Callers to helpline at record high

New figures released today show the number of lawyers calling the LawCare helpline is increasing.

We dealt with nearly 900 calls in 2017 from 616 callers, an 11% increase on the number of callers in 2016. Nearly half of the solicitors and barristers who called in for help cited depression (17%) and workplace stress (27%) as the reason.

Other issues included disciplinary concerns (8%), anxiety (7%), bereavement (2%) financial problems (4%) and bullying and harassment (4%). Issues which made up the remaining 33% included chronic illness, alcohol and drugs, career development problems and relationship issues. The majority of callers to the helpline were women (65%) and 45% were trainees or had been qualified five years or fewer.

Elizabeth Rimmer, CEO of LawCare, said: “These figures show that more lawyers are willing to come forward and ask for help.  We are working with our partners across the legal community to raise awareness about why mental health matters.  Law can be a pressured industry to work in with long hours and a heavy workload which can lead to stress and mental health issues.  LawCare is here for all legal professionals through our helpline, we  offer one-on-one peer support  and we also work with employers to promote wellbeing at work. We would encourage the legal community not to stay silent and to contact us for support if needed.”

For more information visit https://www.lawcare.org.uk or https://www.lawcare.ie . Call the helpline on 0800 279 6888 in the UK and 1800 991 801 in Ireland.