 ↓ or ↑ in appetite
 Indigestion
 Chest pain
 Irregular heartbeat
 Difficulty breathing
 Muscle tightness

12. Other
Effects
 Difficulty thinking clearly
 Poor decision making
Short term memory problems
 Irritability
 Stressed relationships
 Withdrawn
 Anxious
Crying

13. Build
positive
reserves

14. Communication
is not
weakness

15. https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/publications/kids-family/12-tools-for-your-wellness-toolbox-in-times-of-farm-stress

23. What about
other people?

24. The capacity to understand
or feel what another person
is experiencing from within
their frame of reference,
that is, the capacity to place
oneself in another's position
EMPATHY

26. AWARENESS
&
Resources
Recognize the signs and know what to do

27. Tell-Tale Signs
Decline in care of crops, animals and farm
Deterioration of personal appearance
Increasing life insurance
Withdrawing from social events
Change in routine

28. Tell-Tale Signs
Increase in physical complaints
Increase in farm accidents
Family shows signs of stress
‘My family would be better off without me’
‘A gun is the best solution to this problem’

29. It’s okay to
ask….
https://www.ruok.org.au/how-to-ask

30. If you think someone is thinking about
suicide, assume you are the only one who
will reach out.
1. Talk to them in private
2. Listen to their story
3. Tell them you care about them
4. Ask directly if they are thinking about suicide
5. Encourage them to seek treatment or to contact their
doctor or therapist
6. Avoid debating the value of life, minimizing their
problems or giving advice
Have an honest
conversation….
https://afsp.org/find-support/when-someone-is-at-risk/

31. Be prepared…
Are you in a good place yourself?
Is the timing right?
Do you have enough time to listen?
Are you prepared for what you might encounter?
Is there someone else that might be better to approach the
situation?
Do you need to take someone with you?

32. 1-800-799-4889
(deaf/hard of hearing)
Text 838255
Veterans Crisis Line
1-800-273-TALK (8255), push ‘1’
https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/

33. Remember your own health & wellness…

34. For more information
Google ‘Farm Stress’
Contact your local or state Cooperative Extension office
Contact your personal healthcare provider or mental health agency
Askinearnest www.askinearnest.org
Farm Stress Resource Guide
http://www.ncagromedicine.org/pdf/Resource%20Guide%2071519.pdf
(see pages 5, 16-17 for national resources)

35. Dr. Robin Tutor Marcom
tutorr@ecu.edu
252.744.1008 (office)
919.880.4225 (cell)