World Mental Health Day – Oct. 10
World Mental Health Day is observed on Oct. 10 every year to raise awareness around the world and mobilize efforts in support of mental health.
This year’s theme is “Mental Health at Work” and is centred on highlighting the vital connection between mental health and work. Safe, healthy working environments can act as a protective factor for mental health. Unhealthy conditions including stigma, discrimination and exposure to other poor working conditions can pose significant risks, affecting mental health, overall quality of life and consequently participation or productivity at work. The aim of focusing on mental health in the workplace is to encourage stakeholders responsible for employee health and safety to invest in evidence-based approaches and create an environment where employees feel supported and empowered to prioritize their mental health.
Read on to learn more about how you can participate in World Mental Health Day and the supports available to the legal profession.
Participating in World Mental Health Day
Listed below are a few ways to take part in World Mental Health Day:
- Attend the Alberta Lawyers’ Assistance Society (Assist) virtual Legal Community Mindfulness Session to Start Your World Mental Health Day.
- Attend the Canadian Bar Association – Alberta Branch virtual Navigating Bias: Charting a Course to a Healthier Legal Workplace.
- Take steps to implement approaches and activities to support mental health in your workplace, such as those set out in the American Bar Association Well-Being Toolkit for Lawyers & Legal Employers and Canada Life Workplace Strategies for Mental Health.
- Contribute to creating a safe and supportive environment at your workplace that lets your colleagues know everyone needs help at some point in their life and career.
Available Well-Being Supports
If you or someone you know is feeling overwhelmed, or dealing with something that may be impacting your ability to capably perform your job, there are supports that can help lawyers deal with challenges in a constructive way.
Practice Management consultations are available at no cost to help lawyers identify potential areas of risk before problems develop and client relations suffer. Our free, voluntary self-directed Practice Management Assessment Tool helps you rate your effectiveness in a variety of practice management areas and provides a curated list of free resources to help address gaps and manage risks. The Law Society’s Trust Safety department is available to assist Responsible Lawyers and law firms with their trust accounting and safety questions and concerns.
Our confidential Practice Advisor services and Equity Ombudsperson can help lawyers navigate ethical and practice matters and harassment and discrimination concerns. All these services can help lawyers who are feeling overwhelmed to resolve the issues they are facing in a supportive way.
Professional counselling and peer support is available through Assist. All services are provided on a confidential basis and no disclosure of use of these services is made to the Law Society. For lawyers who need immediate crisis support, Assist offers 24/7 crisis counselling via telephone at 1.877.498.6998.
The toll-free Hope for Wellness Help Line, at 1.855.242.3310, is available 24/7 to all Indigenous people across Canada and the online chat link can be found on their website. The toll-free 24-hour National Indian Residential School Crisis Line is 1.866.925.4419 to receive immediate emotional assistance.