Mental Health Awareness Month: "More Good Days Together"

Since 1949, the month of May has been declared Mental Health Awareness Month by public and private entities in the U.S. The mottos chosen by two leading national mental health nonprofits for this year are:

·       “More Good Days, Together”
In these four words, Mental Health America (MHA) emphasizes that "together, we can use that insight to connect people to the right support at the right time, and shape advocacy, education, and community engagement to make more good days possible for all.” 

·       “Speak Up Against Stigma”
Four more simple words, with a profound impact, from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).  

So, it’s a good time to talk about peer support among lawyers.

National Alliance of the Mentally Ill (NAMI) estimates that 1 in 5 people struggle with mental illness. Yet lawyers are at least twice as likely to suffer addictive and other mental illness than the general adult population. Far too many still do so in shame and silence.

The most widely circulated early research on this topic comes from a methodologically sound study involving approximately 1200 lawyers in Washington state conducted by University of Washington Professor Andy Benjamin (JD, Ph.D., ABPP).  Subsequent studies of lawyers in the U.S. have replicated the findings of this seminal study:

·       Their rate of depression is more than three times higher than that experienced by the general adult population (GAP).

·       More than 60% suffer from stress and anxiety, with 1 in 5 self-reporting this as “severe” and 8% reporting panic disorder.

·       More than 11% have had suicidal thoughts in the last year (2x the GAP rate).

·       Lawyers in certain practice areas report secondary trauma syndrome/PTSD at higher rates than social workers, mental health providers, hospital doctors and prison wardens. 8 Yet fewer than 7% of lawyers seek treatment. 

Washington Lawyers Assisting Lawyers (WaLAL) is a peer support-focused 501(c)(3) organization of volunteer members of the legal profession with a variety of lived experiences in addictive and other mental health challenges. WaLAL provides free, confidential, and independent peer support to others in our profession. In 2025 alone, WaLAL peer counselors provided nearly 1000 hours of peer support.

We encourage you to review our website for more information about peer support, confidential self-screening tests, and personal blogs from lawyers sharing their lived experiences. Please email or phone if you want to obtain peer support services (or if you want guidance about how to suggest that a colleague contact WaLAL for peer counseling), if you want to serve as a peer counselor, or if you want to assist in other ways.