| THE ONTARIO LAWYERS’ ASSISTANCE PROGRAM This Lawyer Will Be Missed A lawyer in my small office building died recently. You may have read the obituary in the newspaper. You probably didn’t know that he took his own life. I happened to learn a little about the man I had met in my building. I had been concerned about this lawyer for several years. He was often vague and distant and he had a harsh temper, even with me, a friendly passerby. Sometimes he smelled heavily of liquor, even first thing in the morning. I knew he was in trouble. I sent him a notice inviting him to a meeting of our lawyers’ Alcohol Anonymous meetings which just happens to be in our boardroom on the first Thursday of every month. He never came. I tried chatting in the hallways but he walked away. Everything about him told me that he wasn’t ready for help or to talk about his loneliness and isolation. Most days I was far too busy to give this stranger any further thought. Since his suicide, however, I have given him a lot of thought. I know that most suicide is preventable, that most people give warning signs of their plan to kill themselves, and that anyone, like you or me, can help prevent such a death. If this man had called a suicide distress centre or the Ontario Lawyers' Assistance Program (OLAP), he might have found the support he needed to face life on life’s terms. I learned that he was a kindly and giving man who is much missed by his family, colleagues and clients. I suspect that I am one of many who wishes he hadn’t died. The Ontario Lawyers' Assistance Program is a sponsor of the CBA’s Legal Profession Assistance Conference National Workshop that was held in Toronto on October 17, 18, 1997 The first session of the conference was on suicide prevention. Lawyers die by suicide at a rate that is twice that of the general population. It is time we all learned to respect and cherish each others as lawyers and as people. I attended the Conference to try to learn more about suicide prevention. If I don’t reach out to another lawyer who is suffering, who will? If you or someone in our profession needs help, call OLAP. It is completely confidential. BACK TO MAIN STARZYNSKI ARTICLES PAGE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE (MS WORD)
Legal Profession Assistance Conference (LPAC) |Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs (CoLAP) | Lawyers Assistance Program of British Columbia (BCLAP) | Nova Scotia Lawyers Assistance Program (NSLAP) | Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) | The Lawyers Assistance Program (LINK) | The Alberta Lawyers Assistance Program | Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers (Saskatchewan) | The Lawyers Professional Indemnity Company (LawPRO) | Law Practice Consulting |
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