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The majority of employees at small- and medium-sized law firms in Australia and New Zealand experience depression and anxiety, according to a recent survey, which also revealed that most believe their mental health and well-being is important to their firm.

The survey of 200 employees by global law firm alliance Meritas found that employees also believe their firms have an open-door policy that enables them to seek help.

In what Meritas said was the first-ever snapshot of well-being in small- and medium-sized law firms, respondents were asked questions about their work-life, experiences with depression and anxiety, barriers to help-seeking behaviour and attitudes toward and experiences with their employer's mental health assistance program.

On depression and anxiety, 63% of respondents said they had experienced depression or they knew someone close to them in the workplace who had, while 85% said they had experienced anxiety or they knew someone close to them in the workplace who had.

However, 38% of respondents said they would prefer to manage these issues themselves and 26% were worried about asking for help or what others might think of them.

A positive workplace culture is among the most important factors influencing help-seeking behaviour, Meritas said.

Law firms have done much to build a more resilient workforce in the past 10 years, but there is still a lot more work to be done to boost awareness and overcome barriers to help-seeking behaviour, managing partner of Swaab and chairwoman of Meritas Australia and New Zealand Regional Committee Mary Digiglio said in a statement.

“Stigma and a fear of reaching out remains a critical barrier that hinders many people from seeking help,” she said. “We each need to take responsibility to look out for each other and continue to nurture a supportive and open culture to reduce the prevalence of mental illness in the legal profession.”

Despite the reluctance of many law firm employees' to seek help, the survey found 83% of respondents believed well-being was an important issue at their firm and 45% said they felt there was an open-door policy at work or they could talk to someone at their workplace about personal and professional issues affecting their performance.

The tendency of legal professionals toward perfectionism and a high-achiever mentality, as well as the stress of everyday work-life, including demanding workloads and high client expectations, were factors that could put legal professionals at a greater risk of mental illness, said partner of New Zealand-based Martelli McKegg Lawyers, Melissa Higham.

“We need to ensure that staff have adequate education and training about risk factors and how to identify if someone is experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety,” Higham said.