After growing up on a fifth-generation family farm near Boggabri, NSW, Pippy Donaldson is well aware of the mental toll that comes with living a life dictated by droughts, financial stress, and the impacts of climate change. But with little support and resources available for those in agricultural areas who are struggling, many are left to cope with these stressors alone.
An aspiring clinical psychologist in her fourth year of a Bachelor of Psychology at UNE, Pippy is using her Honours thesis to find a solution to the growing mental health problem that’s consuming rural areas.
“The agricultural community has all odds against them,” she says.
“We’ve got the weather against us and we’re dealing with the impacts of climate change on top of huge financial debts. I’ve seen these factors take a toll on those around me, so for my thesis, I’m looking at the overall mental health of our farming community.”
Image: Pippy comes from a long line of farmers, and grew up on a fifth-generation family property near Boggabri, NSW. Because of this, she's seen first-hand the impact that occupational stressors can have on the agricultural community.
Pippy will look specifically at symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress, and through this, she’ll analyse what specific factors are contributing to these mental health conditions.
“I’m also interested in how people cope and respond to these stressors, which will indicate to us whether they are coping in a healthy way or in an unhealthy way in regard to their mental wellbeing.”
At the moment, Pippy says the opportunities to adaptively cope with occupational stressors are limited. With the waiting times to see psychologists as long as six months in some rural areas, many are left with no option but to battle through the hard times without the necessary support.
“From my own personal observations, participation in sport, going out into the community and attending events are ways that those around me would cope with stress, but when events such as drought happen, people tend to withdraw from doing these activities,” she says.
“We talk about mindfulness practices, regular exercise and adequate sleep patterns as effective ways to cope with stress, but because of the nature of farming and the things that come with living in on the land, I don’t know whether our farming community are actually doing this regularly. When you’re on the farm your home is essentially your workplace, so it begs the question- how are we switching off from work and dealing with these occupational stressors?”
Image: Pippy says spending time with others through participation in sport, going out into the community and attending events are ways that those around her cope with stress.
Pippy is in the process of surveying people in these communities such as farm owners, station hands, and agribusiness professionals to capture the magnitude of mental health issues being experienced. She hopes her findings will guide educators, health providers and policy makers when providing care to rural people in the future.
“On top of that, I hope that I start a movement of research in this demographic because what we have at the moment is insufficient,” she says.
“People don’t understand our lifestyle and they don’t understand how taxing it can be on our mental health. I also hope that some of this data can be used by psychologists in a clinical setting, so they have a bit more of an understanding of where we’re coming from in the farming demographic.”
Pippy will wrap up the survey at the end of June, and will complete the whole study by the end of 2022. If you would like to contribute to her research, you can take part in her 15-minute, online survey here.
