NEAFA, in conjunction with NY FarmNet, hosted a free stress management and mental health awareness webinar April 29th. 190 registrants signed up for the event, which was aimed at dealing with the additional stress Covid-19 has recently placed on the agriculture community. “The webinar that NY FarmNet and NEAFA coordinated was critical in these uncertain times,” said Kate Downes of NY FarmNet, Downes cohosted the event with Brenda O’Brien. “It was a great way to have an open and honest conversation with people across all sectors of agriculture. Talking openly about mental health is a pretty taboo topic for many people, but by sharing language to use, and ways to talk about it without adding to the stigma is incredibly helpful, especially in our agricultural communities. We want to people to realize they can connect with and help each other, in very simple ways.”
Downes found that there were a lot of positives for registrants. “I believe many attendees were able to recognize that some of what they’re feeling and experiencing is stress, and that they’re not alone. There’s a lot going on in the world right now, and to know that they’re not an island in all of this, can be really validating. I know two hours may have felt like a long time, but as a presenter, I feel like we barely scratched the surface with all of the topics of stress management, building resiliency, mental health awareness, and having tough conversations. These topics are so incredibly important to people, which was evident as more than 100 people tuned in for the live webinar.”
Going forward, Downes will continue to work on the topic with people throughout the agribusiness sector. “I had many stress management webinars at the beginning of The Pause, but now that has quieted down a bit, as people have settled into this new normal. That being said, I would love to schedule some more. I will be speaking at the Mid-Atlantic Consortium Dairy and Beef Extension In-service Training at the end of the month about caring for your mental health and managing stress; I’m really looking forward to that. I’m also really excited that NY FarmNet expanded its services to provide personal consulting to people involved in NY agribusiness, those folks who work directly with farmers. We realized that the levels of stress are only increasing, and this part of our agricultural community needed assistance too.”
NEAFA would like to thank Downes and O’Brien for their work in making the agribusiness community a safer place for those dealing with stress and mental health concerns. If you’re struggling, it’s ok and there are people that can help. You can reach NY Farmnet at 1 800-547-3276, or fill out the contact form at www.nyfarmnet.org. The National Suicide Prevention hotline is 1 800-273-8255, and the crisis text line is 741741, just text HOME. For those under 18 in need of help, they can also call the Kids Help Phone at 1 800-668-6868.