A new series of short videos produced by the Yorkshire Rural Support Network is being shared on social media this week to remind farmers and their families of how they can look after their biggest asset – their health.
In this blog post, David Moyles of Samaritans addresses the importance of looking after our mental health.
Communication is natural to all living things human, animal, insect or plant.
Whether you live in town or country, city or village you’ll be familiar with the smell of cut grass which is, in fact, grass sending out distress signals or cries for help as the mower blades damage it.
Similarly, our lives sometimes create situations where we might need help in some form or other, yet some of us find it very difficult to do what is natural – to communicate our distress.
We tell ourselves that it’s our business, it’s private, it’s too horrible to mention; we might say other people have their own problems, they’re too busy to listen to me.
We might say ‘I’ll keep it from my family’, it’ll only worry them, annoy them, frighten them and I can’t let my best friend know because I’m too embarrassed or they might think I’m a failure.
We’ll decide to keep quiet, keep it to ourselves, hope something will come up to make things right, ignore it or tell ourselves it’ll go away if we don’t think about it.
All totally understandable thoughts and Samaritan Volunteers, cut from the same cloth as you, completely get it because we’ve probably been there too!
We know it’s sometimes difficult to communicate thoughts and feelings to those close to us, we also know that problems unresolved get worse, fears not communicated grow and isolation and loneliness endured become unbearable.
Whoever you are, wherever you are, you can access our free to use and confidential service which assures your anonymity and gives a ‘safe place’ to communicate no matter the subject.
We promise that we’ll listen without judgement; we won’t tell you what to do, but we’ll try to help you to understand your thoughts and feelings; to recognise what’s troubling you and to help you to find the solutions that are best for you, but more than anything else, we’ll let you know that you’re not alone.
Samaritan volunteers are designated keyworkers and our Freephone line 116 123 and email jo@samaritans.org are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
To find out more about Samaritans go to www.samaritans.org or find our self-help advice at https://selfhelp.samaritans.org
Health videos: Full details about our new health message video series
More: Read about the work of the Yorkshire Rural Support Network
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