Because farm families find themselves in such a potentially stressful situation, it is especially important that they recognize how stress may be affecting their lives and take steps to cope and thrive with the challenge of farm stress. Lately, we seem to be hearing much about the hardships of farming and little about its positives. Your reading of this factsheet is an example of this. Even though farming may be a very stressful occupation, farmers have always coped and they are increasingly taking the time to learn to enrich their lives by managing farm stress more effectively. Although most of the effects of chronic stress are far from pleasant, we will try to focus on the positive throughout this series of eight Human Harvest factsheets.
Stress is an inescapable part of life.
Most of us could cope with stress better than we do. Improving personal stress management skills is a constructive and positive aspect of personal growth. It is this aspect of stress management, which we hope to emphasize. An example may be useful in understanding the important distinction between stress and stressors. Suppose that your tractor breaks down during a busy time.