Mental Health and Substance Abuse in the Post Pandemic World

Now, two years after the COVID-19 pandemic-related closures, in what many describe as the ?New Normal,? there has been a wordwide focus on the effects of the pandemic upon mental health. The World Health Organization?s campaign to make mental health and well-being for all a global priority included declaring October 10 to be World Mental Health Day. In addition to the WHO?s declaring a global mental health crisis, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that substance abuse and drug overdose deaths greatly increased during the pandemic.

Pre-pandemic, the stresses of the legal profession put lawyers at risk for abuse of legal and illegal substances. Now that courts have reopened, and in-person jury trials have resumed, has the legal profession returned to the pre-pandemic baseline?

The presentation will discuss mental well-being and substance use disorders in the legal profession today.