Farmers’ well-being after flood: An empirical investigation

Pages: 205-210
MD Intekhab Ur Rahman (Department of Psychology, B. N. Mandal University, Madhepura, Bihar)

Well-being is essential to overall health. Positive mental health allows people to realize their full potential, cope with the stresses of life, work productively, and make meaningful contributions to their communities. The World Health Organisation defines health as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ and mental health is described as ‘a state of well-being in which the individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community’ (World Health Organisation, 1946, 2003). Wellbeing is not the absence of emotions, but it is our ability to understand the value of our emotions and use them to move our life forward in positive directions. Well-being is a positive sense which enables an individual to be able to function in society and meet the demands of everyday life; people in good mental health have the ability to recover effectively from illness, change or misfortune. Small amounts of stress are part and parcel of life. They usually go away on their own or after a night’s rest. The important thing is to recognize when we are experiencing stress and, if possible, find some way to alleviate it. Not acknowledging stress, sweeping it under the rug, or allowing it to build up, without relief, is a recipe for trouble. Floods not only damage physical property but also create a high level of stress that can have a devastating effect on health and wellbeing. Sometimes this impact is obvious immediately but often it is a slow process and can have a long lasting effect. Burnout, fatigue and stress could be significant issues for farmers at any time, and were exacerbated after a significant event like the flood. In the present year we have talked and assessed 500 farmers of Madhepura district of Bihar by administering Well-Being Scale (Singh & Gupta, 2001) about their overall well-being including Physical Well-being; Mental Well-being; Social Well-being; Emotional Well-being and Spiritual Well-being by visiting their villages, many farmers told us that they need help in this regard. The results indicate that farmers are having poor well-being in all respects and the results highlight that there are immense need to eradicate all factors which seem to be contributing negatively to the well-being of farmers of Kosi region. It is also observed that due to the poor well-being the farmers may slowly deviate from the mainstream and may fall into the vicious trap of perverted acts, drug abuse, alcoholism, emotional disturbance, alienation, suicidal tendencies, and other forms of psychopathology. It is suggested that Government must take concrete steps to develop a healthy and an effective environment for the well-being of farmers living in flood prone areas.