Depression among farmers is not as uncommon as one might think. Michael Rosmann (researcher, University of Iowa adjunct professor and licensed psychologist) has provided numerous points regarding contributing factors for this illness and actions that could be taken to prevent it. Depression and suicide are very closely linked, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (afsp.org) reports that 90% of those who die by suicide had a diagnosable psychiatric disorder at the time of their death.
The CDC (Center for Disease Control) put together a report in 2012 that is perhaps the largest U.S. study to compare suicide rates among occupations, even though it only covered 17 states and approximately 12,300 of the more than 40,000 suicide deaths in the nation that year. It found that farmers, lumberjacks and fishermen kill themselves most often. So why farmers? Dr. Rosmann feels that an intense desire to succeed on their own and at all costs is characteristic of many farmers and ending one’s life is seen somehow as more noble than failing at farming. Rosmann bases this conclusion on his observations during his 40 plus years of working with these individuals, and these opinions helped him develop what he calls the agrarian imperative theory which holds:
The agrarian imperative is a basic drive of humans to acquire sufficient territory and other necessary resources to produce food and agriculturally derived materials for clothing, shelter and fuel, so that the human species thrives.
The agrarian imperative instills farmers to work incredibly hard, to endure unusual pain and hardship, to take uncommon risks and to rely chiefly on themselves in their efforts to furnish these essential life-needs of their fellow humans
Dr. Wendy Ringgenberg (Des Moines University) and her co-authors of an article in the May 2017 Journal of Rural Health state that suicide in the agricultural workplace is more likely than any other work environment for which there is data, and Rosmann says that there is more to the problem that we as ag producers, our families, health-care providers, researchers and everyone else don’t comprehend than what we do. The problem isn’t going away, and unfortunately few people want to speak candidly about suicide. It needs to be discussed more openly if we are to learn more.
So the choice between suicide or farm failure is really not a choice. For suicide IS failure – to understand, to educate, to recognize, to reach out and take action. Make a commitment today to be part of the solution.
-Terry Olson, Titan Machinery
References:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/these-jobs-have-the-highest-rate-of-suicide/
http://www.agweek.com/life/family/4294160-be-aware-indicators-farmer-suicide
http://www.iowafarmertoday.com/feature/columnists/farm_and_ranch_life/suicide-by-farmers-continues-to-be-a-problem/article_1de8bdf6-5b6f-11e7-baa8-fb4846073baf.html