Drought pushes farmers' mental health to the brink across southern Australia
With parts of South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales experiencing record-dry conditions over the past year or more, the battle to keep livestock alive and grow crops without decent rain has taken its toll on farmers and their families.
Advocates say while some regions are finally starting to see some rain in winter, mental health in the farming community could take years to recover.
Steph Schmidt is a psychologist who also farms at World's End in South Australia's Mid North.
"It's been a really long, hard slog — at the moment, every area of agricultural South Australia is really struggling in one way or another," Ms Schmidt said.
"We've got three young boys and a mixed sheep and cropping farm, and it's the daily decisions, or what are the decisions going to be in another couple of weeks' time if the rains don't come [that are difficult].
Ms Schmidt wanted farmers to feel comfortable acknowledging their struggles.
"There is that stereotype that farmers and rural people are resilient, and we just get on with it, but helping people validate that it's OK when we're not OK [is important]," she said.
"It is so hard at the moment, and if you're really struggling, then that's OK and understandable as well.
Ms Schmidt has been travelling the state delivering mental health workshops for farmers and their families.
"We've been full booked because everyone's just going, 'We need to be doing something,'" she said.
"Often there's that realisation that, 'Oh, I'm not the only one experiencing this' … that validation of just how hard it is."
As farmers sell off livestock because of a lack of feed or gamble with planting crops into dry soil in the hope of decent rain, mental health services are in increasing demand.
Clinical psychologist Kate Gunn founded the online farmer mental health resource ifarmwell, which has doubled in use in the past year.
"Farmers are increasingly realising that wellbeing is something worth investing time in and that it's something they aren't necessarily experts in addressing themselves," Dr Gunn said.
"The impact of prolonged drought on farmers' mental health is quite severe.
"The thing that creates the most stress is uncertainty."
She said there were many resources out there for farmers, but also their families, who often felt the toll of tough times.
"Sometimes it's really hard to know which ones to go to first, but I usually recommend … go to your GP, express the fact that you think you need some help, and usually they're the best ones to be across what's available in your local area," Dr Gunn said.
Regional charity Rural Aid offers free mental health programs, including one-on-one professional counselling via on-farm visits and regular check-in calls.
Chief executive John Warlters said it had experienced a 55 per cent rise in new mental health referrals in the past year.
"We've seen a real upswing of calls and people reaching out … particularly in the last month — it's almost on a weekly basis there's half a dozen to a dozen people jumping on the phones, wanting [help]," Mr Warlters said.
"It's symptomatic of them reaching a point where they've been really tested from a financial perspective, tested emotionally, and they've cleverly or wisely recognised, 'Maybe I do need a bit of help and support.'
"I'm pleased people are reaching out — I'm just very concerned given the circumstances of what's prompted them to reach out and this ongoing drought."
Andrew Shepherd's farm is located in a usually reliable rainfall area in SA's South East, but he has been confronted by dry paddocks at the start of winter.
"I think if we'd tried to tell our kids 10 years ago that we'd be where we are now, no-one would believe us," Mr Shepherd said.
"We've been through dry periods before, but not for this long and not to this extent."
Last year, Mr Shepherd and some mates set up a Naracoorte chapter of Fat Farmers — a tongue-in-cheek name for an exercise group set up by farmers to encourage physical exercise for its mental health benefits.
Fat Farmers now has numerous groups across SA and is working to expand nationally.
"Anyone that's doing any running or any sort of sport … you feel better," Mr Shepherd said.
"Doing it in a group of people, we're talking, we're out there, we're getting off the farm, we're getting away from the stress, especially of what's happening out here at the moment."
He encouraged other farmers to take what time they could to look after their mental health, and not feel as though they had to do it alone.
When drought-breaking rain finally arrives, Dr Gunn warns it will not wash away the lingering impacts of years of drought.
"It doesn't wash all the worries away, unfortunately," she said.
"Farmers will still have debt that they have to service, it'll take a long time to rebuild stock, it'll take a long time for crops to grow, for that grain to end up in the silo and them to be paid.
"If it rains, that'll be great and it will certainly give people hope, but it doesn't translate immediately to zero mental health problems."
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