Washington Lawyer - May/June 2024 - 9

TOWARD WELL-BEING
Silent No More
By Denise Perme
M
ay is Mental Health
Awareness Month in
the United States. In a
calendar where multiple
heritages and health conditions
are spotlighted each month, May's
special status no doubt goes
unnoticed by most.
The battle against the stigma long associated
with mental health conditions has been waging
since the first Ford Model T rolled off assembly
lines in 1908. The same year that car
travel became accessible to the middle class,
32-year-old Clifford Whittingham Beers published
an autobiography - and, in doing so,
also changed the world.
Although prone to bouts of depression and
anxiety since childhood, Beers had been a
promising Yale graduate when, in 1900, his
beloved older brother, Sam, died from a brain
tumor after suffering years of debilitating seizures.
Beers, who was his brother's caretaker,
developed a fixation that a similar fate would
befall him. His mental health deteriorated,
and he attempted suicide months after Sam's
death. He spent three harrowing years in institutions,
an experience that instilled in him a
fierce resolve to fight stigma and improve mental
health treatment.
Beers's story was one of mental illness and horrific
institutional abuse - a bit darker than two
other popular reads in 1908, The Wind in the
Willows and The Wizard of Oz series. Beers's
family and friends advised him not to pen his
memoir out of concern that the stigma associated
with " insanity " would bring disgrace and
family ruin. He was undeterred, however, in his
belief that publishing his book would educate
people about mental illness and change the
way they thought about it.
Titled A Mind That Found Itself, Beers's shocking
exposé about his experience in three different
insane asylums, as they were called then,
grabbed the public's attention. The book garnered
positive reviews and support from preeminent
physicians as well as from the father of
American psychology himself, philosopher William
James. Beers's book, still in print today, is
credited with helping to launch the modern
mental health movement.
Beers's goal was to start a national association
devoted to preventing mental illness, fighting
stigma, and improving care. Colleagues told
him he was overly ambitious, to which he responded,
" Not until I have staggered an imagination
of the highest type will I admit that I am
trying to do too much. " A few months after his
book was released, Beers teamed with James
and physician William H. Welch to found the
Connecticut Society for Mental Hygiene, which
would expand in 1909 to form the National
Committee for Mental Hygiene. That committee
was the predecessor to the National Mental
Health Association, which in 2006 became
Mental Health America (MHA). Fulfilling Beers's
vision, MHA is currently the " leading national
nonprofit dedicated to the promotion of mental
health, well-being, and illness prevention. "
MHA has observed Mental Health Awareness
Month in May since 1949. Each year the organization
selects a theme, holds events, and releases
a free toolkit that provides outreach information
and other resources. " We're seeing
years of advocacy and stigma-breaking pay off
as people are growing more aware of mental
health and getting more comfortable talking
about it, " says Danielle Fritze, MHA's vice president
of public education and design. " Even
with this progress, it can be hard to know
where to start when you want to take care
of your own mental well-being. "
Reflecting the 2024 theme " Where to Start:
Mental Health in a Changing World, " MHA
strives to help individuals learn, act, and advocate.
Specifically, people can " learn how modern
life affects mental health and find new resources
to navigate our changing world; act by
building their coping toolbox so they can manage
stress, difficult emotions, and challenging
situations; and advocate to improve mental
health for themselves, their friends and family,
and their communities, " Fritze says.
Forty-six percent of American adults will meet
criteria for a diagnosable mental health condition
at some point in their lives. Lawyers are at
greater risk of developing these conditions. If
they have severe symptoms, they can have difficulty
maintaining standards of practice and
end up harming their clients.
" Mental health is a really important workplace
consideration, " says Jason Qu, counsel at Powers
Pyles Sutter & Verville PC and a member of
MHA's board of directors. " Lawyers should be
aware of how mental health challenges can influence
their practice, including potential interactions
around competence and other ethical
duties. "
Lawyer assistance programs exist to help lawyers
who are ill, thereby protecting the public.
Raising awareness about the factors that increase
the risk of psychiatric disorders, with the
aim of improving well-being and preventing
these potentially deadly conditions from worsening,
can save lawyers' lives while safeguarding
the profession.
Denise Perme is associate director of the D.C. Bar
Lawyer Assistance Program. If you would like free,
confidential help, email lap@dcbar.org.
For more insight and ideas, tune into the
Toward Well-Being podcast wherever you
listen.
MAY/JUNE 2024 * WASHINGTON LAWYER 9
Washington Lawyer - May/June 2024

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