Soothing the Anxious Mind

• Author: Jeena Cho
• Pages: 28-29

According to the 2016

Hazelden Betty Ford

Foundation/ABA study,

19 percent of lawyers su er

from anxiet y. In my ex-

perience from working

with lawyers, a nxiety is

the unwanted roommate i nside the mind

that you can’t get rid of. We may learn to

live with it, like a ba d skin rash or perhaps

an incurable tumor.

Sometimes, when I o er workshops

on stress and anx iety management, I’ll

distribute the sy mptoms of anxiety

disorders, the most common being

generalized an xiety disorder.

According to the fi fth ed ition of the

Diagnostic a nd Statistical Manual of

Mental Disorders, t he manual therapists

refer to for diagnosing mental hea lth

conditions, GAD is defi ned as “excessive

anxiety a nd worry (apprehensive expe c-

tation), occurring more days than not

for at least six months, about a number

of events or activitie s (such as work

or school per formance).”

Common sy mptoms include:

• Restlessness, feeling

keyed up or on edge.

• Being easily fatigued.

• Di cu lty with

concentration

or your mind going blank.

• Irritabil ity.

• Muscle tension.

• Sleep disturbance (di culty falling or

staying asleep; restles s, unsatisfying sleep).

HIDING IT

The stigma our profession has aga inst

seeking mental health t reatment is unfortu-

nate. I’ve had more than one law yer share

that they are paying for therapy out of

pocket rather than go th rough the

fi rm’s insurance plan for fear

that they may be found out.

Here’s the thing: Often,

regardless of how well we do

our jobs, our ability to e ect

any particula r outcome is

highly constrained.

This is where mindfu lness

and meditation can be a n

incredibly powerfu l tool. When

we are being mindfu l, we get

to know ourselves bett er and

build the ability to deal w ith

mental reactions such a s anxiety.

When I was diagnose d with

social anx iety disorder, I was

in a hurry to get r id of it. I was

surprised to fi nd that even a fter

10 weeks of intensive cognitive

behavioral therapy, I still exp e-

rienced anxiet y. I shared th is

frustration w ith my therapist

and she gently inquired, “Do

you remember when you started

experiencing anx iety?” I paused,

On

Well-

Being

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE JC LAW GROUP; SHUTTERSTOCK

“I’VE H AD MORE

THAN ONE L AWYER

SHARE THAT THEY ARE

PAYING FO R THERAPY

OUT OF POCKET.”

— JEENA CHO

28 || ABA JOURNAL APRIL 2018

Practice

Soothing

the Anxious

Mind

Learn to deal with

—and not hide—

excessive worry

By Jeena Cho