Letter to the Editor: Resources Are Available Right Now for Lawyers in Crisis
We applaud any effort to draw attention to the critical need to address substance use, mental health issues and overall wellness in the legal community.
February 16, 2018 at 05:37 PM
2 minute read
The Texas Lawyers' Assistance Program wishes to thank Texas Lawyer for publishing the article 'The Depressed Lawyer: Recognizing and Helping Those in Crisis' in your February issue. We applaud any effort to draw attention to the critical need to address substance use, mental health issues and overall wellness in the legal community.
We agree that more efforts are needed in this area. We also want your readers to know about the services, tools, and educational materials that are available, right now, to help them. The Texas Lawyers' Assistance Program—tlaphelps.org—is a national leader in this field, providing 24/7 confidential assistance to Texas lawyers, judges, law students, and legal employers. Established in 1989, TLAP stands ready to help with suicide prevention, stress and anxiety, depression and bipolar conditions, cognitive decline, substance abuse, and overall wellness matters. Also, the nonprofit Sheeran-Crowley Trust—sheerancrowley.org— provides financial help to Texas attorneys, judges, and law students who cannot afford needed treatment for substance abuse, depression, and other mental health issues.
As the article mentions, the 2016 American Bar Association Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs and Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation study The Prevalence of Substance Use and Other Mental Health Concerns Among American Attorneys found that between 21 and 36 percent of practicing lawyers qualify as problem drinkers and 28 percent, 19 percent and 23 percent are struggling with depression, anxiety and stress, respectively. In response to these troubling statistics, our very own TLAP Director, Bree Buchanan, helped create and now co-chairs the ground-breaking National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being, which earlier this year issued its report providing concrete wellness recommendations for all legal community stakeholders, including lawyers, judges, legal employers, law schools, bar associations, liability carriers, regulators and lawyers' assistance programs.
The full report and recommendations can be read at lawyerwellbeing.net. Texas lawyers and legal professionals are working hard every day to address these complex issues. Help is out there. TLAP professionals can be reached 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP).
Respectfully submitted,
Sakina Rasheed Foster
Chair of the Texas Lawyers' Assistance Program, a standing committee of the State Bar of Texas
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