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FEATURE CROSS EXAMINED 6 www.canadianlawyermag.com FIGHTING THE MENTAL ILLNESS STIGMA Justice Fred Myers' personal crisis led him to become a mental health advocate. Now he is focusing on the legal profession's part in the fight JUSTICE FRED MYERS of the Ontario Superior Court has emerged as a significant voice in breaking the mental health stigma within the legal profession, drawing from his personal experiences. Myers' journey into mental health advocacy began when his son started experiencing severe mental health issues. "When our son was 14, he began exhibiting dysfunctional behaviours related to mental illness," Myers says. His son, like many teenagers, turned to cannabis as a form of self-medication. Despite Myers' professional success as a partner in a major law firm and his family's deep connections in the medical field, they struggled to find the necessary support. A misdiagnosis of ADD led to the wrong prescription, which exacerbated his son's condition. This downward spiral forced the family into a dire situation, including an encounter with the police to ensure their safety. What made Myers' journey even more difficult was the lack of accessible mental health resources. The family was essentially shut out of necessary services due to long wait times at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and exclusion from certain programs due to their geographic location. "We were left without options – CAMH had a six-month wait, and we weren't eligible for specific programs due to our location," he says. After exhausting local resources, they eventually found the right help through a complex web of referrals. Through this process, Myers not only found the help his son needed but also discovered that he had been suffering from undiagnosed anxiety, which he began to address. This personal crisis catalyzed his family's involvement in creating the Family Navigation Project at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. This initiative helps families navigate the complex and often overwhelming mental health system. My e r s n o t e d t h at m e n t a l h e a l t h challenges are often compounded by the shame and stigma that prevent people from seeking help. Initially, he was much more open about seeking help for his son than himself. Even as a senior lawyer, he didn't feel comfortable discussing his mental health struggles with colleagues. However, this changed when he became a judge and realized he missed the daily interactions and mentoring that were part of his role as a partner. In mentoring events with the Canadian Bar Association and Ontario "If somebody is having some challenges and working on them or suffers some anxiety or depression, the fact that the other side might know that doesn't affect the quality of [the] work"