By Rick Waite
Thirty-four verdicts in excess of $1,000,000. A $100,000,000 class-action settlement against the largest funeral operator in the country. Former President of the Dade County Bar Association (Miami, Florida). Former member of the Florida Bar Board of Governors. Disciplined. Fit. Adjunct professor at the University of Miami Law School. Ervin Gonzalez seemed to have it all. Until June 8, 2017, when he ended his life.
His law partner, Dean C. Colson, confirmed that Ervin Gonzalez suffered from depression. This was on the law firm website the day after Ervin Gonzalez committed suicide:
“Ervin’s passing reminds all of us that mental illness can strike anyone regardless of how accomplished or content they might appear. Like the Ervin we all knew and loved, he valiantly fought this personal challenge with unmatched effort. He simply was unable to win his hardest and final trial. It pains us to know he was suffering so terribly beyond his control.”
Closer to home. My college roommate, Jim McDonald, graduated from Harvard in three years.Married his high school sweetheart. Attended the University of Virginia Law School. Became a partner in the Boston blue blood law firm of Choat Hall and Stewart. Later he became President of the prestigious Pell, Rudman Trust Company and finally CEO of Rockefeller Co. Yes, that Rockefeller Co., which was founded in 1882 by John D. Rockefeller. One Sunday afternoon Jim drove from his home in New York City to a shopping center in Massachusetts and put a bullet in his head.
If you don’t have it, you don’t get it. Symptoms of depression are not always what many people think them to be. They can be much more than sadness and feeling blue. Depression can also be characterized by an inability to concentrate, extreme fatigue, physical pain, sleeplessness, weight gain or loss, low energy and a despair so profound that the only way out seems to be to end it all.
Approximately 70 San Diego lawyers have attempted suicide. We don’t know the number of lawyers who have succeeded. Many of those lawyers suffered from depression. Those are the sobering implications of a seminal recent study on alcohol and mental health issues by Patrick Krill
titled “The Prevalence of Substance Use and Other Mental Health Concerns Among American Attorneys” (Journal of Addiction Medicine: February 2016, Volume 10, Issue 1, pages 46-52). The study, based on a national sample of over 12,000 attorneys revealed that .7 percent of the participants reported at least one prior suicide attempt. With a lawyer population of 10,000, that means that approximately 70 San Diego lawyers have attempted to end their life.
In our warrior culture there is still a stigma associated with seeking help for issues involving mental health. People are afraid to acknowledge such issues for fear of being perceived as weak and unworthy. These are illnesses, not character defects. Many lawyers battling these demons are high-functioning professionals. But they are suffering. “There is not enough self-care because of the culture of the legal profession. Look around. Lawyers are not taking care of themselves. Self-medication has become normalized. Lawyers work long hours, drink or self-medicate with drugs or alcohol each night, don’t exercise and don’t get enough sleep,” says Krill, a lawyer and licensed alcohol and drug counselor that consults for law firms.
According to Krill, “the unfortunate fact about mental health problems of lawyers, including depression, is that often it is the profession that causes it. These are issues that are both preventable and treatable.” According to Mr. Krill, a high percentage of lawyers suffering from depression can be successfully treated and managed. Treatment for depression often involves counseling and anti-depressant medication. There are also alternative treatments that are receiving attention, such as GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) which advocates a diet of non-processed food consisting primarily of easy to digest foods such as fruit, vegetables, organic wild meats, fish, egg yolks and probiotic-rich foods while avoiding processed foods, all grains, processed sugar, starchy carbohydrates and potatoes, artificial chemicals and preservatives, and conventional meat and dairy. A friend of mine described her depression this way. “I looked at a weed for two weeks and could not pull it.” Several years ago she embarked on a treatment of antidepressant medication and the GAPS diet, and her lifelong battle with depression was finally over.
There are resources available to attorneys suffering from depression. The Legal Assistance Program of the State Bar of California has several programs for lawyers seeking help with depression. The State Bar of California’s Transitional Assistance Service will arrange for up to two free one-on-one sessions with a therapist specializing in working with legal professionals on issues such as stress, burnout and depression. Call 1-800-341-0572. The Support Lawyer Assistance Program is for attorneys who are interested in participating in a weekly meeting with other lawyers in a group setting with the support of a mental health professional. Call 1-877-527-4435. For those suffering from severe depression and who are contemplating suicide, there is a 24/7 telephone hotline at the National Suicide Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org. If you are seriously depressed or thinking about ending your life, please reach out to them. Or your spouse. Your doctor. Your friend or colleague. Or me. You are not alone.
Rick Waite is an attorney with Keeney Waite & Stevens.
This article was originally published in the July/August 2017 issue of San Diego Lawyer.