 Hi, this is Sean Brotherson, Extension Family Life Specialist with NDSU Extension. This is the second in a series of short videos on the topic of understanding and managing key stresses in farming and ranching. Thank you for your interest in this topic and how it might be of relevance in your life and work. The main objectives of our discussion on this topic are to increase awareness of how we respond to stress situations, explore warning signs of stress overload, and discuss coping approaches to managing stress in farming and ranching. I'd like to begin with a reminder about a couple of key points in managing farm and ranch stress that are most important. First, it's critical to remember and understand that your health is your most important asset as a farmer or rancher. Your health is what allows you to function every day, to make decisions on your operation, and to manage all aspects of your farm operation. Your health is the key to managing your stress, and good stress management is good farm management. Let's talk about how your health and ability to function well is affected by stress, what to watch for, and some things you can do for good stress management. Farmer health and safety is the most important priority in managing any farm or ranch operation. Increased stress levels can have a negative effect on your physical and mental health. In farming and ranching, we often use equipment that is put under strain, and if using a tractor we will shift gears to manage an increased load. Shifting into a different gear helps the equipment withstand strain. This is similar to what happens with people when they are under increased stress. When you put your body into a different gear to work as fast as possible to bell hay before a storm comes, you experience stress. You feel the effects of powerful hormones being released in the body. Your blood pressure goes up, your heart rate quickens, and your breathing and blood flow accelerate. This helps your body function at a more intense level for a period of time in managing challenges. If you adjust to the stressful situation, then you move into the relaxation response in which your blood pressure goes down to a normal healthy rate. While occasional operation in a different gear in a stressful situation does little, if any, harm, keeping yourself under strain for lengthy periods of time or experiencing too many stressful events at one time is dangerous. Just like a boiler that bursts under too much pressure, your body breaks down and your health suffers. You always have two choices, the stress response or the reaction response. If at the first warning signs of stress, you take a moment to relax and breathe deeply, you'll find that you have more energy, can concentrate better, and actually can get more done in less time. Many people learn to screen out unpleasant circumstances and related stresses. Much of the time, people don't know they're feeling stressed or they don't give much attention to what is going on in their bodies and in their relationships with others. For example, they might deny their problems. One farmer, for example, insisted everything is fine, just fine. Truth is, his net income had dropped 20% that year and 15% the year before. He was denying the reality of the situation. Sometimes we might blame others. Another farmer who was feeling quite helpless because of an upcoming loan payment blew up at his wife for suggesting they take a vacation, saying, there you go again talking about ways to waste money. At other times, people may try to escape their situation through eating binges, spending sprees or using alcohol or other drugs. Such avoidance efforts are attempts to screen out any unpleasant, uncomfortable stress alarms. But signs of stress are warning signals like the flashing red light on the dashboard of a car when the engine is overheating or there's a mechanical problem, and they are warning you to pay attention, to slow down and take steps to check for difficulty. If you ignore it long enough, the engine will malfunction. Rising blood pressure, a rapidly beating heart, clenched teeth, aching neck and shoulders, sweating hands and feet, a churning stomach, dropping sexual interest. These are all red lights flashing on your body's dashboard and warning you that trouble could lie ahead. These warning signals can occur in the physical, emotional, behavioral and relationship dimensions of a person's life. If you ignore your body's physical signs of stress and strain too long, you invite real problems for your health. High blood pressure, declining health, proneness to accidents, depression or other mental health concerns or heart disease. Let's review some early warning signals of stress to pay attention to in the physical and emotional or mental areas of our health. Review the signs indicated here and do a brief check of where you or someone you care about might be with regard to stress and any symptoms that stand out. Great physical signs of stress include head aching, bat or neck muscles being tense and achy, having stomach upset or digestive difficulties, breathing that is short or labored, low energy, having body fatigue or tiredness that is persistent, or aggravation of any existing health issues. Key emotional or mental signs of stress include being irritable about little things like if anybody got the mail, carrying a sense of frustration or anger that feels ready to come out at any time, feeling impatient, restless or unable to focus, feeling a sense of discouragement or hopelessness, wanting to withdraw from others or isolating yourself, having a sense of anxiety or panicked feelings or feeling it's difficult to concentrate or feeling confused. These are common symptoms in the physical and emotional or mental health domains that indicate stress levels are high and are warning signals that you should pay attention to. Let's further review some early warning signals of stress to pay attention to in the behavioral and relationship areas of our health. Review the signs indicated here and again do a brief check of where you or someone you care about might be with regard to any symptoms that stand out. Key behavioral signs of stress include difficulties with sleep which can include being unable to sleep or having too much sleep, an inability to relax, have fun or focus on things other than the farm, getting angry easily or having outbursts, having trouble making decisions, increased use of alcohol or other drugs to escape or to numb your feelings, difficulty in being flexible, feeling like everything has to go your way, and then overeating which is often called eating our stress or sometimes having a loss of appetite. Some key relationship signs of stress include communication difficulties with others, conflict or arguments with family members, farm partners or farm workers, lack of satisfaction with efforts whether your own or others, and blaming or criticism, verbal or physical outbursts or abusive language or treatment toward others, strained interactions where you feel tense, unable to laugh or just being short with people, avoiding others such as not going to the coffee shop, elevator or church, and lack of time with a spouse, children, friends or others that you normally spend time with. And these are signals of stress that you should pay attention to. Again, remember that your health is your most important asset as a farmer or rancher and that the key to your health is stress management. Taking care of your health needs to be an important priority in managing your farmer ranch operation which involves managing your stress. The most important thing to do when dealing with stress is to just get checked especially if warning signs that we've discussed indicate potential concerns and access resources that can assist with your health and stress management. If you as an individual feel a need to access physical or mental health supports or services or if you feel concerned about an individual that you know who is under stress and may have difficulty coping, connect with or refer someone to a local health care provider. Most rural communities have access to a health care provider and health care providers typically deal with a wide range of health issues, whether physical or mental or emotional health, and can help you take next steps in attending to your health. Others you may connect with or refer to include counselor, clergy member, medical professional, social worker or local law enforcement. There are a variety of other useful resources available to assist with health and stress management. If you as an individual feel a need to access mental health supports or services, or if a person feels concerned about an individual that he or she knows who is under stress and may have difficulty coping or has suicidal feelings, the resources listed here provide a starting point for information in North Dakota and the Upper Midwest. To begin with, you can call the 211 helpline number 24 hours a day which is staffed by individuals and counselors who can provide information, services, referrals or crisis counseling. Additionally, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available at any time by calling 1-800-273-TALK or 1-800-273-8255. Please don't hesitate to call on your own behalf or on behalf of someone you know or are concerned about. Remember, your health and the health of others needs to be your first priority. The NDSU Extension Farm Stress Website also has a wealth of resources on farm stress that you can access and it can be accessed at www.ag.ndsu.edu backslash farm ranch stress. This concludes video number two in the series, Understanding and Managing Stresses in Farming and Ranching. Thank you for viewing this resource. We encourage you to seek out further understanding on farm and ranch stress by viewing the other short educational videos in this series. These and other educational resources can be accessed on the NDSU Extension YouTube channel or on the NDSU Farm Stress Website. This educational resource has been supported and brought to you by the North Dakota Soybean Council and the NDSU Extension, Extending Knowledge, Changing Lives.