Ensuring good mental health

Fran Rice, Worcestershire, England

I farm in Worcestershire with my husband. We started our farming enterprise about 10 years ago from a small vegetable patch, a few chickens and three sheep, but we have now built up to 300 ewes. We bought in a patch of arable land and have been converting this to pasture over the last few years, with plans to start a Hereford suckler herd in the next 18 months.

It’s been a long process and was slower than we wanted because over this period I’ve had to spend some time in hospital with mental health problems, but we’re beginning to get to where we want to be.

Despite the fact I initially trained as a GP, I did not recognise at the time that I was developing increasingly severe depression. Friends noticed I was losing weight but I passed this off as getting fit for a half marathon I was running. It wasn’t until I was beginning to have some suicidal thoughts that I realised I needed help.

My friend took me to the doctor and I had my first consultation in October 2011. I was quickly diagnosed with depression and anorexia. Since then it’s been an uphill struggle but getting support was necessary and, without that support from my GP and other services, I wouldn’t be alive today.

Everyone experiences mental health illnesses differently, and for me there were times when the only option was to be admitted into hospital for long periods of time. This isn’t the case for everyone, but it was what I needed.

I now spend most of my time farming and, while this can be therapeutic, any farmer will know it can also be very stressful. It can be great to be your own boss, setting your own timings and prioritising what you want, but this comes with difficulties with the more unpredictable things like weather, or sheep getting out or flock health problems. It is also hard not having a lot of time for holidays or general time off. 

It’s also the issue that I spend my day outside doing the work only to come home and watch farming programmes and read articles and things about sheep health and more. It’s a good lifestyle but it does have its cons and I would say it’s very important to maintain something you enjoy that isn’t related to work on a regular basis.

It can be really hard when you’re experiencing depression and other conditions to talk to people and be honest about how you’re feeling. But from my experience, it doesn’t matter who you talk to as long as you talk to someone. If you need to talk to a stranger there are telephone, email or event text helplines. Just don’t keep everything bottled up, it won’t help, and it won’t go away.

It can be tempting to ignore symptoms or think you don’t deserve the help. That isn’t true and, as certainly as you should see a doctor for a physical symptom like chest pains, you should see a doctor for depressive thoughts. Hoping it will go away could make it worse and, for me, led to prolonged and enforced hospital admissions. Mental health problems are all treatable and there are lots of ways that can happen – but get yourself the help you need, and make sure you look after your physical health too as this can help.

Ideally, people should talk about this as openly as they would about having a cold. Nobody should be alone with mental illness regardless of how isolating it can feel and, for me, my husband and friends have been an amazing support.

You should seek help as readily as you would for a physical problem. Mental health problems have always existed, but people are becoming increasingly aware of the support that exists and I hope will lead to more people getting the help they need.