A new book shares stories of mental illness and addiction experienced by those who work in the legal system, a field where many professionals suffer in silence. 

The Right Not to Remain Silent: The Truth About Mental Health in the Legal Profession is a collection of personal stories from Canadian lawyers, judges and law professors, published by LexisNexis.

Western University law professor Thomas Telfer is a co-editor and one of the contributors to the book. He spoke to the CBC’s Travis Dolynny on London Morning.

The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Travis Dolynny: What made you want to take a closer look at mental health in the legal profession?

Thomas Telfer: In 2022, there was a national study where over 7,000 lawyers were surveyed about the state of their mental health, and the results were quite disturbing. There’s a real mental health crisis in the legal profession. So of those surveyed, about 59 per cent said they were experiencing psychological distress, about 28 per cent said they were experiencing depression, and then 24 per cent said they were having suicidal thoughts. So in response to this survey, we decided that it would be good to have lawyers share their own stories.

TD: So how did you go about doing that?

TT: The Law Society of Ontario over the last four years has hosted a mental health summit. We had over 6,000 people watching these summits and (sharing) their personal stories. And because they came … and shared their stories, we thought we’d reach out to them and see if they would like to contribute to a book.

TD: Tell me about some of the people who submitted stories for the book.

TT: There are 18 chapters. The lawyers come from British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, and the authors touch on a variety of mental health challenges ranging from depression and anxiety, bipolar disorder, addiction, grief, eating disorders and substance abuse. So there’s a wide range of of authors, and we have judges, lawyers and myself a law professor.

TD: You also contributed your story. Tell us a little bit about it.

TT: Let me take you back to …  when I was first diagnosed with depression. I was a young lawyer and I was not feeling well. I was not sleeping and then overslept in the morning, and couldn’t get out of bed. And so I went to my family doctor and said, ‘I’m just not feeling well. I’m not sure what’s going on.’ And he said to me, ‘I think you’re dealing with depression.’

After we had a conversation, he prescribed medication and I remember being in complete denial. I said, ‘That’s not true.’ I rejected the diagnosis and left the office. And I remember the stigmatizing messages about mental health. You can just … deal with this on your own by trying harder. I believe those stigmatizing messages are simply not true. But at the time, I believed them and I went untreated coping on my own for almost 15 years before later being admitted to hospital for depression and anxiety.

TD: So you have mentioned stigma. How is that changing over time within the legal profession?

TT: So, for example, when I was a law student, I graduated from Western Law in 1988. The words mental health were never mentioned. I never heard them. And I think it was just a real silence around the issue and lack of education. And that’s changed now. So, for example, in the law school, we now have a wellness counsellor. Students can go to him for confidential therapy, and most law schools now have an orientation session on mental health during the first week of classes. So there’s been a real shift. There’s a long way to go, and we thought that this book would really help to break down that stigma by letting people open up.

TD: What are some of the challenges that lawyers and justices face when it comes to mental health?

TT: I think the biggest thing is the silence. So a lot of people suffer in silence and hence the title, The Right Not to Remain Silent. And they just do not reach out for help. So only 44 per cent of legal professionals, for example, in that survey sought help dealing with stress. So there’s a real barrier out there in the profession to lawyers actually reaching out for their own help.

TD: What are some of the supports available for those who might be struggling with their mental health?

TT: Each law society across the country has a member assistance program, which is confidential. When you call … the law society won’t know about that. It’s completely confidential, and lawyers can get help and assistance through the program.

TD: Were you surprised reading some of these stories?

TT: Yes and no. So I was aware of the state of mental health in the legal profession. But to read the stories, they are real stories of courage and they help shatter the stigma around mental illness in the legal profession and how it fosters people getting help. But still, to read them they are surprising because of the sheer pain that some people went through. But there are also stories of hope, and people offer some suggestions in terms of what helped them in their own mental health journey.

TD: What do you hope people will take away from reading these stories?

TT: I think the message of hope. The legal profession is full of high achievers, it’s very competitive and it’s very stressful. It’s also a very conservative profession and if we can make inroads in the legal profession, other professions can do the same. And our dream is to have other professions write books of their own. So the medical profession, accounting profession, engineering, it would be great if those professions could also share their stories.

All royalties from the sale of The Right Not to Remain Silent: The Truth About Mental Health in the Legal Profession are being donated to The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.