Carmen Ledding, program director of the Canadian Mental Health Association in Rosetown, is leading the charge on a difficult topic: mental health in agriculture. On February 26, she will teach Mental Health First Aid in Estonia, as outlined by the Mental Health Commission of Canada. “As physical first aid is given to an injured person before medical treatment can be obtained, mental health first aid is given until appropriate treatment is found or until the crisis is resolved. »
With the growth of farms and the financial burden of running this type of business, Carmen noticed a common concern among producers.
“A lot of the issues I’ve heard have to do with the stress of what we’re doing with the family farm,” Ledding said in the interview.
Another concern related to the increasing size of farms themselves is the isolation of farmers and their families not only from the community but also from much-needed resources. Ledding says: “People are becoming more and more isolated due to the size of farms and they are further and further away from services. »
This is why, and much more, Carmen Ledding is leading this training session. On the Talk Ask Listen registry page it is explained that “One in four Canadians will experience a mental health problem at some point in their life. In Canada, 1 in 8 jobs is related to agriculture, but producers lack mental health resources.
Ledding makes it clear that “we need to talk about these things so people can get help.”
Poster via Carmen Ledding
