D. Barry Croom
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Some Americans picture the life of a farmer as the epitome of peace and tranquility. Television commercials and TV shows depict sunny skies and happy people working on the farm. I can tell you from personal experience that it isn’t always so. When I was a kid growing up in Eastern North Carolina, I spent…
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Sometimes the world can just get me down, or a specific event makes me really sad, or a problem keeps me up all night filled with stress. In this blog, I’ve talked about lots of ways I, and researchers who are way smarter than I am, have found to fight back against depression and stress.…
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(Note: Today I’ll be talking about suicide, which can be a really painful topic. I’ll be focusing on suicide prevention.) In this blog we’ve talked a lot about stress and how at its most extreme it can significantly increase the risk of suicide. We’ve talked about ways to recognize someone experiencing dangerous stress levels and…
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Well, Hurricane Idalia has come and gone, leaving a swath of storm destruction behind it. I hope you and your loved ones are safe—that’s the most important thing. Reports are saying the most severe damage in Georgia is in the south central and south eastern counties—but winds and flooding caused damage in lots of places…
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Here are a lot of resources–to stay safe, to deal with the aftermath, and to take care of our stress levels throughout. I pray you all stay safe. Staying Safe information from UGA Extension: Emergency preparedness general resources Food and water safety-specific resources Storing Food for Emergencies Information on crop loss and disaster assistance (from…
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I saw a cartoon the other day that really got me thinking. It was a simple drawing of a really upset person standing next to their house, which was on fire. Next to this person was someone (who looked like an exercise instructor or relaxation guru) saying “OK, let’s work on centering your breathing now.”…
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Why is it that lots of people are so reluctant to talk about mental health? We talk about all sorts of health without being in the least bit uncomfortable. It’s easy to talk about heart health and being on a medication to lower cholesterol, or digestive health and taking medicine to manage indigestion. People seem…
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I recently learned a useful phrase for dealing with worry from a friend of mine (I think she borrowed it from Stephen Covey). It’s been really helpful, so I am passing it along to you. Remember the old term “worrywart” as in “She is such a worrywart—she’s always worried about something”? Well, guilty as charged.…
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I have one word for you today—plastics. Actually, with apologies to the movie The Graduate, the word I really have for your today is neuroplasticity. Neuro-what?? We used to think that the brain stopped developing in adolescence, but more and more we are learning that the brain is active and changing throughout our lives in…
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When I was at the Southern Regional Fruit and Vegetable Growers conference this year, I spent a lot of time talking with growers about what they thought would be effective messages for farmers about managing stress. I asked about the words that resonated with them, and the images they thought were most powerful. Growers were…
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