The American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division will host a Twitter Chat focused on mental health and addiction during the holidays. Brian Cuban, author of The Addicted Lawyer, and Bree Buchanan, director of the Texas Lawyers Assistance Program, will be joined by members of the Michigan Bar and Florida Bar as they respond to questions from Twitter users using the hashtag #Fit2Practice. The ABAYLD will then retweet responses. The chat takes place Monday, December 18, and runs from 11:30 a.m. to noon CST.
In August, a task force of ABA and non-ABA groups, co-chaired by Buchanan, released a report on the state of mental health in the law profession. The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change offered ways attorneys, law firms, law schools, and bar associations can help improve overall wellness in the profession. One of the report’s recommendations is to facilitate, destigmatize, and encourage help-seeking behaviors. The Texas Lawyers Assistance Program offers many resources on wellness stress and anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder, substance abuse, cognitive decline, and suicide prevention. For more information, go to tlaphelps.org or call (800) 343-8527 (TLAP). All calls are confidential.