Rural Suicide

Message / Question

What do you say to farmers who've had it difficult through droughts. Many have committed suicide, and you use to be from country NSW so would've come across this. Is there any way that farmers have protected themselves from droughts, anything you suggest, apart from choosing another job?

Response:

Unfortunately, I have come across the issue of suicide in the rural community more times that I’d like to recount. Suicide remains Australia’s number one killer and the rural industry makes a disproportionately large contribution to statistics. Anyone who thinks that most people in rural industry are not “doing it tough” probably comes from a city and thinks that milk comes from bottles rather than cows! So many Australians on the land have experienced a significant period on low or even negative income and many who would like to “choose another job” don’t have that option because of the huge debts that have been created to simply let them survive. Selling is not an option in most cases, because the drought has not only left their properties ravaged, but has made the land unsalable or so devalued that they can’t afford to sell. And no, the picture that I’m painting is not overstated, it’s simple the reality that many Australians wake up to every morning.

Suicide is certainly NOT a good option, but sometimes the world closes in and reason is lost and suicide appears to only way out. I can only encourage people in rural communities to undertake training in “Mental Health First Aid” to better equip them to recognise some of the danger signs and have some idea of how to help. For those on the land, I suggest that it is good to seek counsel early – if you feel increasingly depressed or stressed, make sure you talk to your GP, your Pastor or rural counsellor. If you see signs in your spouse that concern you, don’t wait to “see if they go away”, get some advice from those mentioned above about what you should do. For Pastors who work in rural areas, I suggest that, if you have not already done so, go and train in Mental Health First Aid or at least undertake some suicide prevention training as general pastoral counselling training is really not enough to help people in this situation.