MALLAIG – Last week, a small crowd gathered at the Mallaig Unity Hall to take part in a one-day, in-depth workshop centered around well-being, mental health and how to spot the signs and respond to someone in mental distress.
The workshop, In the Know, was developed at the University of Guelph, Ont., and was designed and tailored for rural and farm communities.
The program was picked up by AgSafe Alberta and was hosted for the first time in the province by the Lakeland Agricultural Research Association (LARA) on Oct. 12, made possible with the sponsorship from the Demeria Memorial Fund.
For Kellie Nichiporik, LARA’s environmental program manager, hosting the workshop offered an important resource to the agricultural community, where conversations around mental health are often absent.
“We all talk about physical health so easily. You always hear people complain, ‘Oh, my knee hurts.’ But a brain is a huge organ, so why would we not talk about it?” said Nichiporik. “We really need to normalize conversations about mental well-being, because it's a huge part of who we are.”
Although not everyone that registered for the event was able to attend, she said “as long as you're reaching at least one person, I think, in regards to mental health and giving people a skill set they can take and use out in the community, is worthwhile.”
In the Know workshops are led by medically trained professionals with a background in mental health. The topics that were discussed involved spotting signs of mental distress, such as anxiety, depression, acute trauma and substance abuse.
Throughout the day, participants were able to share stories about situations they had experienced, as well as divide into breakout groups to discuss and practice the techniques they had learned during the course.
Discussed were topics of how to engage in safe conversations about mental health and suicide, as well as how to identify appropriate people or organizations that can provide help or support for someone who is struggling.
Working within agriculture and with producers, LARA’s staff see firsthand the struggles community members face through the several years of hard growing conditions.
“We know that agriculture itself is a very isolating industry, people are working in remote locations, services are not always readily accessible compared to an urban setting and so it's important for us to ensure that this kind of information is still getting out there,” Nichiporik told Lakeland This Week.
Producers have always had to deal with uncertainties related to market conditions and changing weather patterns, however, over the past year people have been faced with the extra stress and isolation related to the ongoing pandemic.
“Everybody has stress, and usually when we have mental wellness, we are able to deal with that stress and it doesn't push us over the curve. Stress is what really drives us to do things, stress is really our motivator but then you have too much stress it pushes you into an unhealthy place,” Nichiporik said, adding that in the past year there has been an increase of mental health crises due to increased isolation and a lack of coping mechanisms.
Talking about mental health can often alleviate some of that anxiety, she said. Building relationships and finding that sense of community, finding hobbies or joining special interest groups help to reduce feelings of aloneness.
“We have to make sure that everybody has skills or knowledge that they can use to help each other — nobody's ever really an island out here.”
In November, LARA will host an evening speaker session with Leslie Kelly, the chief creative officer from High Heels and Canola Fields. Kelly is a farmer from Saskatchewan who works with the Do More Agriculture Foundation.
While the ‘In the Know’ workshop was an in-depth program, the presentation by Kelly with be more of an introduction to opening conversations around mental health and the importance of mental health in a rural and agricultural setting, Nichiporik explained.
