Behind the Scenes at BringChange2Mind's Public Service Announcement, hear from Glenn Close, Director Ron Howard, and others.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Glenn Close and Jessie Close : BringChange2Mind
Glenn Close and Jessie Close, BringChange2Mind Video
BringChange2Mind Video
Please check out the BringChange2Mind Video:
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embed src="http://blip.tv/play/hMYXgajzDQI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="391" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true">
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Depression: Lawyers: Help
I can certainly attest to the devastating role depression can play in one’s life.
I was diagnosed with depression on March 7, 2003. I had unknowingly lived with it for years. I just thought I had a horrible life, not a mental illness. I was suspended by the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society on March 11, 2003. I had a mental breakdown on March 11-12, 2003. Not my best week.
Given that in 18 years of practice, I had no disciplinary history with the Bar Society, all parties questioned what had gone wrong in my life. We all came to recognize the impact depression had on my mind and thus my decision making abilities. The crux of the complaint from the Bar Society involved my own file, there was no client as such. I acted more or less as my own lawyer in a real estate transaction. I had found an isolated house, and given my depression, I felt that I needed to hide from the world and then I mistakenly thought I would be able to breathe. Getting the house was a matter of true survival to me, or so my unraveling mind thought.
It took a few years to regain my good health. It took the solid support and understanding of my immediate family, some friends, my psychologist, and the Bar Society. Even in the midst of the darkest days of depression, I knew I wanted a voice to discuss depression and stigma. I think it is important, perhaps even incumbent on those of us who can, to seek that public voice to discuss mental health issues.
These last seven years, I have learned a lot about mental illness, my own and that of others.
In the early days, one source was the internet. I only left the house the first few years on rare occasions, such as my weekly therapy visit. Even with no self confidence to venture out, I could still sit in my bedroom and read online about depression.
The Canadian Mental Health Association has an extensive website ( www.cmha.ca ) with details on many mental illnesses, including depression. It lists the signs of depression as:
“feeling worthless, helpless, or hopeless; sleeping more or less than usual; eating more or less than usual; having difficulty concentrating or making decisions; loss of interest in taking part in activities; decreased sex drive; avoiding other people; overwhelming feelings of sadness or grief; feeling unreasonably guilty; loss of energy, feeling very tired; thoughts of death or suicide”
Looking back at my life now with a clear and healthy mind, I can recognize and accept that I had some of the above symptoms. Insomnia for years, I would stay up most of the night, not wanting the next ugly day to begin. I thought I would never be happy or comfortable in my life. I cut off relationships, some of which were with my best friends. Solo lunches also became common. My last personal relationship was curtailed due to my depression, it didn’t have a chance, I regret to say. I lived on a lake with no neighbours, and many nights a canoe trip with no return seemed like the only means to stop the angst in which I lived.
If you or a colleague has any of these symptoms consistently in excess of two weeks, you may have depression.
Even a popular website, www.youtube.com, has video clips on depression.
A new organiztion that brings light to the subjectof mental illness is BringChange2Mind, started by Glenn Close, Jessie Close, and several mental health groups. You can check it out at www.bringchange2mind.org or on Facebook. In the spirit of honesty and transparency, I confirm that I am a volunteer with the group, I administer the Facebook page, respond to emails from people in distress, and provide general advice.
So, in the private confines of your home or office, the means to learn about depression are just a click away. That click can change your life.
I note that a John Hopkins University study in 1990-91, found that among 28 occupations researched, lawyers were 3.6 times more apt to have depression. Two other studies in the 1990s supported this result. I know of no research since, but I suggest that given our ever increasing hectic world, the extent of depression has not decreased, but more likely it has increased. So, the legal community must realize the impact depression can have on ourselves, our families, and our clients.
So, if you think or feel you or a colleague may have depression, I strongly advise that you seek help. Talk to your family, a friend, or even someone not so close to you. As well, lawyers and their families can access their provincial lawyers’ assistance programs. Help can be just a phone call away. All discussions are kept confidential. That first step can save your life.
Depression deserves proper respect and attention.
Keith invites readers to contact him at kna1960@eastlink.ca
I was diagnosed with depression on March 7, 2003. I had unknowingly lived with it for years. I just thought I had a horrible life, not a mental illness. I was suspended by the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society on March 11, 2003. I had a mental breakdown on March 11-12, 2003. Not my best week.
Given that in 18 years of practice, I had no disciplinary history with the Bar Society, all parties questioned what had gone wrong in my life. We all came to recognize the impact depression had on my mind and thus my decision making abilities. The crux of the complaint from the Bar Society involved my own file, there was no client as such. I acted more or less as my own lawyer in a real estate transaction. I had found an isolated house, and given my depression, I felt that I needed to hide from the world and then I mistakenly thought I would be able to breathe. Getting the house was a matter of true survival to me, or so my unraveling mind thought.
It took a few years to regain my good health. It took the solid support and understanding of my immediate family, some friends, my psychologist, and the Bar Society. Even in the midst of the darkest days of depression, I knew I wanted a voice to discuss depression and stigma. I think it is important, perhaps even incumbent on those of us who can, to seek that public voice to discuss mental health issues.
These last seven years, I have learned a lot about mental illness, my own and that of others.
In the early days, one source was the internet. I only left the house the first few years on rare occasions, such as my weekly therapy visit. Even with no self confidence to venture out, I could still sit in my bedroom and read online about depression.
The Canadian Mental Health Association has an extensive website ( www.cmha.ca ) with details on many mental illnesses, including depression. It lists the signs of depression as:
“feeling worthless, helpless, or hopeless; sleeping more or less than usual; eating more or less than usual; having difficulty concentrating or making decisions; loss of interest in taking part in activities; decreased sex drive; avoiding other people; overwhelming feelings of sadness or grief; feeling unreasonably guilty; loss of energy, feeling very tired; thoughts of death or suicide”
Looking back at my life now with a clear and healthy mind, I can recognize and accept that I had some of the above symptoms. Insomnia for years, I would stay up most of the night, not wanting the next ugly day to begin. I thought I would never be happy or comfortable in my life. I cut off relationships, some of which were with my best friends. Solo lunches also became common. My last personal relationship was curtailed due to my depression, it didn’t have a chance, I regret to say. I lived on a lake with no neighbours, and many nights a canoe trip with no return seemed like the only means to stop the angst in which I lived.
If you or a colleague has any of these symptoms consistently in excess of two weeks, you may have depression.
Even a popular website, www.youtube.com, has video clips on depression.
A new organiztion that brings light to the subjectof mental illness is BringChange2Mind, started by Glenn Close, Jessie Close, and several mental health groups. You can check it out at www.bringchange2mind.org or on Facebook. In the spirit of honesty and transparency, I confirm that I am a volunteer with the group, I administer the Facebook page, respond to emails from people in distress, and provide general advice.
So, in the private confines of your home or office, the means to learn about depression are just a click away. That click can change your life.
I note that a John Hopkins University study in 1990-91, found that among 28 occupations researched, lawyers were 3.6 times more apt to have depression. Two other studies in the 1990s supported this result. I know of no research since, but I suggest that given our ever increasing hectic world, the extent of depression has not decreased, but more likely it has increased. So, the legal community must realize the impact depression can have on ourselves, our families, and our clients.
So, if you think or feel you or a colleague may have depression, I strongly advise that you seek help. Talk to your family, a friend, or even someone not so close to you. As well, lawyers and their families can access their provincial lawyers’ assistance programs. Help can be just a phone call away. All discussions are kept confidential. That first step can save your life.
Depression deserves proper respect and attention.
Keith invites readers to contact him at kna1960@eastlink.ca
Friday, March 12, 2010
My Mental Health Advocacy 2008 / 2009 / 2010
KEITH ANDERSON, LL.B., LL.M., Email: kna1960@eastlink.ca
My Mental Health Advocacy 2008/2009/2010/ I wrote a first person account of my depression and recovery for the National Post newspaper. It was titled “How I Returned to a Life Worth Living” and appeared in the paper on February 20, 2008.
As a result of my writing the National Post article, I was invited by Carol Tooton, Executive Director of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Nova Scotia Division, to co-present a workshop at the Canadian Mental Health Association National Conference held in August, 2008, in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. It was my first time speaking in public in just over five years.
I was interviewed for the cover story of Anchor magazine’s 2008 summer issue. Anchor is a publication dealing exclusively with depression. ( http://www.anchormag.com/ )
I wrote an article, titled “Life is Over Rated ”, for the Ontario Lawyers’ Assistance Program. It is posted at www.olap.ca/keith-anderson.html
This article was edited for Addendum, a publication of the Canadian Bar Association.
I met with Deborah Rozee and Cheryl Canning of the Nova Scotia Lawyers’ Assistance Program. The article from the Ontario LAP was updated and appears in The Society Record, the magazine of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society, forwarded to all lawyers in Nova Scotia in January, 2009. The Society Record article can be accessed at http://www.nsbs.org/documents/publications/sr/SR%20Vol%2027%20No%201,%20January%202009.pdf
Appearance on Doc Talk, hosted by Dr. John Gillis, on Eastlink Television, to discuss my depression, its impact on my life, and my recovery, broadcast on February 11,12,13,16, and 17, 2009.
Carol Tooton, Executive Director, of Canadian Mental Health Association, Nova Scotia Division, nominated me for an Inspiring Lives Award, sponsored by the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia and the Canadian Mental Health Association, Nova Scotia Division. The Awards were presented at a luncheon held at Pier 21, Halifax, Nova Scotia, on May 6, 2009, and though I was not chosen as an Award recipient, the event was certainly “inspiring.”
Interviewed by Wendy Martin for CBC Radio’s Information Morning, Sydney, Nova Scotia, on May 6, 2009.
Krista Daley, CEO of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, asked me to be a panel member at the Canadian Council of Administrative Tribunals National Conference ( http://www.ccat-ccta.org/ ) held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on May 31-June 2, 2009. I discussed my being one who had a mental illness (depression) and how I dealt with various bureaucracies at the time and how those same bureaucracies treated me. I was joined on the panel by Professor Archie Kaiser, Dalhousie Law School, Halifax.
Member of Mental Health Peer Advocates Training Project Committee ( June, 2009). The Committee is “to enhance the capacity of Nova Scotia communities to provide individual and systemic advocacy in relation to people with mental illness.” ( quoted from the proposal call issued by the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission and Disabled Persons Commission ).
I have an article in Canadian Health magazine’s 2009 summer issue.
I have an article in Law Practice Today, a publication of the American Bar Association, in August, 2009, for its Balance and Wellness issue, found at http://www.abanet.org/lpm/lpt/articles/ftr08094.shtml. This was at the request of Deborah Gillis, QC, Lawyers’ Insurance Association of Nova Scotia, who is on the editorial board.
Article posted on Beyond Blue’s website, which is the Australian National Program to raise public awareness about depression and to reduce the stigma associated with it.
Interviewed for an article in the October 16, 2009, issue of Lawyers Weekly.
I spoke at the 5th Annual Living with Mental Illness Conference: First Voice sponsored by the Family Working Group of the Cape Breton District Health Authority, Sydney, Nova Scotia, on October 30, 2009. Audience of 550 people.
Interview in Cape Breton Post newspaper, Sydney, Nova Scotia, on November 2, 2009.
Taped a public service announcement, called Pass It On, on November 2, 2009, for The Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia for later broadcast on CTV and other uses. Available to view at http://www.mentalhealthns.ca/
Volunteer with BringChange2Mind, a not-for-profit organization established by Glenn Close and the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation, Fountain House, and Garen and Shari Staglin of International Mental Health Research Organization. I am the administrator of the BC2M’s Facebook page, and help monitor its website. I also respond to people in search of certain resources. http://www.bringchange2mind.org/
Guest lecturer at Solo Practice University ( www.solopracticeuniversity.com/blog ) an online school for solo and small firm practitioners. My topic will be Lawyers and Depression / A Healthy Mind, A Healthy Practice, February 26, 2010, posted on Solo Practice University’s Facebook page for all to access (http://www.facebook.com/solopracticeuniversity?v=app_7146470109 )
Consulted with the Canadian Mental Health Association, Nova Scotia Division, for the Inquiry into the Death of Howard Hyde
Blog: http://www.myreturnkickindepression.blogspot.com/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/keithllbllm
Facebook
My Mental Health Advocacy 2008/2009/2010/ I wrote a first person account of my depression and recovery for the National Post newspaper. It was titled “How I Returned to a Life Worth Living” and appeared in the paper on February 20, 2008.
As a result of my writing the National Post article, I was invited by Carol Tooton, Executive Director of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Nova Scotia Division, to co-present a workshop at the Canadian Mental Health Association National Conference held in August, 2008, in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. It was my first time speaking in public in just over five years.
I was interviewed for the cover story of Anchor magazine’s 2008 summer issue. Anchor is a publication dealing exclusively with depression. ( http://www.anchormag.com/ )
I wrote an article, titled “Life is Over Rated ”, for the Ontario Lawyers’ Assistance Program. It is posted at www.olap.ca/keith-anderson.html
This article was edited for Addendum, a publication of the Canadian Bar Association.
I met with Deborah Rozee and Cheryl Canning of the Nova Scotia Lawyers’ Assistance Program. The article from the Ontario LAP was updated and appears in The Society Record, the magazine of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society, forwarded to all lawyers in Nova Scotia in January, 2009. The Society Record article can be accessed at http://www.nsbs.org/documents/publications/sr/SR%20Vol%2027%20No%201,%20January%202009.pdf
Appearance on Doc Talk, hosted by Dr. John Gillis, on Eastlink Television, to discuss my depression, its impact on my life, and my recovery, broadcast on February 11,12,13,16, and 17, 2009.
Carol Tooton, Executive Director, of Canadian Mental Health Association, Nova Scotia Division, nominated me for an Inspiring Lives Award, sponsored by the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia and the Canadian Mental Health Association, Nova Scotia Division. The Awards were presented at a luncheon held at Pier 21, Halifax, Nova Scotia, on May 6, 2009, and though I was not chosen as an Award recipient, the event was certainly “inspiring.”
Interviewed by Wendy Martin for CBC Radio’s Information Morning, Sydney, Nova Scotia, on May 6, 2009.
Krista Daley, CEO of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, asked me to be a panel member at the Canadian Council of Administrative Tribunals National Conference ( http://www.ccat-ccta.org/ ) held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on May 31-June 2, 2009. I discussed my being one who had a mental illness (depression) and how I dealt with various bureaucracies at the time and how those same bureaucracies treated me. I was joined on the panel by Professor Archie Kaiser, Dalhousie Law School, Halifax.
Member of Mental Health Peer Advocates Training Project Committee ( June, 2009). The Committee is “to enhance the capacity of Nova Scotia communities to provide individual and systemic advocacy in relation to people with mental illness.” ( quoted from the proposal call issued by the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission and Disabled Persons Commission ).
I have an article in Canadian Health magazine’s 2009 summer issue.
I have an article in Law Practice Today, a publication of the American Bar Association, in August, 2009, for its Balance and Wellness issue, found at http://www.abanet.org/lpm/lpt/articles/ftr08094.shtml. This was at the request of Deborah Gillis, QC, Lawyers’ Insurance Association of Nova Scotia, who is on the editorial board.
Article posted on Beyond Blue’s website, which is the Australian National Program to raise public awareness about depression and to reduce the stigma associated with it.
Interviewed for an article in the October 16, 2009, issue of Lawyers Weekly.
I spoke at the 5th Annual Living with Mental Illness Conference: First Voice sponsored by the Family Working Group of the Cape Breton District Health Authority, Sydney, Nova Scotia, on October 30, 2009. Audience of 550 people.
Interview in Cape Breton Post newspaper, Sydney, Nova Scotia, on November 2, 2009.
Taped a public service announcement, called Pass It On, on November 2, 2009, for The Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia for later broadcast on CTV and other uses. Available to view at http://www.mentalhealthns.ca/
Volunteer with BringChange2Mind, a not-for-profit organization established by Glenn Close and the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation, Fountain House, and Garen and Shari Staglin of International Mental Health Research Organization. I am the administrator of the BC2M’s Facebook page, and help monitor its website. I also respond to people in search of certain resources. http://www.bringchange2mind.org/
Guest lecturer at Solo Practice University ( www.solopracticeuniversity.com/blog ) an online school for solo and small firm practitioners. My topic will be Lawyers and Depression / A Healthy Mind, A Healthy Practice, February 26, 2010, posted on Solo Practice University’s Facebook page for all to access (http://www.facebook.com/solopracticeuniversity?v=app_7146470109 )
Consulted with the Canadian Mental Health Association, Nova Scotia Division, for the Inquiry into the Death of Howard Hyde
Blog: http://www.myreturnkickindepression.blogspot.com/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/keithllbllm
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Solo Practice University
Well, on Friday, I was interviewd by Susan Carter Liebel, who runs Solo Practice University ( www.solopracticeunversity.com ), an online school resource for solo and small firm lawyers.
The Q / A went for an hour. Susan is a very professional and well researched presenter. It was clear she spent some time putting together her questions, and had a firm grasp on the aspects of depression that impact lawyers.
I thank her for the opporunty.
The interview can be accessed at SPU's facebook page at www.facebook.com/solopracticeuniversity?ref=ts
The Q / A went for an hour. Susan is a very professional and well researched presenter. It was clear she spent some time putting together her questions, and had a firm grasp on the aspects of depression that impact lawyers.
I thank her for the opporunty.
The interview can be accessed at SPU's facebook page at www.facebook.com/solopracticeuniversity?ref=ts
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Solo Practice University
Guest lecture at Solo Practice University scheduled for Tuesday, February 23, 2010, at 12 noon EST. This discussion on Lawyers and Depression / A Healthy Mind, A Healthy Practice will be available for students live on Tuesday. It will then be posted at Solo Practice University's facebook page for all to access"
Monday, February 8, 2010
Howard Hyde Inquiry
Mr. Hyde died while in the custody of correctional guards as they tried to get him to attend court. He had been tasered by Halifax Police 30 hours earlier. Mr. Hyde had schizophrenia.
The Inquiry was called by the Nova Scotia Provincial Government to deternine how Mr. Hyde was treated by the health care and legal systems.
Originally the Canadian Mental Health Association, Nova Scotia Division, was to be allowed to present six witnesses. Three were to discuss the stigma of mental illness. I was to be one of those witnesses. The other witnesses were Dr. David Goldbloom and Jean Hughes. My evidence was to be a first person account of the stigma / discrimination one with mental illness confronts. However, the Judge hearing the evidence has chosen to reduce the number of witnesses on stigma. So, the three of us will not be giving evidence. The Inquiry concludes this week with oral and written submissions to follow at a later date.
Most of those in attendance speak of systemic problems in the health care and legal systems. I have great difficulty with the use of the word " systemic". Any system is made up of the people in it, the people who made improper or incorrect decisions should be held accountable, not the "system"...just my view.
The Inquiry was called by the Nova Scotia Provincial Government to deternine how Mr. Hyde was treated by the health care and legal systems.
Originally the Canadian Mental Health Association, Nova Scotia Division, was to be allowed to present six witnesses. Three were to discuss the stigma of mental illness. I was to be one of those witnesses. The other witnesses were Dr. David Goldbloom and Jean Hughes. My evidence was to be a first person account of the stigma / discrimination one with mental illness confronts. However, the Judge hearing the evidence has chosen to reduce the number of witnesses on stigma. So, the three of us will not be giving evidence. The Inquiry concludes this week with oral and written submissions to follow at a later date.
Most of those in attendance speak of systemic problems in the health care and legal systems. I have great difficulty with the use of the word " systemic". Any system is made up of the people in it, the people who made improper or incorrect decisions should be held accountable, not the "system"...just my view.
A Healthy Mind, A Healthy Practice / Solo Practice University
I will be a guest lecturer at Solo Practice University at month end. SPU is an online resource for solo or small firm lawyers. The topic of discussion will be lawyers and depression. I will discuss how depression had a devstating impact on my life, my recovery and my views about how lawyers should handle mental health issues.
A John Hopkins University study in the early 1990's found that of 30 professions studied, lawyers were 3.6 times more likely to have depression. Two subsequent studies had similar results. Now, we all know that those numbers have not gone down, given today's world.
I will discuss the reasons why lawyers and depression tend to meet too often.
A John Hopkins University study in the early 1990's found that of 30 professions studied, lawyers were 3.6 times more likely to have depression. Two subsequent studies had similar results. Now, we all know that those numbers have not gone down, given today's world.
I will discuss the reasons why lawyers and depression tend to meet too often.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Down But Not Out
I sit here now, almost 7 years since I was diagnosed with depression, I take a moment and look around. Long gone are the material goods most of us strive to obtain. No house. No vehicles. Few personal items. As well, I have no job, no income, no money. All of those wrongly referenced items of success that I had...well, no more.
However to focus on what I don't have is not fair to what I do have. I have my good health. I am as mentally strong as when I was 25 years old, and I was solid then. I have my family. I can sleep well. I am no longer a regular Letterman viewer. I can have a real laugh. I can read, and enjoy, a book. I can watch a movie without 1/2 through wondering what I was watching, unable to focus well enough and long enough. I appeciate my life. I appreciate that the late night canoe trip around my lake, with no return, never happened.
I no longer pretend that my life is good, because now it actually is good, even wonderful at times.
The material stuff, it may come round again, but I realize I don't need it to be happy.
However to focus on what I don't have is not fair to what I do have. I have my good health. I am as mentally strong as when I was 25 years old, and I was solid then. I have my family. I can sleep well. I am no longer a regular Letterman viewer. I can have a real laugh. I can read, and enjoy, a book. I can watch a movie without 1/2 through wondering what I was watching, unable to focus well enough and long enough. I appeciate my life. I appreciate that the late night canoe trip around my lake, with no return, never happened.
I no longer pretend that my life is good, because now it actually is good, even wonderful at times.
The material stuff, it may come round again, but I realize I don't need it to be happy.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
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