The more that lawyers can be encouraged to talk openly about mental health struggles, the quicker and more effectively the lingering stigma will be reduced for those coming through the ranks, argues one global firm.

Speaking to Lawyers Weekly about ’s ‘This Is Me’ program, where legal staff of all ages are encouraged to be honest with their peers about issues faced, partner Anne-Marie Allgrove said storytelling is a powerful way for people to form connections, come to terms with their own personal experiences, and reach out for support.

“Due to the prevalence of mental health issues within the legal profession, we encourage all of our people from all levels of the firm to speak out,” she explained.

It is unrealistic, she ceded, to expect that staff – particularly those in junior positions – would not be hesitant about speaking up, and recognised that to do so in the workplace can require courage from each individual.

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“We provide our people with encouragement and support and do ask people to share their experiences, but ultimately an individual will only talk about their experience if they feel able to do so, and usually because they know it will help other people.”

“Our hope is that by the time our current juniors are partners in our firm, mental health will be talked about in the same context as physical health,” she said.

Bakers junior associate Max Dowzer-Strode recounted the following: “At a firm morning tea on R U OK? Day, I shared my personal experience in dealing with my father’s suicide. I spoke about his battle with bipolar and our complex relationship on account of his condition.”

“I was apprehensive to be so open in the workplace, but I felt inspired by the candidness with which my father would discuss his mental health and the positive effect it had on his family, friends and colleagues. While I hoped speaking about my experience would encourage others to do the same and help to reduce negative stigma, I was still surprised by how many people identified with the story and opened up about their own mental health or their support of family and friends.”

Talking openly about mental health in the workplace is understandably daunting, he said, especially as a junior in a traditionally unrelenting environment.

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“However, it is a powerful tool in enabling others to feel more supported and to take action, as well as reducing personal feelings of isolation that exacerbate your own experience. Importantly, being open about mental health will foster stronger and more connected communities where people regularly check in on those around them,” he explained.

Where junior lawyers take action by opening up to colleagues about their experience with mental health, they will realise that they are not alone, added fellow junior associate Courtney Divani.

“Sharing feelings and stories in relation to mental health can actually unite colleagues and develop unique friendships, ultimately allowing everyone involved in the dialogue (no matter how junior or senior they are) feel more supported and just like everybody else around them,” she posited.

“Juniors may even learn of ways different ways to cope and manage their mental health through learning from people who have lived through what they are currently experiencing in the legal industry.”

Ensuring that juniors feel comfortable speaking up, however, is not a task that falls on the shoulders of those coming through the ranks, she noted: senior people in the legal profession are key drivers for change in the mental health space, she said.

“The positive dialogue surrounding mental health can only produce tangible results if senior professionals both talk the talk and walk the walk. If there is a consistent downward dialogue where senior lawyers open up about their experiences with mental health to their junior colleagues, it from the outset shatters any stigma associated. It sends a message to all lawyers working for and with them, that mental health is not related to career progression,” she mused.

Ms Allgrove agreed, saying senior leaders have an important role to play in encouraging our younger lawyers to speak up, “by doing so themselves”.

“Education and training for people managers is also crucial. If someone opens up about a mental health issue, they are likely to be directed to HR, or worse – told not to let HR know,” she noted.

Facilitating such an environment is, she concluded, fundamental for a firm such as Bakers: “We want to work in an organisation where people don’t have to hide chunks of who they are.”

Helping young lawyers speak up about mental health at work Jerome Doraisamy Last Updated: 06 November 2018 Published: 07 November 2018