Suicide in the farming community: methods used and contact with health services: Table 1

Abstract

Farmers have a high rate of suicide (1% of suicides in England and Wales). This study sought to test whether farmers would be less likely to have been in contact with primary or mental health services before death due to their reluctance to seek help. The study also sought to identify other characteristics that diVerentiated suicide among male farmers from other professional groups. A retrospective casecontrol design was used comparing male farmers with an age and sex matched control group. Cases were all members of the farming community within the Exeter Health District on whom suicide or open verdict had been recorded between 1979 and 1994. 63 Cases were identified and entered into the study. Controls were nonfarmers with the same verdict who were matched for age (5 year age bands) sex and social class. Farmers were significantly more likely to use firearms to kill themselves (42% of farmers v 11% controls). They were less likely to use a car exhaust or to die by poisoning (9% farmers v 50% controls). Farmers were significantly less likely to leave a suicide note (21% farmers v 41% controls). There was no significant diVerence between farmers and controls for numbers in contact with their general practitioner or mental health services in the 3 months before death. There may be some diVerences in help seeking behaviour between farmers and the general population as over 30% of farmers presented with exclusively physical symptoms. General practitioners should consider depressive and suicidal intention in farmers presenting with physical problems. When depression is diagnosed consideration should be given to the temporary removal of firearms as the high rate of suicide in the farming community may be strongly influenced by access to means. Suicide among farmers is a particular cause of concern in Devon. For the years 1981-93 there were 62 suicides among farmers which was more than any other county in England and Wales. The mean annual rate of suicide among farmers over this period in the county was 38/100 000 and this represents a relative risk of 1.48 compared with the rest of England. 2 Many factors have been proposed to account for this high rate including access to firearms, the prospect of unemployment, financial diYculties, and a sense of personal failure when this involved the loss of the family farm, a functional attitude to death, increased psychiatric morbidity, personality factors, isolation, lack of social support, lack of a personal meaning to life, and high levels of occupational stress. 2-4

Environmental Change and Human Health in Upper Hunter Communities of New South Wales, Australia

“…The relationship between white settlement (as the primary manifestation of ecosystem distress, from an Indigenous perspective) and deleterious psychosocial health indicators for Indigenous people, is starkly clear in Australia, Canada, and elsewhere (O'Shane, 1995; Raphael et al, 1998). The psychological health of people living in rural landscapes, particularly with respect to suicide and depression, has been linked to a variety of factors, including access to firearms, unemployment, financial difficulties, and sense of personal loss of control over destiny (Booth et al, 2000). However, as Horwitz et al argue: Rarely is environmental change regarded as a possible contributing factor, yet landscape degradation, manifesting as soil erosion, river or wetland degradation, or increasing salinity on previously productive land, may underlie or exacerbate any of these other contributing factors (Horwitz et al, 2001, p 255).…”

Comprendre les masculinités rurales : un portrait basé sur la santé psychologique

“…En revanche, ces données sont connues en Australie et en Angleterre, et elles révèlent que les agriculteurs ont des taux de suicide plus élevés que ceux de la population masculine générale ou ceux des autres hommes ruraux (Booth, Briscoe et Powell, 2000;Fraser et al, 2005;. Le suicide est souvent l'aboutissement d'un long processus multifactoriel qui comprend des problèmes de santé psychologique, dont la dépression, la détresse psychologique et les idéations suicidaires (Préville, Boyer, Hébert, Bravo et Seguin, 2005).…”

Psychosocial Investigation of Individual and Community Responses to the Experience of Ovine Johne's Disease in Rural Victoria

“…In line with previously published findings farmers tended to present their mental health issues in terms of physical distress. 13 At that stage I went to the doctor … he also gave mefor want of the right word antistress tablets called Zoloft. I think you are probably aware of what they are and I did not start taking them.…”