Lifestyle: Dealing with depression

A guide to tackling depression in the legal profession.

A recent study by the Brain and Mind Research Institute at the University of Sydney revealed that depression affects nearly one third of solicitors and one-fifth of barristers. Professor Ian Hickie’s study of more than 2,400 lawyers and law students was consistent with earlier research showing that depression in the legal profession is four times higher than in the general population. The dire facts continue, with the revelation that 11 per cent of lawyers contemplate suicide every month, and 15 per cent of lawyers meet the criteria of alcoholism.
With statistics such as these, many questions arise with regards to how law firms can help prevent the causes of depression and anxiety, and respond sensitively and appropriately to those people already suffering.
These issues can be tackled on a number of fronts. At the Australian law firm Freehills, we have introduced a ‘vitality and resilience’ initiative, which focuses on how we can build resilience among all our people. It also shows how to be alert to the signs of stress and take proactive steps to respond to it so as to prevent the onset of depression and/or anxiety. We also take very seriously our commitment to our female lawyers to develop them into leaders of the firm and support them in roles that meet their needs. Indeed, with over 50 per cent of our graduates being women, the success and fulfilment of our female lawyers plays an integral role in the future of the firm.
What’s more, a recent study by the Australian national research resource Women’s Health Australia, found that young women are making more claims for anti-depressants than any other medicine. In fact, one in five women aged between 28 and 33 have been medically diagnosed with depression.

Tackling depression
With these insights it is critical for a law firm to ensure that such issues are acknowledged and male and female staff are equipped with practical measures to prevent mental illness developing and/or to tackle depression should it arise. By holding regular awareness seminars, investing in skills-building and being supportive of the personal life of your people, a firm can ensure due care and attention is paid to these sensitive issues.
In addition to these internally focused initiatives, partnering with other large law firms to collaborate on a whole-of-profession approach to reducing the incidence of depression among lawyers is also advisable.
Encouraging people to be healthy and positive should be a key area of focus and indeed underpin any firm’s commitment to achieving and sustaining high performance. Vitality can be achieved and sustained through a number of interconnected areas, including: individual wellbeing, relationships with others, as well as career and personal development.
A number of strategies, development programmes and forums can be put in place to support and strengthen law firm staff in each of these areas. These include:

Confidential and free counselling
Having access to 24-hour free and confidential counselling treatment on the firm’s health plan can have a positive impact on the general well-being of firm staff. Counselling can provide additional support to those who are balancing family and work. At Freehills we have also taken the step to link to an independent Australian information service which assists our people in making care arrangements for their dependants, including children, teenagers, adult dependents and older relatives.

Developing understanding and capabilities
Establishing regular lunchtime forums led by well-known psychologists can be beneficial in educating people about the strategies they can adopt to take to care of themselves and others. It also is critical that people across the firm know how to spot the signs of people susceptible or suffering from depression or anxiety.

Encouraging physical wellbeing
Physical fitness lends itself to the wellbeing of the mind. By providing all staff with fresh fruit, or ensuring a fitness trainer is made available to teams or practice groups, you can encourage your staff to exercise together as a team.

Strengthening relationships and support networks
Healthy work relationships not only underpin high performance but also protect people from feeling disconnected or susceptible to depression and anxiety. By providing programmes which help to strengthen the relationships skills of firm partners and indeed people across a firm you develop an environment in which good working relationships can flourish. Programmes can include instruction on effective dialogue skills, focusing on people’s strengths, and effective coaching conversations. Social networks are also effective relationship-building tools as they provide regular opportunities for people to get together and socialise.

Meaningful work
A key preventative measure in mental illness is involvement in meaningful work. Providing opportunities for people to enhance their skills is also key and can be accomplished by encouraging staff to continue to develop their skills through on-the-job opportunities, secondments, learning and development courses and postgraduate study.

Supporting the community
Giving back to the community can not only be hugely rewarding but can also encourage an enhanced sense of well-being. In fact, many people choose to work at a firm precisely because it is possible to get involved in this type of community work.

Supporting flexibility
Another key component of encouraging vitality and resilience is having a sense of control over your work and life. Having access to flexible working arrangements has a great influence over this. Look for ways to support staff to adopt work practices that enable them to balance the many competing demands in their lives. Offer part-time work and job sharing arrangements, for example. There is almost certainly a link between flexible working and greater job satisfaction, productivity, loyalty, higher morale and engagement. Flexibility can also have a positive impact on reducing stress and the possibility of ‘burnout’ through long-term exhaustion.

Women initiatives
Programmes with specific focus on supporting women to achieve success and fulfilment at work can also have a positive impact on the well being of female members of staff. Offer women female-focused coaching, mentoring arrangements, upward feedback channels, and women-lawyer liaison

A bright future?
Your responsibility as an employer must be taken seriously, if you are to tackle the complex area of wellbeing – both mental and physical – with the sophistication and commitment that it affords. Every law firm’s future depends on happy, healthy and highly motivated people. The levels of depression among lawyers is disturbing. And yet historically depression, as with many mental illnesses, is considered something of a taboo and not a topic for discussion. It is important therefore to raise awareness in order to help prevent its occurrence. It is also critical to remain aware that, as the Women’s Health Australia survey indicates, depression can start at an early age. And perhaps more worryingly, the academic behind the study, Professor Julie Byles, believes that the number of women suffering from depression could rise as a result of the global financial crisis and the resultant stressful uncertainty in both the professional and personal context. The legal sphere must therefore remain vigilant through practical measures – such as awareness seminars outlining how to identify the symptoms of depression, keeping fit and being supportive of everybody’s personal life. It is only then that the legal profession can ensure talent is retained and developed.

Peter Butler is managing partner at the Australian law firm Freehills. He can be contacted at peter.butler@freehills.com