Now more than ever, attorneys are facing challenges with stress, anxiety, and mental illness – and this struggle all too often results in substance abuse, depression, or even suicide. To make matters worse, attorneys feel like they are unable to talk about mental illness as it will be seen as a sign of weakness. Indeed, there is a stigma surrounding mental illness that clients will not hire you, that opposing counsel will take advantage of you, or that The Florida Bar will find you unfit to practice law. This stigma ends now.

The YLD is proud to launch the #StigmaFreeYLD initiative to help end the stigma over mental health and illness in our profession. Through this initiative, we aim to demonstrate that dealing with mental illness is not a weakness, but a sign of strength. That by embracing your reality and dealing it, you can better understand how stress, anxiety, and mental illness may be affecting your practice and your life.  In addition to this, the YLD will provide resources that you can use to meet and overcome these challenges.

To achieve these objectives, we will feature attorneys who have struggled with mental illness but have built wildly successful practices and found true enjoyment in their lives by taking action and seeking help. Our first video will share the story of Hillary Brisson, a partner and co-founder of Cassel & Cassel, P.A. in Hollywood, Florida. Hillary shares her struggle with depression and bi-polar disorder and how she created an incredibly successful life with the help of yoga, therapy, and The Florida Lawyers Assistance Program.

Over the next few months, we will be sharing other stories from outstanding attorneys across the state and how they are able to achieve success by taking control of their mental health.  We believe that by opening up the discussion, we can work together to break the stigma over mental illness in our professional, lift each other up, and help more young lawyers reach fulfillment and satisfaction in their practice. We invite you to share your stories on social media by using the hashtag #StigmaFreeYLD. Please visit StigmaFreeYLD to watch Hillary’s video and learn more about the initiative: