“You’re a Fixer, You Don’t Get Fixed:” McGill Law’s Mental Wellness Study Survey Calls for Greater Participation

 

(Photo credit: http://www.justicehaque.org/mental-health-rights-in-india/)

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It is no secret that lawyers suffer from far greater rates of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse than non-lawyers. Law students are no exception. In 2014, a study led by the McGill Law Student Well-being Committee revealed that approximately 40% of Law student participants had experienced depression and that more than 7 out of 10 students felt overwhelmed, exhausted, and anxious during their last year of Law school.

In collaboration with a team of organizational psychologists, McGill Law’s Healthy Legal Minds (HLM)– a student-born initiative that aims to destigmatize mental health in the legal profession– has launched its own scientific survey this Winter 2017 term. All McGill Law students are invited to take the anonymous French/English survey, which ends on February 17, 2017. If it reaches at least a 60% participation rate, HLM, the LSA, and members of the McGill Law administration will have the necessary data to make decisions on how to invest in the overall mental health of its students.

Please find the English (https://fr.surveymonkey.com/r/XG2GZCB) and French versions (https://fr.surveymonkey.com/r/XGV5GRK) of the survey.

LegalEase’s Emma Noradounkian sat down with HLM co-directors Shannon Snow and Benjamin Brunot, who discussed the creative process of the survey, why law students and legal professionals disproportionately experience mental health challenges, and how students can support their peers in times of distress.

Thank you to Shannon and Benjamin for having granted LegalEase this interview and to all others involved for heading the way towards student wellness at our Faculty.

Journeying Towards Universal Accessibility and Inclusivity

An Interview with McGill Law’s Universal Access Consultant Gift Tshuma

(Photo credit: https://cielo24.com/category/state-accessibility-law/)

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In the context of McGill’s Faculty of Law, accessibility is a concept that isn’t confined to the proverbial wheelchair. According to Gift Tshuma, the LSA’s summer Universal Design Coordinator and the current Universal Access Consultant, accessibility calls attention to the concerns of a variety of marginalized groups amongst its students and staff: from the less-abled, to the racialized, to the gendered, and to the overall stigmatized.

LegalEase’s Emma Noradounkian sat down with Mr. Tshuma to find out more about his accessibility report of our Faculty and Student Association, the LSA. He also discussed what accessibility means in the Faculty, how the Faculty is accessible in some ways but not in others, and how its students and staff can lead the way towards shedding the barriers to a more inclusive environment for all.

Thank you to Mr. Tshuma for his time and patience in agreeing to the interview and for kicking off the Faculty’s journey towards universal accessibility and inclusivity, alongside the LSA and Dean Leckey.