Advocacy-Matters-Fall-2022

MENTAL HEALTH
Mindful Moments:
“Yes, you are in a very difficult stage.”
Erin H. Durant, Durant Barristers
I joined Advocacy Matters this term and am
pleased to have a regular outlet to discuss mental
health for litigators. I will contribute a “Mindful
Moment” to keep the discussion about mental
health in the profession top of mind. As the
recently retired Chief Justice of Ontario George
R. Strathy wrote in his article “The Litigator
and Mental Health”: “People have been talking
about mental health in an unprecedented way:
openly, compassionately, and practically.” We
hope to continue that trend in this space.
At our initial meeting of the 10+ Standing
Committee for the 2022-23 term, I spent some
time speaking with a small group of committee
members from across Canada about what it is
like to be a mid-career advocate. For many of
us the feeling could be described as follows: it
sucks.
A former colleague of mine put it slightly
more eloquently. Around the time that I was
struggling with my own mental health, a colleague
who was trying to help commented as
follows: “you are in a very difficult stage” and
that things do get better. At the time I found
the comment unhelpful. Maybe even a bit triggering.
When you are in the middle of a crisis,
having someone generalize your experience as
being part of some stage that everyone must go
through can be quite hurtful. Surely not everyone
takes weeks off work, gets medicated, and
considers upending their career?
At the time I saw the comment as a lack of
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