Back to Basics: Well-Being During Crisis Fatigue

BE WELL

BY CHRIS RITTER, PAST TLAP DIRECTOR

This past year has been a difficult time for lawyers. I have heard from colleagues who have spiraled into life-threatening depression. I have heard from many who have encountered paralyzing grief. Others have suffered from exhausting anxiety.

The pandemic has caused us to rearrange our workplace and become online way more than we would consider healthy. Lawyers are being overwhelmed with Zoom, email, text messages, faxes, and phone calls. We are shackled to our practices by our smartphones. We are spending hours a day sorting through an average of 120 new emails and 94 text messages a day, looking at our smartphones 150 times per day, and navigating social media to boot. News is overwhelmingly negative and stressful. Our normal outlets for social fun and entertainment are often unavailable due to a rollercoaster of COVID-19 numbers.

If there were ever a time to focus on simplifying our lives, it is now. Here are some things that lawyers are doing that help:

Put the oxygen mask on yourself first: Lawyers are so used to giving away all of their time to work and family that we most often leave little if any time for ourselves. In a year like this, neglect can be a big mistake. We need downtime and “fill back up” time. If you are not putting three hours of self-care per week on your calendar, you are giving yourself less than one percent of your life. If we don’t put the oxygen mask on ourselves first, we will become useless to our clients and families. Try to honor those you love by making your self-care time a priority. It will make a big difference.

Express yourself: Most of us have lost our routines, boundaries, and many of our healthy outlets during this pandemic. We used to enjoy many things that helped replenish our spirits, such as meet-ups, group meetings, live music, shows, church, etc. Now that much of that is unavailable, many of us are struggling to find healthy outlets. Some of those, like Zoom, are growing repulsive to those of us connected to technology all day long. One strategy that has worked for thousands of therapists-in-training is a weekly session of expressing the hardships that they encounter by devoting an hour each week for their first 3,000 hours. I believe many of us have shared our hardships with our trusted friends at coffees, happy hours, docket calls, or lunches throughout our careers, but I encourage you to take the time to discuss the challenges in your life with someone weekly. If you can’t find a friend that is available, do not hesitate to use a therapist. Many are available remotely, and TLAP can help you locate one that meets your needs.

Eat the elephant one bite at a time: When things get stressful, sometimes looking at the “big picture” can be overwhelming. I can get lost in projection about the future and regrets about the past, and feel useless in the present. In my recovery path, I have found that the “one day at a time” style effectively reduces anxiety. We can make one decision at a time, and limiting the scope of my thinking to what I can take care of today or this hour can relieve me of the anxiety of the “big picture.” I ask myself often, is there anything I can do about that now? If not, I refocus on the next task or step available. This not only helps me find an action to take but also keeps me out of the “weeds” of the many things beyond my present control.

As this complicated time continues, Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program (TLAP) is here and we care. We are able to help connect struggling lawyers and law students with professional support, peer and group support, and even financial support for mental health or substance use disorder care by means of the Sheeran-Crowley Trust. We can be reached by phone or text at 1-800-343-TLAP (8527) and we are strictly confidential. If you or someone you know needs help, please consider us. We are confidential by statute and anonymous calls are welcome. AL

HOW TO GET HELP

If you are having a mental health crisis or are actively considering suicide, please call 911 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK(8255).

For online self-care resources, including group support, check out Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program's Support Toolbox: texasbar.com/TLAPSupportToolbox

Chris Ritter, JD, MEd served as past director of the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program.