Lincolnshire’s farming and rural community appears to be facing a mental health crisis as new figures show calls to a support charity have almost doubled in two years.
A report by the Lincolnshire Rural Support Network found it was receiving 96 per cent more calls now than it was two years ago – with issues around mental health and stress driving the increase.
Amy Thomas, head of the LRSN, said: “We are finding that we predominantly attract men into our clinics, but a lot of the women we know in the farming community also tell us that they are lonely, they are stressed, they are isolated.”
Calls about mental health have risen by 241 per cent over the last six years, the figures also show.
Growing financial concerns – including the impact of the new inheritance tax – and worries over the devastation that is being caused by the climate crisis are among the reasons given for a rise in those experiencing stress, anxiety and depression.
Ms Thomas said: “I’ve done quite a lot of work with NHS Lincolnshire and helping them understand the fact that if a farmer comes to them and says the weather has been a problem, they understand that it means a lot more to that farming community.”
She added: “Farmers don’t talk about how they feel and it’s a very much ingrown cultural issue in farming and our approach to mental health is very much shaped by that, it’s one of the primary reasons we do health screenings.”
The total number of farms in Lincolnshire has decreased to 3,497 which is the lowest figure in over a decade with many farmers in now closing or selling their land.
But it is not just farmers experiencing issues with mental health.
Lucy Mills, a 30-year-old trainer and rider, said: “I think especially when you are self-employed there’s not a lot of money in it, you work very long hours for not much return.”
The LRSN provide support for all kinds of challenges, ranging from business and family relations to legal expertise: last financial year they supported a total of 248 families and conducted over 5106 health screening checks, an all-time high for the charity.
Ms Thomas said: “We have got people on our books 10 years or more, we have some people with really quiet complex needs or lengthy and on-going legal cases.”
