Stress in the agricultural world is often caused by factors that are out of personal control such as change in market prices, disease and weather. Developing strategies to manage stress can help control it before it spirals into greater issues that may start to affect personal health. It is important to accept that stress is normal, especially in a high pressure work environment. Then understanding how to identify the signs of stress, managing it, and minimising it is the first point of call that can be easily combated.
FIT FOR FARMING, The Farming Community Network’s booklets with advice on both physical and mental health for men and women, are available here
Farmers Guardian – 7 ways to reduce stress and anxiety, click here.
Mind – How to manage stress, click here.
Stress container
- Understanding what is in your stress container will help you to address those individual issues and reduce the negative impact stress can have on your life, click here to find out more.
Managing workplace stress
According to the Health and Safety Executive, over 17 million working days are lost in Britain every year due to stress, depression and anxiety. In addition to the cost to businesses, there is a significant human cost for those people experiencing stress in their lives and those who work and live with them.
We all have different tolerances to stress and reactions will vary. We can manage a bit of stress – in fact, it helps us stay alert and react at speed when necessary. But when stress levels rise too far, it can make life miserable and cause significant harm.
FCN have developed a PDF download on 10 things to help you manage stress in your daily life. Download it here or click the image.
FarmWell – Identifying, managing and minimising stress pdf document :
- Stress can lead to mental health problems, likewise mental health problems can cause stress, and therefore it is best to deal with the pressures that are causing the stress to try and minimise their effect on the body and mind.
- FarmWell has developed a downloadable resource on stress management, identifying the signs of stress, understanding how to manage stress and from it, build resilience, click here to view.
Coping with the pressures of farming
- The following downloadable document from Teagasc covers ways to cope with the pressures of farming, click here. (Ireland)
- Fit2Farm: Farmers Weekly have developed Fit2Farm aimed at recognising and dealing with stress. There have been a series of articles developed under Fit2Farm to help improve both the physical and mental health of farmers.
YANA stress and depression plan of action, click here.
Down on the Farm-Stress
The NHS have developed a service aimed at stress on the farm ‘Down on the Farm-Stress’. This link explains how to identity stress and the solutions to minimise it https://www.tewv.nhs.uk/services/down-on-the-farm-stress/
Every Mind Matters – feeling stressed? Click here.