The ‘state of the nation’ survey – conducted with almost 3,000 farmer participants in recent days by AgriLand and Empathy Research – has revealed startling statistics on mental health.
As part of the study, participants were asked the question: “Have you, or anyone closely related to you, been impacted by any of the following over the past 12 months?”
Issues highlighted included: feelings of depression / severe sadness; feelings of anxiety; and suicide / attempted suicide.
Options given included: “yes, me personally”; “yes, someone close to me”; “no”; and “prefer not to say”. Multiple answers were allowed, with some participants selecting two answers for each.
48% said that they were not affected by depression or severe sadness.
Younger participants were more inclined to say that they were affected, with 53% of those aged under 34 selecting “yes” of some form. This reduced to 50% of the 35-39 year-old respondents, with 49% or less of all categories of those aged over 40 saying affirmative.
Even more farmer respondents were affected to some degree by feelings of anxiety – some 57% overall.
37% said they were affected personally, while 23% had someone close to them affected. Meanwhile, 39% said that they were not affected.
Age wise, 35-39 year-old participants had the highest percentage of those who said they were affected with 64% choosing this. Next most prevalent were the 30-34 year category, on 60%. Older age groups who said “yes” were 59% or less.
87% of respondents said that they were not affected by suicide or attempted suicide.