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YLD take a ‘deep dive’ into what is causing mental health issues in the profession

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YLD take a ‘deep dive’ into what is causing mental health issues in the profession

Senior Editors

The Florida Bar’s effort to improve the work/life balance of attorneys is continuing, as the Young Lawyers Division prepares to distribute a comprehensive mental health survey.

Christian George The Board of Governors voted unanimously at an October 12 meeting on Amelia Island to approve distribution of the “YLD Mental Health and Wellness Survey: A Needs Assessment of Mental Health Needs and Available Services for Florida Lawyers.”

“It’s going to take a deeper dive into what is causing mental-health issues in our profession and then we’ll have psychologists help us, before we release those results, come up with solutions and resources to provide to our Bar,” YLD President Christian George told board members.

The survey was reviewed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady and the Bar’s top elected leaders prior to formal approval by the Program Evaluation Committee and the YLD’s Health and Wellness Committee.

“We have addressed all confidentiality and any other reasonable concern, and the survey has been reviewed by dozens of very sharp people and experts,” George wrote to PEC members before submitting it for review. “At best, we will successfully identify common themes of what is causing mental health issues with our constituents and identify resources to assist those struggling — at worst, we will have more data on this very important topic.”

The survey comes in the wake of an ABA survey that suggested lawyers face a higher risk of depression and other mental-health disorders, as well as drug and alcohol use disorders. The ABA report concluded that as much as 20 percent of the nation’s lawyers may be problem drinkers, another 28 percent reported mild or high levels of depression, 19 percent suffer from anxiety and 12 percent reporting experiencing suicidal thoughts.

That survey, along with the suicides of prominent Florida attorneys, prompted the Bar to create a standing Mental Health and Wellness of Florida Lawyers Committee to continue the work of a similarly named special committee. The effort prompted members of the special committee to tour the state, including every law school campus. Committee members reported being approached repeatedly by law students who were worried about revealing their mental-health treatment histories on the character and fitness portion of the admissions process.

Some of that anxiety might be relieved soon, George said.

George told board members that the YLD has been negotiating with the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, an arm of the Supreme Court that administers the test and character and fitness review of Bar applicants, to find a solution.

“We’re working to encourage the FBBE to modify their question on the Florida bar exam,” George said. “I don’t know the modifications yet, but they are going to be good.”

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