24
B&B; • 9.14
C O L U M N S
From an early age, I was obsessed
with stand-up comedy. The first
summer my family had the Comedy
Central channel, I filled a Mead Five
Star notebook with notes taken
while watching stand up. I wasn't
the most popular kid in middle
school.
I was teased heavily in grade and
middle school and it seemed that
many of the comedians were too.
1
Bullying is an epidemic and I am
proud of the YLD's commitment to
empowering Kentucky's middle
school students with tools to com-
bat bullying through the BullyProof
program.
2
I suffered from depres-
sion at a young age. At times I still
do. Watching or listening to stand-
up comedy is still one of my go to
escapes when those feelings of
self-hatred and doubt set in.
Like so many others, I was sad to
hear of Robin Williams' suicide. To
be honest, I wasn't Robin Williams'
biggest fan. Two of my favorite co-
medians (Chris Farley and Greg Gi-
raldo), much younger than
Williams, had already lost their lives
to depression and substance
abuse. Greg Giraldo was a Comedy
Central regular and I loved his
sharp wit and intelligence.
Comedy was Giraldo's "Plan B." He
had earned a bachelor's degree
from Columbia and law degree
from Harvard.
3
Prior to entering
comedy full-time, Giraldo was an
associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate,
Meagher & Flom in their New York
office.
4
I had admired the guts it
took to walk away from one dream
and pursue another - the road less
traveled and whatnot. But to hear
him describe it is much less roman-
tic:
But before I quit, I was dying. I
mean, I couldn't do it. It wasn't like I
was a functioning professional and I
just made the choice to throw it all
away to pursue this crazy dream. I
was incapable of being a lawyer. It
wasn't an option. I was going to
stop being a lawyer whether I want-
ed to or not.
5
In January of this year, CNN ran a
story titled "Why are lawyers killing
themselves?"
6
It began with the
story of a Kentucky lawyer, Finis
Price III, who had touched many
lives before he jumped to his death
in 2012. I had followed his blog at
his website, www.TechnoEsq.com. I
learned of his passing through the
reports of other legal bloggers.
7
In the November 2012 issue of the
Bench & Bar, then KBA President,
Doug Myers, wrote a piece that
drew national attention on the dire
situation in Kentucky with lawyer
suicides.
8
Between 2010 and Janu-
ary 2014, at least 15 lawyers have
committed suicide.
9
Kentucky is not
alone; South Carolina experienced
a rash of lawyer suicides prompting
the forming of a task force to shine
a light on issues of substance
abuse, mental illness, and suicide
within the legal profession.
10
According to a CDC study, the le-
gal profession ranks fourth for its
high rate of suicides, behind den-
tists, pharmacists, and physicians.
11
Substance abuse among lawyers is
twice that of the general popula-
tion.
12
A Johns Hopkins University
study of more than 100 occupa-
tions found that lawyers lead the
nation with the highest incidence of
depression.
13
The depression starts
early, with one study showing that
before law school, law students
were no more depressed than the
general population; by graduation,
about 40 percent of law students
were clinically depressed.
14
Tyger Lathan, Psy. D. posits that the
tendency towards perfectionism
among lawyers may be a contribut-
ing factor.
15
He writes, "While this
characteristic is not unique to the
legal profession – nor is it necessari-
ly a bad thing – when rigidly ap-
plied, it can be problematic. The
propensity of many law students
and attorneys to be perfectionistic
can sometimes impede their ability
to be flexible and accommodating,
qualities that are important in so
many non-legal domains."
16
Giraldo experienced great success
as a comedian, but continued to
suffer from depression. A year be-
fore his 2010 prescription drug
overdose, he openly discussed his
depression in an interview with
"Psychology Today":
I'm constantly tortured by a sense
of failure. I feel like quitting all the
time. I feel like hiding in drugs or al-
cohol. I feel like I've failed in terms
of what my potential is. I don't think
I've achieved my potential because
I haven't worked that hard and I
haven't found the right angles. . . .
If I had only stayed focused, I would
have been further along. It's this
constant feeling of not having
achieved enough.
17
I can relate to Giraldo's sense of
failure. I think at times maybe we all
can. During my own personal strug-
gles, I have been fortunate to have
a loving support system, full of
loved ones willing to fight through
my pride and resistance and ensure
I received the help that I needed.
If you are struggling with depres-
sion and do not know where to
turn, I would urge you to reach out
to a friend or colleague,
18
contact
the Kentucky Lawyers Assistance
Program (KYLAP) at (502) 564-3795,
visit their website (www.kylap.org),
or call the National Suicide Preven-
tion Lifeline at (800) 273-8255.
I will close with a quote from anoth-
er of my favorite comedians,
Michael Ian Black. In the wake of
Giraldo's suicide, Black posted a
piece on his passing with a closing
that has stuck with me since. It has
helped me and I hope it will help
others as well:
The lesson I take away from it is
one I hope I've been learning over
the years: have gratitude for what
you have and forgive yourself for
what might have been. We are all
failures in one way or another, but
failure is more than the end of
something. It is the opportunity to
begin something else. Enjoy your
successes, accept your failures.
Move on from both. But keep mov-
ing on.
19
1
Comedian Chris Rock often accred-
its childhood bullying to his suc-
cess. See Derrick Lane's recent
article "Chris Rock: 'Bullying Made
Me Who I Am'"(Feb. 11, 2014)
available at
www.bet.com/news/health/2014/02
/11/chris-rock-bullying-made-me-
who-i-am.html and his recent ap-
pearance on Jerry Seinfeld's web
series "Comedians in Cars Getting
Coffee," titled "Kids Need Bully-
ing" (2013) available at: comedi-
ansincarsgettingcoffee.com/chris-ro
ck-kids-need-bullying.
2
For more on the Bullyproof: Anti-
Bullying Initiative visit the American
Bar Associations www.american-
bar.org/groups/young_lawyers/ini-
tiatives/anti_bullying_initiative.html.
3
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Gi-
raldo#Early_life.
4
Id.
5
Jay Dixit, "Greg Giraldo on Fail-
ure," Psychology Today (May 13,
2009). Available at www.psycholo-
gytoday.com/blog/brainstorm/2009
05/greg-giraldo-failure.
6
Rosa Flores and Rose Marie Arce,
"
Why are lawyers killing them-
s elves?" CNN (January 20, 2014).
A
vailable at
w
ww.cnn.com/2014/01/19/us/lawye
r
-suicides/.
7
S
ee e.g., Kevin O'Keefe, "Finis
P
rice: Our legal profession lost a
g
ood and decent guy" LexBlog
C
ommunity (Feb. 20, 2012). Avail-
a
ble at
k
evin.lexblog.com/2012/02/20/finis
-
price-our-legal-profession-lost-a-
g
ood-and-decent-guy/.
8
Doug Myers, "You are Your
Brother's – and Sister's – Keeper,"
Kentucky Bar Association Bench &
Bar (November 2012). Available at
www.kybar.org/documents/bench-
bar_searchable/benchbar_1112.pdf
; see Debra Cassens Weiss "State
bar president calls recent lawyer
suicides 'disproportionate' and 'dis-
concerting'", ABA Journal (June 4,
2013). Available at www.abajour-
nal.com/news/article/kentucky_bar_
president_calls_recent_lawyer_sui-
cides_disproportionate/.
9
F
lores, "Why are lawyers killing
t
hemselves?" see also Rob Stott,
"
State Bar Association Moves to
A
ddress Lawyer Suicides," Associa-
t
ions Now (June 7, 2013). Available
at
associationsnow.com/2013/06/ken-
tucky-bar-association-moves-to-ad-
dress-lawyer-suicide-rate/.
10
Gallivan, White & Boyd, P.A., "The
Lawyers' Epidemic: Depression,
Suicide and Substance Abuse"
(2010). Available at
www.scbar.org/LinkClick.aspx?filet-
icket=rZNzWAnfCR4%3D&tabid;=1
60.
11
Flores, "Why are lawyers killing
themselves?"
12
Gallivan, White & Boyd, P.A., "The
Lawyers' Epidemic: Depression,
Suicide and Substance Abuse."
13
Tyger Latham, "The Depressed
Lawyer" Psychology Today (May 2,
2011). Available at www.psycholo-
gytoday.com/blog/therapy-mat-
ters/201105/the-depressed-lawyer.
14
Debra Cassens Weiss, "'You are not
alone': Law prof who considered
suicide tells his story" ABA Journal
(April 8, 2014). Available at
www.abajournal.com/news/article/y
ou_are_not_alone_law_prof_who_c
onsidered_suicide_tells_his_story/.
15
Latham, "The Depressed Lawyer."
16
Id.
17
Dixit, "Greg Giraldo on Failure."
18
As former KBA President Doug
Myers noted, lawyers "are very
good at referring other troubled
people for help. We need to do the
same for ourselves." Myers, Bench
& Bar (November 2012).
19
Available at
www.michaelianblack.net/blog/201
0/09/greg-giraldo-.html.
By: Brad Sayles,
YLD Chair
KEEP MOVING ON