While average suicide rates in Australia are gradually decreasing, suicide rates for farmers have trended upward; according to a study by the National Rural Health Alliance, suicide rates among farmers are almost 60 percent higher than the national average.

According to the 2023 National Farmer Wellbeing Report, this finding was not unexpected, as almost half of Australian farmers have had thoughts of self-harm or suicide — most of these farmers being men.

Brenda Mutsvairo, a PhD candidate at the University of Southern Queensland, recalls the participants of her study citing climate issues as the reason behind mental health challenges among male farmers.

But a lesser-known threat to the farming community is the stigma attached to talking

Mutsvairo says stigma is one of the main concerns for male farmers’ health.

“There’s a societal expectation that men should be strong,” she says. “They are the heads of the family. They cannot appear to be weak. These challenges minimise their access to mental health support.”

There are two types of stigmas common among farmers: self-stigma and perceived stigma.

Dr Alison Kennedy, Director of the National Centre for Farmer Health, defined self-stigma as “thoughts you have about yourself” and perceived stigma as “thoughts that you think others are thinking about you”.

For farmers, self-stigma often shows through their “culture of self-reliance,” according to Sally Cunningham from the National Centre for Farmer Health.

Dr Kennedy says many farmers believe “they should be able to solve their own problems”, and this self-reliance would translate into their personal lives.

In her early years as a paramedic, Dr Kate Kloot, Senior Lecturer at Deakin University, saw a tendency for farmers to be “so stoic”, often delaying healthcare or rejecting pain relief because “they don’t want to disturb anybody”.

Meanwhile, perceived stigma in farmers happens due to rural communities often being “tight knit social groups”.

In some instances, “the local mental health provider is also the parent of your child’s best friend,” Dr Kennedy says, while participants of Mutsvairo’s study found it difficult to ask for medication simply because they knew the pharmacist.

“Farmers have a mindset of ‘more people know me and they’re going to know I have mental health challenges’, which completely puts them off of seeking help,” Mutsvairo says.

The blurry boundary between formal and informal relationships has also affected their ability to speak about struggles.

“They’d be willing to listen to a mate, but they’d be reluctant to talk to someone that exposes their own vulnerability,” Cunningham says.

Other factors have deepened farmers’ reluctance to openly speak about their issues, such as geographic isolation, long wait times for health services, and a disconnect with General Practitioners.

Support often comes from “outsiders who don’t understand life within a farming community,” Dr Kennedy says.

In Mutsvairo’s study, a farmer considered his handyman as a psychologist because “there was more consistency” compared to speaking with GPs.

Farmers in Mutsvairo’s study frequently went to non-professionals for help with their mental health challenges, and these meetings proved to be effective.

The Ripple Effect, an organisation working to prevent farmer suicide, has adopted this idea; Dr Kennedy described its efforts as “encouraging conversations within [the farmer’s] trusted network”.

The National Centre for Farmer Health has similar goals with programs like ‘Back on Track’, which combines “trusted relationships, that level of mutual understanding and the evidence-based approach,” said Dr Kennedy.

Cunningham the importance of community and social connection within the farming community; through the NCFH’s social events, farmers often come out identifying stress points that “they never thought as mental health issues”.

Mutsvairo stressed the need for accessible and judgement-free services where farmers could “just walk in and say let’s have a chat”.

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of self-harm or suicide, please reach out to 1800 936 229 (Farmer Lifeline Support) or 13 11 14 (Lifeline Australia).

This story is part of a project exploring regional Victoria and the issues farmers are facing. See the whole collection here.