I think that perhaps it's about making sure that those who are in contact with farmers actually have a farming background so they understand the time pressures, the constraints and the isolation. Also, it's about making sure that people are talking. Certainly, six years ago at my husband's funeral, we stated what happened, and that started a conversation in our community—rather than hiding what happened and saying, “He died of mysterious causes.” No. It started a conversation, particularly for us in our age group, but certainly it was able to carry down into the younger generations, as well, to talk about the fact that mental health is important. You have to take care of yourself. You have to talk to other people.
Trying to get that message out is very hard to do. Certainly, having an ag background would make things more effective, because when you finally do get to counselling, you get suggestions that are just not practical on a farm and that you cannot implement. Go on a holiday...? Well, I can't do that for eight months of the year. I could plan for one in 10 months, but that's not helping me right now.
Having that understanding, finding different ways to cope and creating avenues for people to talk would be a very good way to start.