Mental Illness, Addiction and Attorneys
by Jack M. Morgan, Jr.
Mental illness and addiction are devastating to lives, careers, relationships, families, and communities. In any given year, 9.5% of the population, approximately 18 million Americans, suffers from a depressive illness, generally defined to include major depression, dysthymia and bipolar disorder.1 Nearly 1 in 13 adults abuse alcohol or are alcoholic.2 A 1999 study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration concluded that an estimated 4 million people - about 2% of the population - were using prescription medication non-medically,3 and the same study a year earlier found that 1.7 million - about 0.8% - were using cocaine.
The National Institute on Health estimates that 2% of those ever treated for depression in an outpatient setting will commit suicide;4 for those suffering from bipolar disorder, the figures are even more grim - between 10% and 20% of those with the disorder will commit suicide and approximately one-third will attempt.5 A 2000 survey of 466 hospitals in 21 metropolitan areas found 601,776 drug related emergency room episodes,6 undoubtedly only a fraction of the total admissions nationally. Morbidity statistics for alcoholism are harder to categorize, but we all know someone whose life has been inexorably altered, or taken, by alcohol.
As these statistics bear out, mental illness and addiction kill people. These statistics are troubling indeed, but they do not reflect the less obvious damage of lost jobs, destroyed marriages, alienated families and friends, financial troubles, and for attorneys, malpractice and disciplinary problems.
As attorneys, we are not immune from mental illness and addiction. We are not, to use a trite expression, "above the law." And yet, because we expect perfection from ourselves and our colleagues, we are reluctant to acknowledge our susceptibility to these human afflictions. If the statistics cited above are true for our group - and I suggest that they are - then about 570 Utah attorneys suffer from a depressive illness; 460 of us abuse alcohol or are alcoholic; 120 of us abuse some type of prescription medication; and about 50 of us have a cocaine habit.7 Mental illness and addiction take a huge toll on the lives of those afflicted, as well as other people in their lives - and we as attorneys are no exception. We have a duty to ourselves, our colleagues and our profession to address these issues.
Lawyers Helping Lawyers' ('LHL') mission is to assist attorneys in dealing with these very real problems. Toward that end, LHL is forming support groups focused on (1) substance abuse and (2) mental health issues. These groups are not counseling sessions, nor are they intended to be a substitute for professional counseling. They can, however, provide valuable peer and mentoring support for lawyers struggling with these issues in their personal and professional lives. Participation in these groups is strictly confidential. If you think you or a colleague may benefit from such a group, or to obtain more information, please call LHL. Also, if you are willing to join the support group as someone who has valuable experience to offer others beginning their journey seeking assistance, please contact LHL at 579-0404 or toll free in state at (800) 530-3743.
1. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), www.nimh.gov/publicat/depression.
2. Narconon Southern California, Inc., www.alcoholaddiction.info/statistics.
3. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), Main Report. For further information see www.samhsa.gov.
4. National Institute of Mental Health, www.nimh.nih.gov. The suicide rate for patients treated in an in-patient setting is twice as high.
5. Comment, Lancet, 2002, May 11; 359(9318):1702.
6. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2000 Drug Abuse Warning Network Report, www.nida.nih.gov.
7. Currently, there are approximately 6000 active attorneys licensed to practice in Utah.