{"id":405,"date":"2023-06-19T00:48:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-19T04:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/?p=405"},"modified":"2023-06-13T13:06:53","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T17:06:53","slug":"im-worried-about-caleb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/2023\/06\/im-worried-about-caleb\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m Worried About Caleb"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I was talking a good friend the other day, and she started telling me about her neighbor Caleb, who grows peaches. As well all know, the Georgia peach crop is in trouble this year, due to a warm winter followed by several days of freezing temperatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Close-up of Snow Covering Branch of a Blossoming Peach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m really worried about Caleb,\u201d she said. \u201cHe just doesn\u2019t seem himself. I don\u2019t want to be nosy but he seems so preoccupied and anxious\u2014maybe it\u2019s just normal stress, but how can I be sure it isn\u2019t something worse?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve all had this experience\u2014someone we care about is struggling with something difficult, and we want to help. But we don\u2019t want to insult the person, or imply they can\u2019t manage the situation, or\u2026.and so we don\u2019t say anything. And our friend continues to struggle in silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, the silence needs to stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Can I Tell if It’s Dangerous Stress?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How can we tell if someone is experiencing dangerous stress?   The NY Farm Net, which is part of the Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, offers the following signs of severe stress. If you\u2019re worried about someone\u2014or if you are worried about your own stress levels\u2014see if any of these signs are present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

_____\u00a0\u00a0 Changes in routines<\/em>: Stops attending regular meetings or church, doesn\u2019t show up at the usual hangouts, or other changes in what their usual pattern is;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

_____\u00a0\u00a0 Decreased interest in things<\/em>: Less willing to commit to activities or come to gatherings, not interested in or enjoying things that were enjoyed in the past;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

_____ \u00a0\u00a0Decline in care of the farmstead and\/or animals<\/em>: No longer maintains farm buildings and grounds, not taking care of pets or livestock as well as before;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

_____ \u00a0\u00a0Increase in farm accidents<\/em>: \u00a0More farming accidents, because with stress comes fatigue and the inability to concentrate;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

_____ \u00a0\u00a0Increase in feeling sick<\/em>: Seems to always have a cold or the flu, has chronic body pain or headaches;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

_____\u00a0\u00a0 Signs of stress in children<\/em>:\u00a0 Children may be acting out, showing a decline in academic performance, or be increasingly absent from school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things We Can Do<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you see a pattern of these signs, talk to your friend and ask how they are doing, really<\/em> doing (see my post We’re All Our Brothers’ Keepers<\/a> for some suggestions on caring messages.) Encourage them to talk with their doctor, their pastor, or a local counselor. \u00a0If you are worried things could be close to crisis level you can always call 988 (a national crisis lifeline) to connect with a counselor and find local resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you see a pattern of these signs in yourself<\/em>, follow the advice you would give your friend, and talk with a trusted friend, or your doctor or pastor, or call 988. Just like you want to help your friends, people who care about you want to help you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more ways to start a conversation check out the American Farm Bureau Federation\u2019s Farm State of Mind<\/a> site. There are conversation starter examples, and a great video<\/a> on the topic too.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s keep talking and caring and break the stigma around the emotional struggles created by high stress!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was talking a good friend the other day, and she started telling me about her neighbor Caleb, who grows peaches. As well all know, the Georgia peach crop is in trouble this year, due to a warm winter followed by several days of freezing temperatures. \u201cI\u2019m really worried about Caleb,\u201d she said. \u201cHe just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":410,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":416,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions\/416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}