IF 27: Dr. Andria Jones-Bitton - "In The Know" Mental Health Training Program

On this episode of Impact Farming, we sit down with Dr. Andria Jones-Bitton to discuss mental health. She shares many of the factors that contribute to a sense of overwhelming helplessness and burnout in farmers. Can you think of a few? After sharing the factors that cause burnout, she goes on to review the results of a recent study that was completed with 1100 farmers from across Canada. She shares the percentages of farmers that suffer with; high levels of stress, anxiety and what percentage of farmers actually meet the classification of depression. Spoiler alert, the statistics are alarming. What can we do as a community? How can we create sustainability for our farmers? We dive into this in the interview. Awareness of mental health has been very important, however, Dr. Andria and her team wanted to take it one step further and create an educational program called "In the Know." The program is designed to increase knowledge about mental health conditions and to give our community the tools and skills needed to spot and help others that may be suffering. Tune in to learn more.