Australia's drought leads to soaring suicide rate among farmers
Pastor Dale Morgan
Australia's drought leads to soaring suicide rate among farmers*
WARRACKNABEAL, Australia, Dec 10 (AFP) Dec 10, 2006
"He talked about how blokes who necked themselves were weak bastards,
but then he went and did it himself -- stepped off an oil drum in his
own workshop."
Australian farmer Marshall Rodda's shock is still evident, months after
a neighbour took his own life and joined the grim roll call of rural
land owners who have committed suicide during the country's worst
drought in a century.
The Australian general practitioners' society estimates four farmers
commit suicide every week, a rate that is double the nation average.
Mental health charity Beyond Blue is so concerned about the situation it
commissioned a special report into rural suicides in a bid to to try to
improve ways of counselling farmers.
Beyond Blue chief executive Leonie Young said reaching out to the
traditionally taciturn Australian farmers presented unique problems for
counsellors.
"Country people in Australia are typically tough, resilient and
resourceful," she said.
"These are qualities that have enabled generations of country families,
and men in particular, to tough it out in hard times.
"These same qualities also prevent many men from seeking help,
particularly for depression, because they're worried that asking for
help could be seen as weak or shameful."
It's a familar scenario to Rodda, who in his late 50s believes he has
enough experience to deal with the drought but worries about younger
farmers who have seen few good times during their time on the land.
"It's the young blokes who are just having a go, getting their feet
under the table who I feel for," he said.
"They're probably drinking too much beer to eradicate their problems,
they're stressing -- the wife and kids want things that they're seeing
their city counterparts get and it's a pretty tough call."
The Australian government has responded by sending out "drought buses,"
giving farmers a mixture of advice on water-saving measures and social
counselling on how to cope with "the Big Dry".
"Many people who've already visited the drought bus told staff they were
pleased to know they hadn't been forgotten," Human Services Minister Joe
Hockey said.
Rodda said he still couldn't understand why his neighbour took his own life.
"He wasn't at the stage where he had the bank saying 'we're after you,
we're going to take your property'," he said.
"He was a tough bloke, he'd drink beer and smoke and fight you if you
wanted him to.
"I don't know why, a tough bloke like him, he jumped off the drum."