JLAP Understands the Special Challenges that Judges Face
When it comes to identifying and addressing mental health issues, be it for oneself or for a judicial peer, judges face unique challenges that can present formidable barriers to obtaining help.
By the very nature of a judge’s work, it is often difficult for others to detect that a mental health problem is brewing. Judges work in isolation and mental health problems are shielded the view by peers and the practitioners that appear before them. Appellate judges are even more removed from direct view the profession and the public. Very few people witness a judge’s behavior all day and every day.
Thus, early intervention is less likely by peers and colleagues because they may not have sufficient contact with the judge to notice an issue until it has become chronic.
In addition, and compared to other members of the profession, it is also harder for a judge to seek self-help even when he or she has independently recognized that a mental health problem may need attention. As elected public figures, judges may perceive that admitting or addressing a problem may adversely impact their political and professional reputation. As such, it is often the case that problems are not addressed early on.
Paradoxically, by delaying action to protect one’s reputation while hoping the mental health issue will attenuate or resolve on its own, it places the judge at even greater peril. Delay, defer and denial tactics are ineffective against progressive diseases such as alcoholism, addiction, or depression. Proper diagnosis and treatment are required to arrest these diseases.
Without clinical intervention, it is more likely than not that over time things will only get worse and therefore the potential increases for additional consequences and greater harm to one’s reputation. Early intervention is the key to saving lives and ending any further potential for irreparable damage to a career on the bench.
At the Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program, Inc., the professional staff is keenly attuned to the special needs of judges. All aspects of assistance, from interventions to selecting assessment and treatment centers if indicated, are geared toward respecting the status of judges as public figures.
And while judges are not special at all when it comes to being susceptible, like anyone else, to contracting diseases and then being diagnosed and treated for them, judges most certainly do have special needs as public figures who must be assured that services will be rendered with the utmost discretion.
No matter what the mental health issue, JLAP has the skill and expertise to render totally discrete and reliable assistance to judges in need. Whether the call to JLAP emanates from a concerned staff member, colleague, peer, or a judge in trouble and reaching out on their own for self-help, JLAP is ready to facilitate confidential assistance.
Related Resources
Louisiana Bar Journal Articles:
December 2019/January 2020 – Judicial Stress & Resiliency
Read more LSBA articles >>
Related Publications:
An Ounce of Prevention: Knowing the Causes and Signs of Judicial Distress and Getting Help Before Impairment Leads to Judicial Complaint, National Association of Women Judges Counterbalance
Evidence of Secondary Traumatic Stress, Safety Concerns, and Burnout Among a Homogeneous Group of Judges in a Single Jurisdiction, by Jared Chamberlain, MA and Monica K. Miller, JD, Ph.D.
Isolation in the Judicial Career, by Isaiah M. Zimmerman