‘Too many don’t come home’: Devastating reality of suicide among farmers in Queensland drought

A Gold Coast psychologist has revealed the devastating reality of drought-stricken Queensland, a world where women won’t let their husbands go out alone for fear they won’t come home.

GOLD Coast psychologist Greg Gardiner knows what it’s like to stare into the eyes of desperate, suicidal farmers.

It’s something he does too often during his regular trips to drought-stricken Queensland where he shares his digital crisis strategies to save lives.

And it has been a gruelling, emotional journey for the clinician, who has probably heard it all when it comes to human suffering.

“A lot of women out west and in central Queensland tell me they won’t let their menfolk go in to the paddock on their own anymore,” he said.

“That’s because too many don’t come home.

“These guys have access to very lethal means of self-harm and unfortunately, too many are contemplating their own demise.

“They’re not real talkative out there, they minimise everything, particularly trauma.”

Thousands are feeling the pain. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)

Mr Gardiner, an engineer who qualified as a counsellor and psychologist in 2003, said he had always paid attention to suicide rates.

“I watch them like some people watch the stock exchange. I’ve never become desensitised to suicide,” he said.

“The national suicide rate is 13 to 14 people per 100,000. That means Roma should lose 1.3 people every year to suicide but I guarantee there are at least three suicides there every month.

“I was in Cunnamulla last year and I have heard that they lost five kids in two weeks. It’s tragic what’s happening in these towns.”

However, he said farmers doing battle with the effects of drought and financial hardship would never go to a local town for professional help to address their demons.

So, Mr Gardiner and his wife, Vicki (OK), also a psychologist, have been intermittently closing their private practice at Worongary and heading out to the drought-stricken Channel Country to reach out to desperate farmers.

“They found us somehow and were crying out for help for their communities because they were concerned about the people they love,” he said.

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Mr Gardiner has made six trips since August last year.

He and his wife both come from farming backgrounds and also offer critical support to stretched mental health workers buckling under the weight of their workloads.

They hand out a unique USB program, Get Your Head Right, which offers valuable strategies to improve mental health and thus prevent suicide.

Farmers don’t need Wi-Fi to use the USB, making it invaluable for those who live hundreds of kilometres away from the nearest town.

Greg and wife Vicki are working to save lives.

The device has generated some amazing stories of recovery from tough farmers on the brink of suicide, who had a USB put in their hands. It saved their lives.

“Wives have also phoned us, crying down the phone, telling us that with the help of the USB, they had saved their husbands,” he said.

The couple have also had farmers crying on the phone because they have lost their USBs.

Mr Gardiner was motivated to help farmers after a sobering event a few years ago.

“I was sitting at a table with people from the western outskirts of Toowoomba,” he said. “Every single one of them knew five people who had killed themselves in 2014.”

Their stories deeply disturbed the clinician.

“At the time, I was pleased with the clinical results of our Gold Coast practice. We hadn’t lost anyone. But it hit me that no matter how good our statistics looked, people in this country were still dying,” he said.

“I was having 1100 consultations a year and I was seeing a pattern in what people needed. After seven years, I decided to put my treatment program online so that I could reach more Australians.”

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Mr Gardiner also drew on his five years of gruelling work with disadvantaged, at-risk youth in Nimbin, NSW.

“My sole goal was to keep them alive and I found the same things that kept kids alive helped adults thrive.”

His next step was to put the program on to a USB, which he took with him to a Christian Men’s Muster retreat near Surat, south of Roma.

“These farmers came on their bikes, with their guns. They took the USBs because they said they were worried about their neighbours.

“It was an avoidance layer – they are all in strife – but if they could slip a USB into another farmer’s pocket, I could work with that.”

The USBs have since taken off in the region and Mr Gardiner said he believed they could address 80 per cent of psychological dramas.

“Even if the outcomes are only half as good, they’re still going to make a massive difference in the lives of our farmers,” he said.

“Since August last year, we’ve put 80 USBs in to central Queensland and a lot of farmers have copied them, so there are hundreds out there now. We’re also looking to introduce them to farmers in other parts of Australia.”

Drought-stricken Queensland farmers at a Christian Men's Muster join arms to pray for rain to ease their plight.

Gold Coasters can help by buying a USB for a farmer at $198, including GST.

They can also support a fundraiser organised by Nerang Rotary, which has already donated $15,000 for hay for farmers.

The fundraiser will take place at 12 noon on November 22 at the Nerang RSL. Rock icon Angry Anderson, who lost a son to suicide in November last year, will be the guest speaker. Tickets are $95 each.

Phone Phil Connolly on 0401 696 011 or Sue Lamb on 0420 311 706

For more details about the USB, visit getyourheadright.com.au.

Originally published as ‘Too many don’t come home’: Devastating reality of suicide among farmers in Queensland drought