When I ran for CBABC President, I promised that if elected I would use my platform as President to raise awareness of mental health issues in our profession. I committed to speak of my experience with mental illness, with the intention of helping to reduce stigma and to hopefully contribute to culture change in our profession.
A column in every BarTalk issue is reserved for the CBABC President. As my term approached, I knew that my first BarTalk column would discuss mental illness in the profession, including my own experience. As the deadline approached, I grew very nervous. My depression has been in remission for several years, and many are aware of my history. And yet, I still had a lot of fear. Writing that first column was a struggle, and immediately after submitting it I wondered if it was a mistake to get so personal.
But BarTalk wasn’t my only worry. Every CBABC President has the honour of being profiled in the Advocate. My good friend Cheryl D’Sa, KC wrote the profile. While Cheryl was writing the article, we discussed my level of comfort in sharing details of my personal life, including my experience with depression and my journey coming out of the closet. We ultimately decided that it was important to share these details.
BarTalk is sent to every CBA member in the province. The Advocate is sent to every lawyer in the province. If I was nervous about my first BarTalk column, I had a sense of dread about the Advocate article. I feared that once these articles were published, I would be judged negatively and that some people would think less of me as a lawyer. Further, as someone who does not like drawing attention to myself, I worried that in sharing about myself I would come across as narcissistic.
To my great relief, my fears have not been borne out — as far as I know. A number of people have reached out to say that the BarTalk and Advocate articles resonated with them. The support and encouragement of lawyers, judges, articling students, academics and others gave me the courage to continue writing and speaking about the topic.
I’m incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to connect with so many of you over the past year. Emails or interactions at legal events have led to coffees, lunches or Zoom chats. Many people have privately shared with me their own experiences with mental illness. In the course of my many conversations and meetings with lawyers, it was clear to me that anecdotal evidence supports the main findings of the National Study on Wellness in the Legal Profession: mental illness afflicts many of us and affects all of us.
The solution to overcoming our profession’s mental health pandemic is culture change. Culture change is a daunting task that can take years. Many large and disruptive steps are necessary. However, it also requires many small and incremental steps. The good news is that the process has already started. Lawyers like Derek LaCroix, KC and Brook Greenberg, KC have been leading the charge for many years and have spearheaded meaningful change.
But the responsibility for change isn’t limited to people in leadership positions or those with a pulpit. Each of us owes it to ourselves and to others to take positive steps. If you want to make a difference but don’t know where to begin, start with a small step.
If you are suffering with mental illness, I encourage you to have compassion for yourself and to know that you are not alone. There are many of us in the profession that are safe people to speak with. If you can’t think of anyone, call me.
This is my final BarTalk column as CBABC President. Serving in this role has been an honour and a privilege. I’m extremely grateful for the CBABC volunteers and staff who work tirelessly to serve our members, the profession and the justice system. While it was a challenging year, and we still face headwinds, our organization and our profession are stronger than ever.
On July 24, 2024, Scott Morishita resigned as CBABC President to serve in another capacity within the legal profession.