AgWellness Episode 6: Interview with Brinley Rhodes
Josh Dallin 00:11
Hello everyone and welcome to our episode six of our AgWellness Podcast. I'm Josh Dallin and with me is my colleague Jake Hadfield. And we're excited to welcome Brinley Rhodes as our guest today, Brinley, we'd like to start out by just asking if you would mind giving us a short introduction of yourself. And tell us a little bit about your connection to the ag community.
Brinley Rhodes 00:34
Yeah, I'd love to. So as you said, my name is Brinley Rhodes and I'm a junior at Bear River High School this year. My involvement in the ag community is really started at a very young age, I grew up helping my dad and other family members on their farms and at the age of eight, I began growing my own show goat goat herd as my SAE project for FFA. I've always been very involved in the local 4-H and FFA organizations, and I love competing and having leadership roles within them. And I really owe a lot of who I am today and a lot of my goals that I hope to accomplish to the ag industry and the community surrounding me.
Jake Hadfield 01:07
Perfect, thank you, Brinley. Another question we got for you in your own life, you started noticing some mental health symptoms. Can you tell us about this experience? And what you did when you started to notice these issues?
Brinley Rhodes 01:20
Yes. So I this is something that's been very real in my life, my entire life, I've been lucky enough to grow up in a house where the topic of mental illness or mental health is something that is it's always been talked about, I've never really had questions about it. And it's always been talked about on this is how it is basis, very straightforward to the point. Um, I can't really remember a time in my life, where I hadn't witnessed my dad dealing with the effects of depression, anxiety. And not only has this taken a large toll on him in his life, but I'd be lying if I didn't say it didn't take a toll on our family as well. Depression, like straightforward, it sucks, anxiety sucks. And it really especially sucks when the stigma surrounding these two topics in the community is so big. I'm so grateful for my mom being able to help my dad and being aware of the symptoms he was facing because I really truly believe with everything, that if it wasn't for her and her being aware of these symptoms, and this topic, that it probably wouldn't have been near as happy of a story that I'd be telling. Because it seriously was a real problem in my life. And I've lived with it for as long as I can remember. And it wasn't until I turned about 14 years old, that I began experiencing these things in my own life. For a long time, I was hesitant, I didn't want to receive help, I didn't want to ask anyone for help, I didn't want to go talk to some doctors to tell me what to do. I just wanted to solve it on my own, I'll get through it, it's fine. However, this may be a surprise, but I was terrible to live with. And that was one of my main symptoms is that I was so irritable, and not just like your normal teenage girl, oh, she's just irritable. I was like actually really, really bad. Like I was so bad to live with. And it really started causing me to like ruin these relationships within my family. And it really honestly came to a halt when I realized that I didn't have the like the love or the zest or the happiness and peppiness for life that I used to have. And that I wasn't even enjoyable. i No one wanted to be around me because I was so hard to deal with because I was dealing at these things. And so finally, after almost a full year of my mom trying to help me get help, and trying to you know, maybe persuade me, she doesn't want to tell me what to do and what to she wants it to be my own decision. But I finally decided to go and visit a doctor and I received the help that I needed. And I'm not saying it magically, you know, with his tap with a wand, like solve some problem. But I've never looked back and I'm doing a million times better now and so is my dad, but those symptoms are still very real, whether you are receiving help or not, because it is a problem. So thank you.
Josh Dallin 03:54
Well, Brinley, we really appreciate your honesty and your openness about those things. Because it's people's let people like you leaders like you that can share that so openly and help others that might be struggling with those same types of things that makes a difference. And I appreciate your honesty. You know, I think that a lot of people think that they are going to have a magic wand waved their there's going to be some sort of a immediate response to a solution. But But as you've mentioned, you know, it takes some time and I'm glad to hear that you found some solutions that are helpful. And again, we really appreciate you sharing that. So I'm sure that this is the liaison into having this type of experience. I had the opportunity to listen to a speech and come to understand some of your laife's missions and work to combat the stigma of mental illness and mental health issues and the things that surround that. And, you know, the question that I have goes along with, with that understanding and it, I just want to kind of point out to everybody that after you'd experienced these things you ambitiously started a research project as part of your FFA, SAE, and I guess maybe more so just as part of your FFA competitive project status to focus on mental health among farmers and ranchers. It was incredible to be on the receiving end of listening to what it is that you did and what it was that you were able to accomplish. And so I would just ask if you could maybe tell our listeners about that project, what it means to you and kind of what your results were from it.
Brinley Rhodes 05:58
Thank you for that, Josh. That's really, my main purpose in doing this whole thing is if I can just help one person, that's my whole goal, I just want to be able to help people with this. And it just makes it worth it that I enjoy doing it as well. So for my agriscience fair projects, as you previously mentioned, I put it together in the fall of 2020, I believe, yeah, 2020. And I really just I began looking for a problem within the ag industry that I could potentially help solve for that same agriscience or project. And at the same time, this topic of depression and anxiety in producers had really, really became apparent and a part of my life at the same time. So I decided to take it, and I just ran with it. I began researching not only for my research project, but also for my own personal benefit as well. I wanted to try and find what the most likely causes of these mental illnesses were the most likely triggers. However, I couldn't find anyone, anywhere that had done the research to give me the answer to this question that I was looking for. I seriously think I read. It feels like at least every single article that had been written on anything regarding depression, anxiety, and producers that I could find on Google, I looked at some books like I really tried to put the time and effort in just to make sure I wasn't, you know, duplicating this project, or someone had already done it, I didn't want to redo it. So once I had found that I seriously could not find this information anywhere. It led me on a journey, you could say I did figure out what was causing this problem in my family and other ag families. I wanted to know the main triggers that cause these episodes of depression and anxiety in farmers and ranchers. Now, this is what I believe to be the most pressing topic to me that I can research at that point in time. Because before a problem can be solved, the source of the problem needs to be determined. And that is the information that I couldn't find anywhere. So at the beginning of this project research was done as I previously mentioned, to determine the most likely socio economic events that caused episodes of depression anxiety in farmers and ranchers. Once these triggers were identified, they were put into a matrix on the survey. From their survey respondents could then rate them on a five point Likert scale regarding the frequency in which they cause these depressive or anxious episodes. Now, questions regarding demographics were identified and placed into the survey to measure and ensure the validity and reliability of my responses. Now, some of these questions included the state of the province of the respondent, their age, the age or the farmer rancher experiencing these mental illnesses. So the person taking the test could either assess themselves or they could assess someone else in their family that they've observed having this, um, their relation, as I previously mentioned, to the respondent, to the farmer or rancher that they experience and their overall involvement in the ag industry, whether they suffer from depression, anxiety, or if they suffer from both and then how severe or frequently they suffer from those illnesses. And those were all my demographic questions that I included. So as you can see, there was a lot, but when I put those in there, it was done with the site in the future that I would do an extension project and be able to extend this research farther on by segregating it in different ways. So that's what really why I included those demographic questions to do that, as well as ensure the validity and reliability of my data that I had gathered. And then after the survey had been finalized, and then went over, and I thought it looked okay, I sent it to Dr. Tyson Sorenson, the professor over at USU. For him to further review it and give me any suggestions as he felt needed. Now, once he had okayed it, and said that it was all good, I sent the finished link to have the finished link of form, excuse me, was that included on a social media post published on multiple different platforms. The post was shared with every State Farm Bureau organization in the US, and it was also shared with some of the largest agricultural influencers by Instagram. I did this release so that I could get a broad variety of respondents and really reached the whole US if possible, which was my original goal. Now, that was the original leg of my research that I did when I was 15 years old, and once that data original data was collected, I I wanted to reevaluate the data and look at my results through a different lens to see if there are any further things that I could discover from that. And that would really, as I previously mentioned, again, was the purpose of including these demographic questions was that so I could reevaluate those and get that further information and look at it through that different lens. When I did that extension project the following year, I did it because I received such an overwhelming response. From my survey the first time, I really felt like it needed to be looked at closer. So I broke it down by those demographics. And I decided to separate the data from the Likert scale into three different groups to see how those triggers change ranks for those different groups of respondents. Self Assessment versus other assessment was my first segregation of data. And I did this to see how those actually suffering from those illnesses. Triggers relate to those who observe the suffering. And I believed that this was very beneficial, because in my own life, I had seen how my dad suffering from this would say, oh, it's not a big deal. And he almost downplays the symptoms and will downplay these triggers. Whereas my mom, she tends to exaggerate a little bit, and makes it seem as if it's more of a problem. And when I did receive those results from those demographic questions, I thought it was really cool that on that one question, I believe it was Question three, where it asked, Are you a farmer or rancher? Are you in relation to a farmer rancher? Exactly 50% were found to be assessing themselves and exactly 50% were found to be assessing a family member. So I really believe that played into the validity and reliability of that, because I was getting both of those points of view. So with this segregation of data, I decided to see how different that really was where I did have about 206 responses per segregation, or as per those two groups. The second group of data that I decided to segregate was old farmers versus new farmers. And I was did this to see if there was an expected perception change, you could say, among the generations of producers to see if these 80 year old farmers versus the 30 year old farmers are dealing with different things are the same things. And then finally, the third one was those suffering from depression versus those suffering from anxiety. And this was done to further prove the belief that although they are very different illnesses, they go hand in hand with each other, and they do work with each other. And if you experience one, you have a high chance of experiencing the other as well. And by carrying out this extension project, and this year, not only did I deepen my understanding of this topic, but ensured the validity and reliability of my survey, so that I was able to share the most accurate and applicable information as possible with the public.
Jake Hadfield 12:41
Well, kudos to you Brinley. That's a lot of work to put in. And honestly, that's awesome. And that's one thing I think you hit on the head is when you were talking about how first time you send it out, you got such an overwhelming response, you're like, we need to do this bigger and more, you know what I mean? So now you shared kind of some of the things that you saw from this overall. So tell us what are the results of this project? Or what's your take home message from what you saw here?
Brinley Rhodes 13:10
Okay, so the results in my project, this is like my favorite part, I could talk about this all day long if I could. And I really feel like it's the meat and potatoes. This is what people need to know. Okay. So when my survey was sent out, it was made active for exactly one week. And over that short seven day span, I received 416 total responses, and that those responses represented 46 US states 5 Canadian provinces and three countries in all. So I did get a huge response. And I'm so grateful for that. If I could think every single one of those respondents that took that survey for me, I would in a heartbeat. Now, I was way excited when I received this larger response, because then I could count my study as almost studying the North American population rather than just the US. I did throw that third country out as an outlier. It was Norway, but I felt like where it was a different continent, it just didn't really play in and I didn't want it to mess with any of my results. So I did throw that one out when I was going through my data, but and this really, I think this was so cool to me to see how the agricultural community came together. And they helped me realize that this is a real topic, and it is a real problem and it is affecting people or they wouldn't have taken time to take the survey. I was only 15 years old at the time. Like I'm barely even know what life is. I don't know what life is still. But here I am. And I received this response. And that was just that was really cool to me. Um, and so the first thing that I observed when I'm just going to share my extension project data with you because I believe it's the most valuable and I wish I had some kind of like screenshare ability, but whether this is a podcast, you know, I'll just try to depict them to the best of my abilities. So the first thing that I observed from the project was that the trigger feelings related to being overwhelmed. Okay, so farmers feeling over bound as a trigger was number one on every single study across the table, regardless of the demographics, regardless of who they were, regardless of how I segregated the data, this was the most common and frequent trigger was feelings related to being overwhelmed. Now, when we get down to the category, self assessment versus other assessment, it was found that many of the triggers that were in the top five of the self assessment category were much lower on the other assessment category. And for example, number two on the self assessment side was feelings of accomplishment. However, this same trigger feelings about accomplishment wasn't found until number seven. On the other assessment side, the same instance was shown again when number three on the self assessment side was health and safety of family and animals. And that same trigger wasn't shown until number nine on the other assessment side. Now, the same scenario was true with the other assessment site as well, family members and co workers were found to rank the trigger long hours in physically demanding work is number three and, and of importance on the self assessment side. Whereas it wasn't listed until number nine, on the farmer or ranchers perspective. Now, I believe that this tells us that a lot of the time what family members may think, is the problem. In all reality is far from the truth, it is safe for family just assume that dad is having a hard time because he's tired, and he worked hard, you know, and he's just got a lot on his plate at the moment, when all actuality it's because he's worried about the health of his animals, or the safety of his teenage children working on the farm. Now, not only this new data shed light on the real triggers affecting farmers and ranchers. But these findings are crucial to knowing how to help those who are struggling. This is essentially pointing out that although family members may have a basic understanding of what may be the cause of these triggers, maybe it is not obvious that they are less accurate. What may be thought to be the most likely triggers overall are very different when viewed from these different perspectives. So this one, this segregation that I did right here with this data of self assessment reasons versus other assessment really proved my previous years results to be wrong. Because I don't care what mom thinks is, you know, is one of dad's triggers, I care what the farmer's triggers are. And that's really what this self assessment gave me. So for the next evaluation of the data, it was based upon old farmer versus new farmer. And as I previously stated this perspective, the data was expected to have very different listings. Because of that perspective change where there is such a big age gap in some of these generations of these farmers. However, my data proves that to be wrong, because there was found to be very few changes made. And they were really very similar when you looked at them side by side. The most valuable thing that learned learned that can be gained from this evaluation was the placing of the trigger stigma surrounding the idea of help. The older farmers were found during this number six on their list, whereas the new farmers were found to rank this number nine on their list. Now, this leads us to know and learn that progress has been being made regarding the stigma surrounding mental health, which I think is a great thing. So that really just showed us that perspective of that. And then finally, the last category was those suffering from depression versus those suffering from anxiety. And this really just solidified the findings that were determined from the evaluation of the demographics and previous research that had been done to determine that depression, anxiety, although are different, do go hand in hand with each other. It was found that over 60% of the farmers and ranchers in question separate from both of these diseases. It was also found that many of the triggers seemed to remain similar besides some of the expected ones, it was observed that more of the stress ridden triggers such as health and safety of family and animals appeared on the anxiety side and what more of the self pity, depression triggers that you would expect, such as feelings of accomplishment were found on the depression side. These findings, however, I believe could have been inferred by researching and studying the characteristics of these mental illnesses, which I did do before. So it is valuable data to have. But it had already been determined. So those are my three main findings and the big meat and potatoes part of it all.
Josh Dallin 19:15
So you started this when you're 15. You're how old now?
Brinley Rhodes 19:20
I'm 16.
Josh Dallin 19:21
Oh, my gosh. I just hope that everybody can recognize. First of all, Brinley is brilliant. As a scientist, myself to know, the scientific platforms and the methods that have been followed by a 15 and now 16 year old to accomplish these things is so impressive. And I think that that's a testament to our 4-H and FFA agricultural programs that offer that type of knowledge and obviously a product of the FFA. A program in this in this sense, what Brinley has been able to do. And I just think that's, that's incredible. And so, with that being said, and knowing how wonderful, you know, this project is the data that you've gained the reality of the insight and the knowledge that you did you have, excuse me? What do you want to do now? What do you want to do in the future? Now that you have this knowledge now that you've had these experiences? I mean, what's what's next for you? You're 16, for heaven's sakes, you've got a lot probably left to look at and, and accomplish. And so I guess, you know, not only do I want to know, I'm sure our listeners want to know, what's, what's Brinley's plan now?
Brinley Rhodes 20:45
Okay, so I really, as you may already know, I'm very passionate about this, I love this topic. So it is my goal to continue my research in future years, you know, I'm only 16. So I've got at least one year left of high school and then into college as well. But in the next few months, I do plan to send out a new survey to try and determine the most effective methods of help for farmers and ranchers. Because I believe that finding the cause of these mental illnesses is only half the battle. So I believe that this would be a great extension of this project to figure out, how can we now help these farmers we know what is causing it, we know what they are experiencing. What's next? So I do plan on sending out a survey in the next couple of months to be able to determine that. And then, on top of that, by doing this research, I really believe I have found what I want to further my education in I am I really believe that I am blessed to have had this experience so early on and honestly find something and a topic that I'm so passionate about a lot of kids my age don't have that experience. And really, I owe it all to the FFA and 4-H for giving me that and given me the opportunities to be able to pursue this and take one of my interests and just totally run with it and turn it into whatever it is now and whatever it's going to turn into be you know, so I really am, I feel so blessed. And I'm so grateful for that this opportunity that I have had. And because of this research, and because I've been able to find this interest of mine in this passion of mine, I've been entertaining the idea of studying psychology with an emphasis on the ag community. And I'd really like to pursue that. I mean, I don't want to say that that is what I'm doing when I am only 16. I'm only a junior, and that could very easily change. But that is a very, very real possibility that I will go into that in college and further that throughout my entire life, if I'm lucky enough.
Jake Hadfield 22:32
Well, that's awesome. And the ag community would love that. I can tell you that much. So now last to kind of finish up our interview one last question we wanted to ask you, what are some of the things you'd like to share with others in the ag community, if they have questions, or if they're having concerns with mental health?
Brinley Rhodes 22:49
Yeah, so I really believe that if we can start with breaking the stigma surrounding the topic of depression, anxiety, we can make the lives for these producers that are dealing with these illnesses, so so much better. By knowing that triggers these mental illnesses, and letting the families know, they can take initiative, they can try to prevent these things from happening as often, they can try to help reduce the stress that these situations may cause. And they can simply just be there for their loved ones that are suffering. I know that by asking questions or showing interest in their lives, lives will be saved. And the families of US farmers and ranchers also need to be educated on the resources that are available, and often easily accessible as well. There are many different programs, organizations and websites out there, like farm stress.us, or farming or many others, that can help coach families on the right things to say and ways to get further help if needed. Because I really believe that the help, it starts within the family that family isn't aware of this problem, that farmer is likely never gonna get help, because they do see it as a weakness. And that is a norm that isn't within our agricultural community. And that's something that does need to be broken. But it all starts with the family bringing it to attention and letting that farmer know that, hey, we're here, you can talk to us. It's not a big deal. You're not any less of a man or less of a woman or anything like that, because you suffer with this because because it is a very normal thing among everyone. And there's people out there that you never would think experienced this. And they do. And they're taking medication and it may not seem like it. But that doesn't mean it totally goes away. It's something that they very likely have likely will have to deal with their entire lives. And that's just part of life, but you can deal with it. And there's better ways to go about it than just ignoring it. And I really believe that by knowing the main triggers of these mental illnesses that my survey provided us with, we can isolate the more likely causes of those episodes or attacks and then when those incidences occur, whether it's globally nationally or personally, family and friends can rise to the occasion and provide that more support that's needed it than usual. Really, it all boils down to the truth the agricultural community needs to know that help is out there. And a good majority of the help that can be had is not from professionals. Instead, it starts and lies within our own communities, homes and families.
Josh Dallin 25:10
Well, Brinley, this has been an absolute treat to be able to listen to the things that you've accomplished, and the things that you're focusing on and your advice. And of course, you know, we are very proud of you as a as an agricultural youth for your passion and the endeavors and things that you are accomplishing. And I might also say, we're really proud to be at the helm of those helpmates, that you mentioned there in your response to be a part of that solution. And we, we just can't thank you enough for taking the time to share that with us. And we just can't wait to watch and see as your research and your accomplishments continue to climb. This personal side of things that you've shared with us is, is very important. And we appreciate you doing that sometimes that's hard for others to do. But it brings the reality to two perspective. And as you mentioned, you know, to know that those that are so talented and so amazing, do have those struggles, and to help others to realize that that's a reality. It's a helpmate. So we really appreciate your willingness to do that. We also appreciate everyone listening to our episode today. Again, this has been episode number six of our ag wellness podcast. We really appreciate everyone joining in and we look forward to seeing you next time. Thank you.
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Ag Wellness podcast. Please subscribe, wherever you get your podcasts, visit our website at farmtress.us, and connect with us on social media at Ag Wellness Utah. If you are experiencing stress, mental health concerns, or suicidal thoughts, or if you know someone who is, please contact these resources. As always, if it is an emergency, dial 911.
Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255 Crisis Text Line Text HOME to 741741
Crisis Response Network 1-800-203-CARE (2273)
SafeUT 833-372-3388 or download their app to use the chat feature
If you need help finding a mental health provider, here are some ways to get started:
Contact the person’s health insurance provider and ask about mental health professionals that are within the network.
Psychology Today Service Finder: On this website, you can search for therapists, psychiatrists, treatment centers and support groups in your area. www.psychologytoday.com/us
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
• Here, you can find general information about mental health services in your area.
• findtreatment.samhsa.gov/
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
• At this website, you can find health centers that offer more affordable options for people that do not have health insurance.
• https://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• This website can help if you have questions about insurance coverage for mental health.
• https://www.hhs.gov/programs/topic-sites/mental-health-parity/mental-health-and-addiction-insurance-help/index.html
Thanks for listening to the Ag Wellness podcast – be well!