Injury. Farming is one of the most dangerous occupations (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Agricultural Safety, n.d.). Farmers, their children and farmworkers are all at higher risk for injury than the general population. Injuries increase in the presence of stress or depression. When fathers engaged in injury-related behaviors on the farm while experiencing high farm-related stressors, their adolescent children did likewise (Stoneman & Landua, 2016). One comprehensive review of multiple studies found that mental health challenges among farmers came from social, environmental, and economic factors. Injuries and resulting disabilities were related to poor health. Disabilities were in the top four most frequently cited risk influences for distress and mental health challenges (Yazd et al., 2019). Farmers with injuries are at risk for opioid addiction. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that opioids are prescribed for about 20% of farmers and the farm workforce who are injured and unable to work on any given day (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Agricultural Safety, n.d.).
Injuries and disabilities are known to be risk factors for distress and mental health challenges.
Self-Treatment. Across the United Statespeople turn to substance use as a way to cope with distress (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2019) as do farmers and farmworkers (Shogren et al., 2020). A 2015 national study (Bush & Lipari, 2015) found that among agriculture, forestry, fishery and hunter workers ages 18-64, 9.4% used alcohol heavily in the past month. Heavy alcohol use was defined as consuming five or more alcoholic drinks on the same occasion on five or more days within the last 30 days. In the same study, 5.7% used illicit drugs in the past month; 10.5 % were dependent on or abused alcohol or illicit drugs in the past year.
A survey commissioned by the American Farm Bureau and the National Farmers Union found that 77% of farmers said they could easily get opioids without a prescription (Morning Consult, 2019). A similar percentage of farmers (75%) reported being directly affected by opioid misuse, addiction, or overdose. Another study of farmers found a correlation between a natural disaster and the increase in opioid overdose (Swayne, 2018). The same study revealed that opioid overdoses increase 10% with each $10,000 reduction in net income per farm. For White, middle-aged men, suicide is sometimes a way of responding to stress and crisis. Suicide rates among farmers are twice that of the general population (Peterson et al., 2018). In 2019, relationship problems and health issues, followed by financial and substance use, were associated with suicide among farmers in one state (Scheyett et al., 2019).
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