New research revealed one in four farmers in Canada contemplated taking their own life during the course of the pandemic.
QUICK FACTS:
- Research from the University of Guelph revealed a quarter of Canadian farmers considered suicide as a result of the pandemic, according to The Post Millennial.
- “Being a farmer has never been easy, however over the past couple of years, the job has become increasingly taxing both physically and mentally,” the outlet said.
- The study found that nearly 76 percent of farmers in the county reported moderate to high levels of stress and one in four “felt their life was not worth living, wished they were dead, or thought of taking their own life.”
- The results also revealed that suicide rates were almost two times higher among farmers than the general Canadian population.
RESEARCHER DR. ANDRIA JONES-BITTON ON SUICIDE IDEATION OF CANADIAN FARMERS:
“We have made great strides in reduction of stigma and in increasing of help-seeking, which is good news,” Jones-Bitton said. “and yet, we’re still seeing these troubling statistics and the stressors that farmers are experiencing.”
BACKGROUND:
- For the first time in Canada’s history, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the “Emergencies Act” following the ‘Freedom Convoy’ as truckers protested the country’s vaccine requirements.
- The act is a rarely used provision that allows the federal government to override the provinces and authorize special temporary measures to ensure security during national emergencies anywhere in the country, Reuters reported.
- In Feb. 2022, Trudeau announced that restrictive measures were the only way towards easing COVID rules.
- “The government has been focused… on following the best science, following the best public health advice to keep as many people safe as possible,” Trudeau said at the time. “And I can understand frustrations with mandates. But mandates are the way to avoid further restrictions.”
