Last year, Pennsylvania was one of 28 jurisdictions from around the country that participated in the nationwide lawyer mental health research project from Patrick Krill and the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs. A manuscript reporting the study's primary findings is currently moving through the peer review process and the results are expected to be publicly available in the coming months.
The forthcoming study provides much needed updates to mental health and alcohol-related prevalence benchmarks, offers the first national estimate of work-related burnout among lawyers, and investigates how psychological distress, burnout, and drinking relate to practice environments and work demands in a large (36,000), nationally representative sample of U.S. lawyers. The research will also describe and discuss barriers to help-seeking, perceptions of available support resources, and practical implications for risk mitigation and prevention efforts. The data and analyses are expected to be highly useful and instructive; please stay tuned for additional publication updates!