Anxiety disorders among pig farmers in Beauce a growing concern, says regional health authority

The death of a pig farmer in Beauce, Que., has pushed health groups in the region to raise awareness about mental health among workers in the pork industry.

Au cœur des familles agricole (ACFA), a psychosocial support network for producers, contacted most of the 550 pig farmers in the region from February to April to inquire about the state of their mental health and offer them help.

"We were made aware that there had been a suicide within the pig farming community," said social worker Alexandra Lapointe, who has been meeting producers for more than two and a half years in the farming community in the Chaudière-Appalaches region.

"We really wanted to make sure it did not have a contagion effect," she said.

Regional health authority intervenes

ACFA is not alone in trying to do more for pork producers facing psychological distress. For the past few weeks, the regional health authority — the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) de Chaudière-Appalaches — has been encouraging emergency personnel and family doctors to be even more on the lookout for pork producers who visit its establishments.

Michel Laroche, director of the mental health and addictions program at the CISSS, said the awareness campaign was an opportunity to join forces and create a safety net for producers and their families.

A situation to be taken seriously

Guylaine Bergeron, an owner of a swine nursery Saint-Isidore, said she's relieved that ACFA and the regional health board are doing more to support producers.

Bergeron said she isn't hiding that she had a "very difficult time psychologically."

The drop in pork prices and the closure of the Olymel slaughterhouse in Vallée-Jonction have disrupted the pork industry.

René Roy, president of the Association des éleveurs de porcs de la Beauce, has also welcomed the initiatives to help pig farmers. He said he receives calls daily from producers who express their uncertainties about the changes affecting their industry.

The exact amount of the decrease in production and its impacts on producers will become clearer in the coming weeks, when new regulations come into force.

This is when producers may need the most help, Lapointe said.

"Of course, we'll be ready and there to offer support," she said.

Like all producers waiting for answers, Bergeron wonders if the new regulations will allow her to continue her business.

She said she is at least happy to have had mental health support and is encouraging producers who are despairing to ask for help.

"We're talking about it openly to try to make people understand that they are not alone, that we are together and that there are means at their disposal."