The Farmer Stress Management Toolbox Part 2

Identifying the Symptoms of Psychological Stress

This article is the second article in The Stress Management Toolbox, a series of publications related to stress management on the farm. This series of three articles will help you understand stress and its impacts on your health, work environment, and daily life. It will provide strategies and tools that help you manage stress and reduce its impact on your daily life. The first article in the Stress Management Toolbox can be found using the link below. The first article in the series defined the concept of stress and its different dimensions. This article will provide you with useful information to identify the symptoms of stress. The third article will describe strategies to cope with stress.

How Can the Farming Operation be Stressful?

Farmers face pressure to balance their daily farm operations and personal life, especially in their busy seasons. According to The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, those who are working in agriculture often deal with stress-related conditions such as heart and artery disease, hypertension, ulcers, and nervous disorders. Many out-of-control factors, for example, unpredictable weather, market prices, governmental regulations, and more recently, natural disasters, animal or plant diseases, and pandemics, negatively affect farmers' quality of life (Deary et al., 1997; Truchot & Andela, 2018; Rudolphi et al., 2020, Windon et al., 2014, 2016). Additionally, other factors in which farmers have some control (e.g., relationship with personnel, agricultural commodities, innovation adoption) can also add stress to farmers' lives. Previous research identified the following factors that can increase farmers' stress levels: heavy workload, lack of time, doubt about the future, social and geographical isolation, and conflicts with partners and family (Truchot & Andela, 2018; Windon et al., 2014, 2016; Henzi & Windon, 2021).

The amount of control that a person has to cope with environmental factors or psychological issues can determine the type of stress the person can experience. Stress can be classified as short-term stress, long-term stress, good stress (eustress), and bad stress (distress). Prolonged exposure to a stressor can lead to chronic stress since it is physiologically cumulative (Guidi et al., 2021). Long-term stress can have a damaging effect on our bodies and mind. Research showed that chronic stress is associated with the development or progression of mental disorders, such as anxiety and depression (Tafet & Bernardini, 2003), as well as a compromised immune system and a greater risk of developing cancer (Dai et al., 2020). Evidence supports that acute stress is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attack (Gianaros, 2018)

Negative stress is a defensive and adaptative reaction that prepares the "fight or flight" response in our bodies and minds. Cannon (1932) introduces the "fight or flight" response as an activation of an organism when exposed to any situation or thought that implies a challenge or a risk. Internally, when we are exposed to stressors, our body increases the level of the stress hormone called cortisol (Chemin et al., 2013). Cortisol is nature's built-in alarm system. It works with certain parts of your brain to control your mood, motivation, and fear. Also, cortisol plays a vital role in many key processes, such as controlling the body's carbohydrates, fats, and proteins usage, managing the inflammatory process, regulating blood pressure, keeping blood sugar ready to convert into energy, and controlling your sleep/wake cycle (Vijayan et al., 2010). However, keeping the body constantly ready to face adversity can have a very degenerative effect.

What are the Symptoms of Stress? How Can We Recognize Them?

Recognizing the early symptoms of stress is helpful because it allows us to be more alert to find ways to cope with stress. According to the Australian National Centre for Farmer Health and the Mayo Clinic, there are four signs of stress: physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral changes or symptoms, depending on the situation and individual characteristics. The examples of four stress symptoms are presented below: 

Physical Symptoms

• Physical discomfort
• Aches and pain (i.e., back pain, chest pain, or headaches)
• Weight gain or loss
• Gastrointestinal issues (i.e., constipation, diarrhea, or nausea)
• Rapid beating heart; short breathing
• Change in blood pressure
• Grinding/clenched teeth
• Lethargic; body fatigue
• Nervousness; anxiety
• Drop-in sexual interest

Emotional Symptoms

• Increased angry blow-ups
• Frustration
• Moodiness
• Difficulty controlling emotions (i.e., feeling overwhelmed, emotional outbursts)
• Impatient
• Low self-esteem, depressed mood
• Feeling worthless, hopeless; suicidal thoughts
• Inability to relax, restless
• Loneliness, avoidance
• Panic attack

Cognitive Symptoms

• Mental confusion or frequent forget
• Trouble concentrating
• Lack of focus on your ideas, racing thoughts
• Constant worrying
• Poor judgment
• Pessimistic attitude
• Forgetfulness

Behavioral Symptoms

• Apathy (i.e., lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something)
• Feeling constantly tired
• Overeating diet or neglecting diet
• Increased smoking/ drinking
• Sleep disruptions (i.e., insomnia, early waking, over-sleeping)
• Difficulty relaxing; restlessness
• Withdrawn from others
• Trouble adapting to changing circumstances
• Procrastination
• Short-tempered
• Sarcastic arguments
• Impulsive buying
• Gambling

Learning to recognize your stress factors is the first step in developing your coping skills. Each person can have a different ability to handle stress based on the individual's support system, skills, and experience. Some can see a particular event as a stressor, while others may view the situation as a challenge that creates a new opportunity. The question is how to focus your energy and thoughts on finding the best solution in response to a stressor. Our third article will focus on how to deal with stress by providing coping strategies that can help farmers increase their confidence in managing their stress.

We appreciate Dr. Derek Spangler's profound insights and feedback that helped shape the series of articles on stress management on the farm. Dr. Derek Spangler is an Assistant Professor of Biobehavioral Health at Penn State who conducts research related to real-world stress and its impacts on health.

AgrAbility for Pennsylvanians Project is supported under USDA/NIFA Special Projects 2021-41590-34811 in collaboration with Penn State Extension. Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences research and extension programs are funded in part by Pennsylvania counties, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and USDA.

Photo Credit: Abbie Spackman AgrAbility PA Project

References

Cannon, W. B. (1932). The wisdom of the body. New York, NY Norton.

Chemin, M., De Laat, J., & Haushofer, J. (2013). Negative rainfall shocks increase levels of the stress hormone cortisol among poor farmers in Kenya. Available at SSRN, 2294171.

Dai, S., Mo, Y., Wang, Y., Xiang, B., Liao, Q., Zhou, M., ... & Zeng, Z. (2020). Chronic stress promotes Cancer development. Frontiers in Oncology, 10, 1492.

Deary, I. J., Willock, J., & Mcgregor, M. (1997). Stress in farming. Stress Medicine, 13(2), 131–136. doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1700(199704)13:2<131::AID-SMI727>3.0.CO;2-T

Gianaros, P. J., & Jennings, J. R. (2018). Host in the machine: A neurobiological perspective on psychological stress and cardiovascular disease. American Psychologist, 73(8), 1031.

Guidi, J., Lucente, M., Sonino, N., & Fava, G. A. (2021). Allostatic load and its impact on health: a systematic review. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 90(1), 11-27.

Henzi, C. M., & Windon, S. R. (2021, September 29- October 2). Assessing Farmers' Stress and Career Commitment During Pandemic: A Pilot Study [Poster presentation] American Association for Agricultural Education North Central Conference, Columbus, Ohio, United States.

National Centre for Farmer Health. (2019, May 13). Managing Stress on the Farm.

Rudolphi, J. M., Berg, R. L., & Parsaik, A. (2020). Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Among Young Farmers and Ranchers: A Pilot Study. Community Mental Health Journal, 56(1), 126–134. doi.org/10.1007/s10597-019-00480-y

Tafet, G. E., & Bernardini, R. (2003). Psychoneuroendocrinological links between chronic stress and depression. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 27(6), 893-903.

Truchot, D., & Andela, M. (2018). Burnout and hopelessness among farmers: The Farmers Stressors Inventory. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 53(8), 859–867. doi.org/10.1007/s00127-018-1528-8

Vijayan, M. M., Aluru, N., & Leatherland, J. F. (2010). Stress response and the role of cortisol. Fish Diseases and Disorders, 2, 182-201.

Windon, S. R., Jepsen, S. D., & Scheer, S. D. (2014). Identifying the Factors Affecting Ohio Farmers' Quality of Life. Journal of the NACAA, 7(2).

Windon, S. R., Jepsen, S. D., & Scheer, S. D. (2016) Examining Quality of Life Farmers with Disabilities: Ohio AgrAbility Study. Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health, 22(1), pp 3-13.

Yazd, S. D., Wheeler, S. A., & Zuo, A. (2019, December 1). Key risk factors affecting farmers' mental health: A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16. doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16234849