TLAP AND MENTAL HEALTH: WHEN MEDITATION AND YOGA ARE JUST NOT ENOUGH

As we all know, “sunlight is the best disinfectant” and lawyers took a huge step out of the shadows beginning in 2016 with the watershed study “ The Prevalence of Substance Use And Other Mental Health Concerns Among American Attorneys.”1 We were able to verify and acknowledge that lawyers suffer very high rates of mental health disorders compared to the general population.

A year later in 2017, an ABA Taskforce published “The Path to Lawyer Well-Being,” a report that included a “clarion call” to all stakeholders in the profession, encouraging everyone to make real changes and support lawyer wellness and well-being.2

This has been a courageous sea change in the profession. In just the last five years, lawyers have been empowered to speak candidly and openly about how the pressure of the practice can negatively impact their happiness and health. The “jury is in,” so to speak, and the verdict is clear: our profession is in urgent need of institutionalizing better self-care, wellness, and well-being. Our culture must change.

When my class graduated from law school in 1993, with eyes wide open, we all assumed the risk of entering a high-pressure high-stakes profession. The survival strategy was pretty simple: be smart and be tough. We rolled up our sleeves and dove head-first into the pressure, with a “No Whining Allowed!” mandate in place. Self-care did not exist in our lexicon.

Many of us “old-timers” have survived law, of course, but true happiness and satisfaction in the law (much less joy and thriving) has been somewhat elusive for many. Still others have “white-knuckled” through suffering in a high-pressure practice they actually dislike. For years, some have also used alcohol, drugs, or other unhealthy coping skills just to get by emotionally, basically “treading water.” We also now know that the combination of significant stress, pressure, and lack of self-care is a contributing factor in generating mental illness in some of our peers.

Per the 2016 study on lawyer mental health, our profession has a 30% depression rate and 20% problematic alcohol use rate. Thus, a significant number of lawyers need professional clinical care that may include diagnostics, treatment, therapy, and/or medication(s) to support longterm recovery from a chronic mental health issue.

In other words, while solid self-care practices are indispensable to good health in the practice of law, well-being practices like mindfulness and yoga may not be nearly enough in many cases. That is when TLAP is an extremely valuable resource.

TLAP stays very busy day-to-day rendering professional clinical support to lawyers, judges, and law students. Eighty percent (80%) of TLAP’s case load is comprised of totally confidential cases that have no disciplinary involvement whatsoever.

It is also of note that TLAP has evolved clinically to meet new demands caused by a major shift in mental health challenges in the profession. At its inception back in 1999, TLAP was primarily focused on rendering help in alcoholism (and other drug use) cases, but now those cases are actually the smallest percentage of TLAP’s case load.

Last year, only thirty-three percent (33%) of TLAP’s intake calls pertained to alcohol and/or drug use issues, while sixty-seven percent (67%) pertained to mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, compassion fatigue, financial distress, productivity issues, cognitive impairment, eating disorders, and other compulsive behaviors, etc.

These statistics reflect big changes in the types of mental health problems that the profession encounters. As these new challenges have evolved, TLAP adjusted to meet them. TLAP is now a totally comprehensive professional clinical support provider ready to assist with any type of mental health issue.

We all have theories as to why the profession’s mental health needs have shifted and intensified. For one thing, I always point to the profound downside of technological advances in terms of exponentially increasing the speed and sheer volume of information we receive. We now process a landslide of information on a daily basis in both the practice of law and in our personal lives. It is arguably the most profound change the profession has ever experienced.

The internet went live in 1991. By 1999 there were 400 million users online. Cell phones emerged in the 1990s. The first successful smartphone, the Apple iPhone, was introduced in 2007, only sixteen years ago. At about the same time, Facebook was being designed. Worldwide, six billion people now have a smartphone.

As lawyers we look at screens all day long, even checking work emails and texts at night. Also, after COVID and becoming skilled at working remotely, the norms of office hours and healthy boundaries between home and work have eroded. Some lawyers are not maintaining any healthy boundary between work life and home life. It’s a brave new world in many ways.

All that said, I am still very hopeful and excited about the evolving culture of wellness and well-being in the profession. Members of The Old Guard like me will age out. The young lawyers now have the advantage of a green light to openly embrace and promote self-care practices. They will still have their own special challenges. For example, can they ignore FOMO, use the off switch on smartphones and computers, and spend at least an hour offline each day?

While all of this plays out, one thing is certain: when a lawyer, judge, or law student is suffering from a mental health issue, TLAP will be here and is ready to provide confidential, highly-specialized professional clinical support. Call us at (615) 741-3238, email tlap@tncourts.gov, or visit us on the web at www.tlap.org. All communications are confidential as a matter of law.

1 “The Prevalence of Substance Use And Other Mental Health Concerns Among American Attorneys”; PR Krill, R Johnson, L Albert - Journal of Addiction Medicine, 2016 (20% alcohol abuse rate and 30% Depression Rate)

2 “The Path to Lawyer Well-Being Practical Recommendations for Positive Change” the ABA National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being; B. Buchanan, J Coyle, et al, 2017