Editorial: Don't fail to ask for help when it is needed

THE BEST line in the story about John Kirwan talking to farmers on Tuesday was his encounter with a GP who saved his life.

He had been knocked back by the first person he asked about feeling depressed, who advised the 23-year-old to harden up.

But the GP told him not to be a dick and treat his brain the same way he would treat his body. If your mind needed medication, time out or special exercises - just do it. The resilience of farming communities has long been touted, but the visit to the region this week by John Kirwan, and the work of the Rural Support Trust, is helping farmers and others who live in the country to slowly chip away at the just-get-on-with-it attitude.

Asking for help or advice is a smart thing and in many cases - from financial difficulty to depression - the earlier people get help the better. And sometimes that help has to be from outside the district.

Kirwan, the butcher's boy from Mangere who wrote All Blacks Don't Cry, would have needed to learn how to cope with the Blues' woeful performances in rugby's Super XV.

He told farmers at the shed meeting at Fordell that he had taken anti-depressants for six years after first being diagnosed and now relied on a recipe that included meditation, cooking, reading and exercise to be in the best of health. And he talks to people.

Resilience has served farmers well in many cases. You can't rail against the weather, for instance. There will be bad years. But when something can be done to help, stoicism is not the only answer.