Farmers are also experiencing a sense of historical failure and guilt. They become attached to a pedigree herd or flock, perhaps started by a great-grandfather, and in the family for generations. Though he can't directly blame himself for what's happened, nevertheless he is now the generation which lost a herd. The whole heritage of the family that was under his custodianship has gone. With farming now going the way of mining and fishing, it's another stage in the occupational shift away from brawn, leaving farmers with few alternatives.
Most farmers still aspire to be masterful and lack a language through which to articulate loss.
Many of the calls to the helplines are deeply distressing, and the volunteers themselves need supporting. In the case of the FCN, some of those people manning the phones are going through the same experience themselves, with their own animals being slaughtered. The British countryside is awash with grief. No psychobabble needed here, but this is an opportunity, beyond the Princess Diana mass hysteria, to speak openly about the painful process of grieving and loss, both personal and collective. For we're all of us psychologically affected.