Having a good job doesn’t make anyone immune to problems. Sometimes the job can make things worse.
Alcohol and drug abuse, along with mental health issues such as depression, stress and anxiety can be aggravated by the demands of a job, and then job performance suffers.
Many companies and industries rely on support programs that can help employees get their lives, and their jobs, back on track.
“Mental health issues and disorders are not discriminatory of any group,” said Kristin Higgins, an associate professor at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. “It doesn’t matter what field or industry you work in. Anyone can struggle with those issues. Looking at the business world, some of the intense pressures from productivity, being successful, the long hours, strain on relationships, this can all lead to mental health issues.”
Higgins said some occupations can be harder on one’s mental makeup than others. One such job is being a lawyer.
Studies have shown that as many as 40 percent of law students have experienced depression by the time they reach L3 — the third year of law school. Other studies suggest that alcohol abuse for those in the legal profession is more than twice that of the general public, and lawyers have higher incidents of depression, anxiety and stress.
Sarah Cearley, executive director of the Arkansas Judges & Lawyers Assistance Program, said the combination of the pressure-cooker environment of the law industry and the type of person who is attracted to the profession is a recipe for mental health issues. There’s no pressure break for lawyers from the time they enter law school, she said.
“The characteristics of people in general that are drawn to this field are Type-A personalities; they are driven and see themselves as fixers,” Cearley said. “They have the kinds of traits which are very good in terms of their careers, but those are also traits that put them at risk for substance abuse, addictions and depression. They get into a profession where they’re supposed to be great and know everything they’re supposed to do. The pressure doesn’t let up.”
Program Help
The Arkansas Supreme Court addressed the problem in 1999 when it created the Arkansas Judges & Lawyers Assistance Program. AJLAP provides free and completely confidential counseling to lawyers and judges who need it.
“The Court believes in order to take down barriers for lawyers to come see us, they had to create confidentially at a really high level,” said Cearley, who is a licensed certified social worker. “We are relieved of the duty to disclose if they have done something. We can’t be sued. That’s helpful.”
The program is paid for by a percentage of the legal licensing fees collected by the state. AJLAP created a foundation in 2006 to help raise additional funds through donations, which allows the program to have more statewide effectiveness.
Higgins is a former counselor at Ozark Guidance Center in Springdale and now teaches future counselors as an associate professor in the UA’s College of Education & Health Professions. She said it helps when at-risk employees have access to some form of help through their employer.
“It is much more to your benefit to work with a company that has a culture to support you and find you the help you need,” Higgins said. “Just getting kicked to the curb and told ‘good luck’ is just going to exacerbate the problem without any support.”
Rebecca Vercher is the director of the Employee Assistance Program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, and that program is for UAMS employees as well as the employees of 20 or so companies that the EAP contracts with as a third-party provider. Vercher said the costs to a company are relatively minor and the benefits are significant.
“An Employee Assistance Program offers a employee an opportunity to get pretty quick help,” Vercher said. “It’s a benefit that is just pieces of 1 percent of an entire organization’s budget. It’s a lot of bang for the buck for a company to have an Employee Assistance Program.”
First Steps
AJLAP receives weekly calls from lawyers who are seeking help, as well as those who are calling on behalf of colleagues they believe are having problems.
“It’s not just lawyers and judges, because it’s hard for anybody to come to that recognition that they need to do something about it,” Cearley said. “They’ve gone through a lifetime of denial and thinking they can handle it. It is when they literally are brought to a place where they really want to make a change. It doesn’t have to be the big, bad bottom that people have heard about so much.”
Cearley has the mettle to call lawyers and judges who haven’t self-referred to AJLAP. Only two of the people she has called in 10 years have been defensive and wanted to know who gave her their names.
“By the time I make the call, believe me, you’re not the only one to have noticed this behavior,” Cearley said. “When I call, 98 percent of the time, they just say, ‘Yes.’ Our standard thing, which is the truth, is we say there are people out there who are worried about you. We move the conversation into where we can go with this and how we can help.”
Vercher said UAMS’ program is self-referral only, but is equally confidential. Higgins said confidentiality is important to encourage people to seek help, but no one should feel bad about asking for help.
“It would be great if we could get to where that was as normal as seeing someone at the dentist — as opposed to the taboo that you must be crazy,” Higgins said. “We don’t address mental health very well because we still have those taboos. I equate real mental health issues to someone who has allergies. We would never blame a person for the allergies they have.”
Spreading the Word
Both Cearley and Vercher said it’s vital that support programs raise their profiles so more employees know they are available. Higgins said she wished companies would encourage new hires to seek support if they feel overwhelmed.
Cearley, who has been with AJLAP since 2006, does numerous presentations to law firms and associations and, each time, she asks for a show of hands to see how many people are familiar with AJLAP. She said more and more hands go up, but there is still more to do.
Cearley said the AJLAP has focused a lot of attention on the state’s two law schools so future lawyers know about the program ahead of time.
Vercher said she and her staff visit the companies that subscribe to their services to let employees know about the program and to put a face to EAP so employees in need will feel more comfortable reaching out.
“Our companies are really good in partnering with us to promote the program, because if an Employee Assistance Program does not promote the program, it will die,” Vercher said. “Our companies love this program. Supervisors want to be supervisors, not counselors.”
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