New study confirms farmers are vulnerable to depression
British farmers are more than twice as likely as the general population to contemplate suicide, according to a report published in the British Medical Journal.
The findings have prompted the study's authors to call for farmers' mental health to be closely monitored, particularly in the aftermath of the recent foot and mouth crisis in the UK.
Of the 425 farmers who participated in the research, the average age was 51; most were male and were employed full-time in a role they had been working in for 16 years or more. The most frequent symptoms were fatigue, irritability and sleep problems.
The findings show 3% of farmers thought their life was not worth living and just under 1% had thought about killing themselves, with a 6% overall prevalence among farmers of poor mental health.
Commenting on the findings, industry figures said while they are aware farmers do have higher incidents of suicide than other professions, these figures do not warrant a loading on protection products.
Nick Kirwan, head of marketing and product development at Scottish Provident, said: 'While we acknowledge the farming community has been through the wars, have firearms and have a higher suicide rate than other industries, we do not apply a loading or special underwriting when dealing with them,' he said.
Tony Jupp, chief underwriter at Norwich Union, stressed any loading applied would be a result of something questionable arising from a medical assessment.
He said: 'There is no additional premium for the fact that a person is a farmer. However, should something such as deep-rooted depression manifest itself in their medical examination, then the situation would be assessed and they may get a loading or be refused cover depending on the severity of the case.'
For IP products, farmers' premiums are based on the level of manual work involved in their role, not mental pressure.
