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In the wake of the suicide of a dozen lawyers in Kentucky during the past three years, several organizations are looking at different ways to curb the tragic trend. Reports have cited as many as six suicides in the last year and 12 dating back to 2010.

At the heart of the issue is determining if there is a correlation between being a lawyer and the likelihood of committing suicide; if there are stress-related or other factors that contribute to the possibility of suicide; and what steps are being taken to help prevent it. However, the issue is not cut and dry, experts say.

Bob Carolla, director of media relations for the National Alliance on Mental Illness said it is difficult to determine a concrete link between a given profession and suicide risk, and it is also important not to jump to conclusions about the issue without looking at all the pertinent factors.

“I think you also have to be careful about definitions and assumptions surrounding high stress [as] some people thrive in it. There are all kinds of stress and many different socioeconomic factors that can be considered. Long hours [and] heavy responsibility may be part of the equation— perhaps too the adversarial nature of litigation,” he said in an email to Progressive Law Practice.

He also added that the organization’s Cincinnati chapter is considering starting a support group specifically for lawyers to address the situation. Heather Turner, executive director of NAMI of Hamilton County, in Ohio, said a local attorney has come to the organization and expressed interest in organizing a lawyer-specific support group.

“It does seem like an idea with merit to have a support group led by attorneys trained to facilitate a support group that is for attorneys only. For a support group to function well there needs to be a small pool of trained facilitators so that facilitation can be rotated. NAMI has excellent training, and we would be interested in either bringing the training to our area or sending interested attorneys to training,” Turner says.

In Kentucky lawyers can take advantage of the Kentucky Lawyer Assistance Program that helps lawyers deal with stress, depression and substance abuse. They are hosting Open Recovery Meetings on Wednesday, June 19 and on Thursday. June 20, during the Kentucky Bar Association’s Annual Convention and the meetings will be held at 5:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. in the McCreary Room of the Galt House Hotel in Louisville, according to information from the KLAP Web site.

A representative from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the CDC does not have job-specific information on suicide rates by prevention. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has information regarding suicides that occur in a particular workplace, for example in the office while on the job, however, there was no discernible information regarding suicide rates by profession.

According to information in in a Texas Bar report, The National Institute for Safety and Health found that male lawyers between 20 and 64 years old are more than two-times as likely to commit suicide than other men of the same age in all other occupations. A study conducted at Campbell University in North Carolina indicated 11% of the lawyers in Texas contemplated suicide at least once a month.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention found, in general, men are nearly four times more likely to commit suicide than women. In 2010, 78.9 % of suicides were performed by men. Information about suicide and anxiety screening tools are available at www.nami.org.

Dan Sabbatino is an award winning journalist whose accolades include a New York Press Association award for a series of articles he wrote dealing with a small upstate town’s battle over a the implications of letting a “big-box” retailer locate within its borders. He has worked as a reporter and editor since 2007 primarily covering state and local politics for a number of Capital Region publications including The Legislative Gazette, where he currently serves as assistant editor.

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