It’s an uncomfortable topic but the number of farmers suffering from depression continues to be high. A 2016 study by the CDC shows those working in agriculture hold the highest rate of suicide.
A recent story in The Guardian put the issues facing many farm families into stark focus. One of those interviewed for the story was Dr. Michael Rosmann, an Iowa farmer and therapist.
Rosmann spoke with Delta Farm Press in early January. Among his comments:
On the reaction to the article in The Guardian…
“I’ve been completely overwhelmed with the number of requests. There have been over 400 requests – 70 of them from farmers and ranchers both inside and out of the United States. Most people are trying to find resources and, in some cases, they go to great lengths discussing their current situations, which can be pretty bleak.
“I’ve also received lots of reactions from folks saying ‘I was touched by the piece.’ I‘ve not received a single negative response by email or telephone. Somehow, that’s incredible. There’s a higher power moving this.”
On Rosmann’s normal practice over the course of a year…
“I’m not a typical psychologist. I’m 71 years old, now, and have a small practice limited to farm people. That’s the way it’s been for 20 years.
“I also hold workshops and have been writing a weekly column (‘Farm and Life Stress’) for about 20 years.
“Usually, I meet people at their homes or a neutral setting. Sometimes we meet for more than an entire weekend to deal with things like multi-generational conflict in a family, where they finally want to do something about it. Or, perhaps it’s a case where a family member has been treated for depression unsuccessfully: ‘Everything has been tried. What are we going to do?’
“We work our way through the situations and find avenues of treatment that might still be available.
“I also help with farm succession plans. It isn’t uncommon to meet several times when you’re talking succession and estate distribution. Those are such emotional-laden and important times for people to exercise their rights and figure out their stake in the business.
“And I said ‘business’ when farming is really a way of life.”
Can you address the typical emotional makeup of a farmer? Are they prone to the problems of depression and suicide? Are there a couple of key factors, a thread you can pull on?
“There are typical factors.
“It should be noted there are also risks of exposure to some agricultural chemicals that can play a role in the onset of depression.
“I like to call the urges you’re getting at the ‘agrarian imperative.’ There’s something that motivates farmers to strive incredibly hard to hang on to the resources needed to produce food, fiber and, now, renewable energy.
“That drive, I think, is an outgrowth of territorial instincts in animals. Coyotes mark their territories in a variety of ways. Humans mark our territories with fences, legal descriptions, sidewalks. Sometimes we place signs that say ‘this belongs to me’ or it signifies that.
“We acquire the best territories to reproduce other humans. We have that drive and it’s pretty well established genetically. We know this drive leads farmers to work too hard, especially when there’s a threat to the loss of their land and the resources needed to farm.
“When there’s a threat like a disease outbreak or a financial threat, farmers try extremely hard to keep going. They keep going to the point they deplete themselves of essential chemicals of well-being like serotonin and oxytocin.”
More on farmer make-ups, tendencies…
“When we aren’t successful as farmers it strikes us at our very core. We are also imbued with psychological factors that show up in successful farmers. Work done in Scotland and Australia – and subsequently replicated in many agricultural areas – shows farmers have a drive to work and tolerate adversity, have a capacity to rely on themselves and work alone, a tendency to take risks because it leads to a greater likelihood of finding solutions and advancing oneself.
“I think we can even say in bygone eras, our own ancestors took risks to leave Europe and Asia to come here, or go to Australia or wherever they wanted to farm. They had no access to personal land in Europe under the political systems.
“So, those tendencies help farmers. However, those same things hurt farmers when we’re stressed. We don’t reach out well and become vulnerable. That’s a contributing factor to suicide. People undertake self-harm when nothing else is working. Sometimes that act is one of sacrifice to bring attention to the plight of other farmers, sometimes to secure the proceeds of a life insurance policy. So, taking one’s life can sometimes be viewed as a last-ditch effort to salvage an agricultural operation.
“All that comes under the ‘agrarian imperative.’