Madison, WI – New results from a landmark survey, conducted in 2015 by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and the American Bar Association Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs, reveal that lawyers experience a significant degree of problematic substance use and mental health issues – more so than other professionals or the general population.
Posted online this week in the Journal of Addiction Medicine, the study reports that 21 percent of licensed, employed attorneys qualify as problem drinkers, 28 percent struggle with some level of depression and 19 percent demonstrate symptoms of anxiety. Findings show that younger attorneys in the first 10 years of practice exhibit the highest incidence of these problems.
For more information contact Katie Stenz, public relations coordinator, State Bar of Wisconsin. She can be reached at org kstenz wisbar wisbar kstenz org, or by phone at (608) 250-6025.
“It’s humbling to admit you have a problem you can’t fix on your own,” said Anne Renc, an assistant state public defender in Stevens Point. “It’s even harder for lawyers because we are in the business of fixing things.”
Renc is one Wisconsin lawyer who’s already sought help and taken advantage of the resources available through the State Bar of Wisconsin’s confidential Wisconsin Lawyer Assistance Program (WisLAP), managed by Linda Albert, a co-author of the study.
“Lawyers fear that help won’t be confidential and someone will find out, and if someone finds out, their practice and livelihood will be ruined,” said Albert. “Those are critical errors in their thinking.”
Although WisLAP is making progress in addressing many of the survey’s findings, Albert encourages all other entities that interface with lawyers to join in the goal of improving the health and wellness of legal professionals.
"This includes working with law schools, law firms, bar examiners, regulation and other entities that come into contact with lawyers.”
Nearly 13,000 lawyers in 19 states, including Wisconsin, participated in the survey – the first empirical study of its kind in 25 years.
For more information on the survey and stories about other Wisconsin lawyers who’ve struggled with substance use and mental health issues, check out this month’s issue of Wisconsin Lawyer.
