The term “mental health” reminds me of Fr. Ted’s quote about Catholicism: “It's so vague and nobody really knows what it's about." I admit to feeling vastly under-qualified to even broach writing about the subject but it’s one we need to talk about.

If you Google the search term “farm safety mental health” you get over 3 million search results.

If you Google “farm safety” just by itself, you get 161 million results.

That means less that 98% of web pages that mention farm safety, don’t mention mental health.

In last year’s fodder crisis, there were seven suspected suicides in West Clare alone linked to having to deal with the stress and strain of that crisis.

There’s an expression that some people are fond of: “I thrive under pressure”. Sorry to break it to you, but you don’t. Stress is linked to being a cause of physical symptoms such as low energy, headaches, back pain, insomnia, chest pain, frequent colds and flus...the list goes on and on.

You don’t do well if your head is not well.

So what do you do if you are struggling to get out of bed in the morning to go out on the farm because you’re depressed?

What do you do if you’re mind is so burdened with financial worries that you’re not concentrating when you’re using farm machinery?

What do you feel so isolated on your farm that you don’t ask neighbours for help moving livestock and end up taking dangerous risks?

What do you do if rows with your father/mother about how the farm should be run are undermining your self-confidence?

The answer is easy but doing it is difficult - you reach out and talk to someone.

And there are lots of people to talk to.

The IFA and Pieta House have a special helpline - 1890 130 022 - which you can call.

Aware, a charity dedicated to mental health, also have a support line - 1890 303 302, an email service if you don’t feel comfortable talking on the phone and find it easier to write - supportmail@aware.ie, and support groups which you can attend.

For many, their GP if their first port of call if they are experiencing a hard time dealing with what’s going on in their mind.

Finally, if you are interested in learning more about mental health, one person I recommend reading and listening to is Dr Terry Lynch, a psychotherapist based in Limerick, who talks a lot of common sense on the matter. He has written two widely praised books on the subject: “Beyond Prozac” and “Selfhood” and has posted some very good videos on Youtube speaking on the subject.

Remember, if you are having difficulties, the worse thing you can do, is do nothing.