Mental Health, Lawyers & the Law

Joeita speaks with Beth Beattie and Carole Dagher about their new book “The Right Not to Remain Silent: The Truth About Mental Health in the Legal Profession” which discusses mental health and well-being amongst legal professionals. 

Highlights

• Mental Health Within the Legal Profession – Opening Remarks (00:00)
• Introducing Beth Beattie & Carole Dagher (01:29)
• “The Right Not to Remain Silent: The Truth About Mental Health in the Legal Profession” (03:12)
• Importance of Mental Health Amongst Legal Professionals (04:23)
• Fear & Secrecy Surrounding Mental Health Struggles (06:02)
• Contributors to “The Right Not to Remain Silent” & Mental Health Summit (08:31)
• What Can We Learn from Personal Essays on Mental Health? (12:27)
• Intersections of Mental Health, Sexism, Homophobia & Racism (15:56)
• Deciding to Disclose One’s Invisible Disability (19:31)
• Reducing Stigma & Changing the Culture Within the Legal Profession (22:24)
• Significance of Mental Health Awareness Amongst Legal Professionals (24:22)
• Closing Remarks (25:23)

More Info: 

The Right Not to Remain Silent: The Truth About Mental Health in The Legal Profession is a groundbreaking book that sets the stage for revolutionizing how mental health is perceived in the legal profession and beyond. It contains a series of candid and courageous memoirs by members of the legal profession living with mental health and addiction issues. The authors are judges, lawyers, and law professors with wide-ranging legal practices in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario including at Bay Street and small boutique firms.

Young lawyers and senior members of the profession share their experiences of working while living with various types of challenges – depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders, addiction, grief, imposter syndrome, and perfectionism.

The Right Not to Remain Silent: The Truth About Mental Health in The Legal Profession addresses the insidious nature of mental health stigma and isolation in the legal community. But it is fundamentally a book about hope. As the authors discuss their sometimes harrowing journeys, they also show routes back to meaningful engagement with colleagues and work.

To read these personal accounts is to be moved, inspired, and hopefully galvanized into action at the individual, collegial, and organizational level. This book offers practical solutions to change the culture of legal practice and beyond so as to bust apart stigma and isolation, foster people getting the support they need, and cultivate more diverse workplaces.

Book Contributors

• David S. Goldbloom
• The Honourable George R. Strathy
• The Honourable Michele Hollins
• Beth Beattie
• Carole Dagher
• Thomas Telfer
• Katherine Cooligan
• Orlando Da Silva
• Michael R. Ferguson
• Michael Herman
• Aidan Johnson
• Imran Kamal
• Ryan Middleton
• Yadesha Satheaswaran
• Leslie Anne St. Amour
• Dan Stein
• Courtney Wilson
• Leena Yousefi
• Brett D.M. Jones
• Shayan Imran
• M. Ishrat Husain

“Postpartum depression made me feel hopeless. Not Today.” article by Carole Dagher for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) 

Guest Bio: Beth Beattie

Called to the Bar in 1994, Beth Beattie has a broad-based health law litigation practice.

Since January 2018 Beth has been a Friend of the Bell Let’s Talk campaign. Her story of working as a lawyer with bipolar disorder has been featured on television, radio, podcasts, print media and even billboards across the country. Television appearances include The Marilyn Denis Show, CTV News, CTV North News, CP24 and a CTV prime time special, “In Their Own Words”.

In 2021, 2022 and 2023 Beth co-chaired with the former Treasurer of the Law Society of Ontario, Teresa Donnelly, Mental Health Summits for Legal Professionals. Each year the Summits were watched by nearly 6,000 registrants.

Beth is a founding member of Voices for Mental Health which is a group of employees at the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General who have lived mental health experience or who have cared for loved ones with lived experience. Voices provides programming within the Ministry of the Attorney General and beyond on topics relating to mental health.

In 2022 Beth was awarded the Law Society Medal, the highest honour available to a lawyer in Ontario. The Medal was awarded for outstanding service within the profession in accordance with the highest ideals of the profession. She was also awarded the Ontario Psychiatric Association’s Mental Health Advocate of the Year Award.

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