Douge, Tim --- "Wellbeing in the legal profession: Tips for protecting mental health" [2020] PrecedentAULA 56; (2020) 160 Precedent 18

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WELLBEING IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION

TIPS FOR PROTECTING MENTAL HEALTH

By Tim Douge

Mental health, like physical health, requires constant attention. This article explores the idea that improving mental health in the legal industry starts with prioritising self-care at an individual level, which influences team mindset and paves the way for organisational change.

We all respond differently to the stress in our lives. Stress is sometimes positive. For example, in physical training we intentionally put ourselves under strain to adapt and build more resilient bodies with higher function. However, we will not have identical responses to the same training. The same can be said for our mental health and wellbeing. Consider it a form of fitness: some moments of stress can create positive change as long as we have moments of low stress in which to reflect, recover and learn. Training our physical selves obsessively without recovery can result in injury, excessive fatigue and disruptions to other bodily functions. Similarly, chronic mental stress can leave us vulnerable to mental illness – and it is important to acknowledge that we are all different in this regard.

BACKGROUND

In the past, the stigma around mental health created a perception that mental health issues were uncommon. The evidence says otherwise:

• Nearly half of Australian adults will experience an episode of mental illness in their lifetime; and

• 20 per cent of Australians will experience a common mental disorder of which anxiety and depression are the most prevalent.^[1]

A comparison of these statistics to those specific to members of the legal profession reveals the dark reality of the current landscape of mental health in the industry. According to the Meritas Australia & New Zealand Wellbeing Survey of 2019, anxiety and depression were as prevalent as 85 per cent and 63 per cent respectively.^[2]

However, it’s not all doom and gloom.

In the last decade, since the 2009 report from the Mind and Brain Research Institute investigating the state of mental health in the legal profession, mental health has been a significant focus and priority of Australian law schools and legal workplaces.^[3] There has also been an acknowledgement of the responsibility of workplaces and individuals to promote and protect good mental health across a number of domains.

First, legally, the Workplace Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth) details the rights of employees and employers with regard to the creation and provision of supportive environments. Second, commercially, it has been calculated that poor mental health comes at a cost of over $10 billion annually.^[4] Third, with an altruistic motive of care for colleagues and fellow humans, it has been recognised that studying law and entering a career as a lawyer or barrister are risk factors for increased mental illness.

Despite this growth of understanding and awareness of the issue, the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing highlighted that, despite the growing trend of mental health conditions, only 34 per cent of people are accessing appropriate, evidence-based care.^[5] According to Meritas, when asked to identify the most likely barriers to seeking help, people either preferred to manage on their own (38 per cent) or were worried about what others may think of them (28 per cent). The survey also highlighted that more than 75 per cent of respondents would likely use wellbeing resources, training or tools provided by their workplaces.^[6]

These statistics present some accepted truths while also paving a way forward for mental health strategies. It must be accepted that:

• Mental health is highly prevalent and damaging;

• There are effective treatments available which are underutilised;

• There are effective preventative strategies available which are underutilised; and

• Mental health requires intervention at community, organisational and individual levels.

Given the increase in awareness of mental health in the workplace, let’s assume that the legal profession will, over time, make the necessary changes to improve the working environment and culture. During this time, individuals can choose to take action to become more resilient and productive, therefore showing the importance of self-care through personal behaviour and change.

INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS FOR BETTER MENTAL HEALTH

Like anything health-related, there are many things we cannot control. For example, our genetics play the most significant role in determining our health, followed by environmental factors. However, the behaviours we choose to adopt, which also play a significant role, are usually the things we have the most control over.

The Australian Psychological Society acknowledges eight behaviours as being critical to supporting good mental health. They may seem simple but that also makes them easy to neglect:

1. Do something with others.

This can be with friends, family or other people in your community as part of a hobby or recreational activity. This adds to our sense of connection and belonging.

2. Do something creative.

Creative pursuits often involve a strong element of mindfulness. They are activities which require deep focus and provide a good distraction from other stressors.

3. Invest in relationships.

Commit time to people who are important to you. Have meaningful conversations with people you trust and who make you feel good. Having a network of close friends can also open doors to conversations around mental health if you do not feel comfortable talking to people in the workplace.

4. Focus on strengths.

Focus on the things that you are good at and give you purpose (preferably not work-related).

5. Take time out.

Easier said than done sometimes but this is recovery time from the stress we know is coming or that we are experiencing. You might need to schedule time out and fill it with something else on this list.

6. Sleep well.

This is a bit of a catch-22 as high stress can impact our sleep quality, but having good sleep behaviours when we are in periods of low stress can also sharpen our defenses against some environmental risk factors.

7. Keep active and eat well.

Physical activity has been proven to improve many aspects of mental health. More recently, it has been shown to reduce episodes of depression and the severity of symptoms in people with depression. Good nutrition plays an important role in providing the body with the appropriate fuel to function. Eating well and exercising also reinforce positive thoughts.

8. Practice self-compassion.

Treat yourself as you would your best friend. This comes in three parts. First, be kind to yourself by forgiving your mistakes. When your inner critic rears its head, remind yourself that mistakes are essential for growth and learning. Second, humanise your feelings. Recognise that everyone feels disappointment, guilt or shame at times. Accepting these feelings allows us to move through them. Lastly, be mindful of critical thoughts. This means being able to see them from a distance and understanding them instead of trying to suppress them.^[7]

ORGANISATIONAL FACTORS – WORKPLACE STRESSORS

Let’s consider some of the environmental or situational factors that we might encounter in the workplace which increase the risk of mental illness. According to a review of the most recent research, workplace risk factors include:

• High job demands;

• Low job control;

• High effort-reward imbalance;

• Low relational or procedural justice, that is, a lack of fairness in personal negotiations and agreements or a lack of fairness in processes and systems;

• Role stress;

• Bullying; and

• Low social support.^[8]

Do any of these sound familiar? They are often factors over which individuals have little control, which is why organisations must take responsibility for change in these areas. As the Meritas study points out, the workplaces of less than half of their respondents had an ‘open door’ policy to discuss factors affecting performance and 32 per cent felt that they would not use it even if it was available.^[9]

Teaching ourselves to implement personal self-care strategies is valuable but if the culture and policies to remove the most common risk factors in our workplaces do not exist then we are constantly fighting an uphill battle. The analogy we use in healthcare is that of a dangerous cliff. People are falling off the cliff and we can spend more time, effort and money trying to catch and heal them after their fall, or we can build a fence at the top to stop them from falling in the first place.

TEAM ACTIVITY – RESPONSES TO STRESS

Below is a quick exercise that I often do with groups to help them identify their psychological stressors, their behavioural responses to stress and the actions they can take to help them manage their stress.

1. Draw a box divided into quadrants with the corresponding headings (see Figure 1).

2. In the bottom left corner list the negative thoughts, feelings or emotions that you get stuck on or have trouble overcoming. Common examples include helplessness, frustration, anger or lack of confidence but they can be any number of emotions and may change day-to-day.

3. Imagine we are now watching a biography of your life. In the top left corner write down some of the behaviours we would see you engaging in when you are experiencing the negative emotions listed in step two. These are often behaviours such as being short with colleagues, withdrawing socially, drinking excessively or throwing yourself into work more intensely. Again, these behaviours may change but we are trying to create awareness of what they may be.

4. In the bottom right quadrant list the thoughts, emotions and people that are most important to have in your life. The big ones are love and joy, but they also may include emotions and thoughts such as achievement, contribution, pride, exploration, growth, connection and belonging. The people you list are those who you feel the most connected to, or perhaps trust the most.

5. Let’s review your biography again. When you are pursuing those feelings or engaging with those people, what behaviours would we see you doing? Write them in the top right corner.

The behaviours in the top left corner are often the ones we engage in when we face stress. They are the things that give us momentary distraction or some semblance of control. However, from a self-care point of view they are rarely of any value and often leave us with feelings of guilt or shame. When we experience moments of stress, sadness or anger it is important to acknowledge our feelings and forgive those actions which often follow.

Now consider the actions in the top right corner; these are the actions you can choose to do in order to move closer to the values and people that are important to you. You now have a choice to pursue actions which are of higher value and will help to ease the discomfort of the stress.

	Negative	Positive
E X T E R N A L	Behaviours	Behaviours
I N T E R N A L	Thoughts, feelings or emotions	Thoughts, emotions and people

Figure 1

Consider where lifestyle behaviours might fit on this spectrum. If we look back at the eight recommended actions for better mental health, on which side of the quadrant would we put exercising and eating well? Taking time out for recreation? Surely we would admit that they are positive action responses.

When it comes to exercise and diet specifically there are some important considerations, as both of these behaviours can sometimes be undertaken as self-punishment instead of self-care. When you begin to exercise, ensure that it is with the intent to reward your body, not punish it. Exercising for health can have a very different outlook to exercising for fitness. Fitness demands a certain level of intensity which is often uncomfortable. It demands a performance measure of how fast, how heavy, how many? Exercising for health does not need to be so onerous. A brisk walk is enough to boost mood, a simple routine of squats and push-ups can be enough to alter the hormones in our blood stream. What counts as ‘enough’ is a lot less than you might think when health is the priority. When you choose to eat with good health in mind, ensure that this is not done through depriving yourself of the foods you enjoy or the social value of a shared meal. If you don’t look forward to your next meal, it’s probably not the meal you should be having.

CONCLUSION

As individuals, if there is commitment to prioritising self-care, you create a demand for organisational change. There is opportunity to exhibit the behaviours required for each individual to be optimally healthy. Policy makers, managers and business owners are then tasked with creating a culture and structure in which these behaviours can be pursued. Good health requires a team approach.

Tim Douge is an accredited exercise physiologist, corporate health adviser and owner of Studio 99 Fitness Centre and Resilience Health Care. EMAIL [e-mail] WEBSITES www.studio99fitnesscentre.com and www.resiliencehealthcare.com.au.

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^[1] Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ‘Prevalence, impact and burden’, Mental Health Services in Australia (Report, 21 July 2020) <https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mental-health-services/mental-health-services-in-australia/report-contents/summary-of-mental-health-services-in-australia/prevalence-impact-and-burden>.

^[2] Meritas Law Firms Worldwide, Meritas Australia & New Zealand Wellness Survey 2019 (Report, 2019) <https://www.swaab.com.au/assets/download/Meritas-Wellness-Survey-Report.pdf>.

^[3] Brain and Mind Research Institute, Courting the Blues: Attitudes towards Depression in Australian Law Students and Lawyers (Report, 2009) <https://law.uq.edu.au/files/32510/Courting-the-Blues.pdf>.

^[4] L Cook, ‘Cost of mental illness in Australia: A quick guide’, Parliamentary Library Research Paper Series, 2019, <https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp>.

^[5] T Slade et al, The Mental Health of Australians 2: Report on the 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (Report, 2007) <https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/mental-pubs-m-mhaust2>.

^[6] Meritas Law Firms Worldwide, above note 2.

^[7] Think Mental Health, Ways to look after your mental health and wellbeing (2017) <https://www.thinkmentalhealthwa.com.au/about-mental-health-wellbeing/ways-to-look-after-your-mental-health/>.

^[8] SB Harvey et al, ‘Can work make you mentally ill? A systematic meta-review of work-related risk factors for common mental health problems’, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Vol. 74, 2017, 301–10.

^[9] Meritas Law Firms Worldwide, above note 2.