Fear of existence, bureaucracy and financial worries make many farmers ill
Created: 03/28/2022, 09:00
By: Peter Borchers
Sadness in agriculture: The enormous workload, bureaucracy and financial worries are becoming increasingly difficult for farmers.
It is not uncommon for stress to end in mental illness.
© hl/Archive
Burnout and depression are still taboo among farmers.
However, the problems cannot be denied.
Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen
– Farmers are not generally seen as people who tend to turn their insides out.
Frustration with bureaucracy and a lack of appreciation, financial worries or quarrels in the family - many farmers deal with it themselves.
Sometimes with health consequences: They suffer from fear of the future, burnout, depression, and some have suicidal thoughts.
According to the Social Insurance for Agriculture, Forestry and Horticulture (SVLFG), farmers wait and suffer a particularly long time before seeking help.
Mental illnesses are the second most common cause of disability pensions in the industry.
The causes of mental illness are diverse.
There is the enormous workload: Farmers have to look after their livestock 365 days a year.
They can't just call in sick or take vacations like regular workers or two or three weeks at a time.
Living and working together on the farm can also harbor conflicts: When several generations live under one roof, questions arise such as: who is in charge?
Who must submit?
Get out of the taboo: For district farmer Ursula Fiechtner, the topic of mental illnesses among farmers belongs in the public domain.
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That's exactly what "Our country - the magazine for agriculture and the environment" on Bavarian television discussed a few weeks ago - a report that made waves and spoke to many people's hearts.
Ursula Fiechtner saw him.
She reacts enthusiastically to the fact that our newspaper wants to take up this "taboo subject of depression".
"I think that's great," says the district farmer from Wackersberg.
She had just received an offer from the agricultural trade association, which she immediately forwarded to the members of her WhatsApp group with the village farmers: SVLFG members can use online training to prevent mental illness.
As additional supporting reading, the district farmer recommends the book "Der Landwirtschaftliche Familienbetrieb" published by Ulmer-Verlag.
Fiechtner also put us in touch with a former farmer who, out of consideration for people who are still alive, does not want her real name to appear in the newspaper.
So let's call her Antonia Liebl.
The resolute woman in her mid-sixties had married into a farm in the northern district as a “young non-farmer” – and it was never easy for her mother-in-law. “The issue on many farms, at least it was in my time, is the mother-in-law’s jealousy.” She feels often resets itself when a new woman comes into the house.
Her luck was her strong personality and her good nerves, says Liebl, she didn't allow herself to be intimidated or bullied.
But not everyone puts up with this family bullying.
"And then it's on the soul".
Liebl knows a case in the neighborhood
"Not that long ago.
The daughter-in-law was systematically kicked out."
The 65-year-old believes that seeking help in such a case is the right way to go, but in practice it is often difficult.
"A lot of people just don't have the time.
In addition, you definitely want to keep the appearance of the healthy farming family to the outside world.”
Antonia Liebl herself helped her parents, especially her father, during the deep crises in addition to her "fundamentally positive attitude to life".
"He didn't talk much, but always listened to me.
That got me down when I was loaded.” Her hourly work in an office was also important for Liebl.
Getting out, dealing with other people far away from the rural cosmos was an elixir.
"If the women can no longer leave the farms and only see the work there, the children and the elderly, then the psychological burden will become too great over the years."
Anni Stöckl teaches the Catholic village helpers in the district.
Raised in Münsing, the mother of two runs a remote farm with her husband in Kirchbichl near Bad Tölz.
She also saw the BR contribution together with some schoolgirls and found it "very interesting".
If their village helpers are requested, this is officially "very rarely" justified with a mental illness.
When the helpers then go to the families, they quickly notice “that the women are very exhausted or that there is a great deal of psychological stress behind the herniated disc.
And they quickly realize how important it is that those affected have someone to talk to in addition to the relief.”
Role between tradition and modernity
Anni Stöckl believes that the many roles that women in particular play in agriculture can be overwhelming.
"There's the traditional.
People want to live the values from the Landlust newspaper.
Many women cook well and enjoy cooking and have a beautiful garden.” On the other hand, there is the modern: “The company has to constantly develop further, guidelines have to be met, things have to be built.” Family and friends, “time is running out and the pressure is high”.
And the men?
Stöckl can only speculate: "I believe that their stress is almost even higher.
They are highly motivated.
They inherited the farm from their parents and feel obliged to continue to run it well.
And that often takes precedence over health or one's own personal wishes.” Her husband Josef, for example, was never present at an event in the kindergarten.
"Or if their boys had a football game in the early evening, it was rarely possible for him to watch.
He would have loved to have done it more often."
Torn between tradition and new beginnings: Anni Stöckl, trainer of the village helpers, sees the farmers' women being overwhelmed by their many roles.
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Anni Stöckl also worked in rural family counseling, "for me, a main point of contact for such problems".
The 56-year-old says her former boss was always out and about in the district to hold talks.
"In rural family counseling, mental illnesses are an issue across the board in all districts."
"That's definitely the case," confirms Peter Bartlechner.
Since last year he has been in charge of the facility responsible for almost all of Upper Bavaria, which is sponsored by the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising and supports farmers in all difficult life situations.
However, his clients rarely use words like burnout or depression.
"Then it's like: 'It can't go on like this.'
Or, 'I can't take it anymore.'”
Interesting: Around 80 percent of those who call first are women, “but they often call on behalf of their husbands or fathers”.
This is not surprising for the graduate social worker, given the great financial pressure farmers are under.
"If a farmer has an external consultant calculate that he works between 4:30 in the morning and 10:00 at night for an hourly wage of three to four euros, that doesn't exactly lift the spirits."
Contact: Peter Bartlechner, head of the farm family support, also advises farmers with mental problems.
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Pandemic as an amplifier of mental distress
Normally, it is mostly middle-aged farmers who turn to the advice center.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, a striking number of young women have been looking for help from Bartlechner.
"It crumbled through this multiple burden," he says.
When homeschooling was added to normal work, direct marketing, and caring for the elderly on the farm, "the limit was reached".
The generational conflict and problems when handing over the business to the younger generation are always a big topic on the farms.
There were sentences like: "Since the son got married, everything is completely different."
Also interesting: Why ramping up agricultural production in the district would be tedious
Bartlechner tries to help those affected in discussions or a "classic mediation" - and feels how good it is for them when the other person shows understanding and empathy.
"Sometimes afterwards I think: Mei, what a terrible conversation." And then he realizes that his clients saw it much more positively.
"They're just happy that they may have talked to each other again after years of silence.
That is already the first success.”
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You can read all the news from Wolfratshausen here.
Those affected can find support here:
• Farm family advice, Münchner Straße 1 83620 Feldkirchen-Westerham, telephone: 01 51/12 20 42 67;
Manager: Peter Bartlechner (e-mail address pbartlechner@eomuc.de; office hours: Tuesday 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; Appointments by arrangement;
• Social insurance for agriculture, forestry and horticulture (SVLFG): crisis hotline for concerns about the business, stress at work, conflicts in the family, critical life events, telephone 0 56 17 85/1 01 01, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week;
Online health training at www.svlfg.de/online-training;
• Reading: "The agricultural family business - using strengths, mastering challenges" by Maike Aselmeier, Rolf Brauch, Thomas Dietrich, Eva-Maria Schüle, Ulmer-Verlag, 24.90 euros.
