Each year during the first week in May, the Institute for Well-being in Law hosts Well-Being Week in Law (WWIL) to raise awareness and encourage action around mental health challenges facing legal professionals.
This year, WWIL will spotlight the importance of social connection in our health with its theme “The Social Rx: Boosting Well-Being with Connection.”
From May 5 – 9, WWIL will host free activities and webinars that focus on the role connection plays in physical, spiritual, career and intellectual, social, and emotional well-being. A calendar of events can be found on WWIL’s website.
Why is social connection important?
In 2023, former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy declared a national epidemic of loneliness and social isolation in the U.S., citing data that shows roughly one-in-two U.S. adults reported experiencing loneliness, a number that may have gotten worse during COVID-19.
Social disconnection is associated with an increased risk of physical and mental health effects, including dementia, cardiovascular disease, stroke, anxiety, and depression, Murthy wrote in an advisory report. Shockingly, data show that its impact on mortality is similar to that of smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.
Bree Buchanan, a Senior Advisor for Krill Strategies and founding co-chair of the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being, has written about the significant risks of loneliness in legal practice, which has been called “the loneliest profession.”
Buchanan notes that high workloads, a competitive nature, and introverted tendencies can prevent lawyers from developing quality connections with other people, so she encourages lawyers to schedule it.
“I will schedule calls or coffees with people because I know some of the medicine that I need for my well-being is to have one-on-one, face-to-face human connection,” she said
Schedule connection during WWIL
Below are a few ways lawyers can connect with others during WWIL and throughout the year.
- Commit to attending one WWIL event. From May 5 – 9, the Institute for Well-Being in Law has organized a range of activities that fit different schedules, interests, and abilities. For example, ask a colleague to join you for a 30-minute walk (or find a partner virtually), attend a webinar on building connections, participate in virtual yoga, or send a gratitude note. There is an array of activities to choose from on WWIL’s website.
- Join a local bar association. Joining a bar association enables lawyers to connect with other members of the profession, providing benefits that include professional development, mentoring, career support, advocacy, and more. A list of Illinois bar associations can be found here.
- Participate in lawyer mentoring. The Commission on Professionalism partners with law firms, law schools, bar associations, government offices, court districts, professional organizations, and corporations across the state that administer the Commission’s lawyer-to-lawyer mentoring program. The program connects new and more experienced attorneys for a one-year curriculum that helps attorneys build legal careers grounded in ethics and professionalism. CLE is available. Learn more here.
- Connect with Illinois LAP. The Illinois Lawyers’ Assistance Program (LAP) provides individual and group therapy, assessments, education, peer support, and intervention to lawyers, judges, law students, and their families who are concerned about substance abuse, addiction, and mental health problems. LAP’s services are 100% confidential.
Finally, learn more about the health impacts of loneliness and browse resources to improve your connections on WWIL’s website.
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