{"id":365196,"date":"2026-10-05T22:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T22:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/365196\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T22:00:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T22:00:15","slug":"new-york-state-court-system-offers-counsel-to-attorneys-judges-and-staff-struggling-with-depression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/365196\/","title":{"rendered":"New York State court system offers counsel to attorneys, judges and staff struggling with depression"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York\u2019s court system took time Monday to provide advice and support to its attorneys, judges and staff who might be, or are concerned that a colleague is, struggling with depression.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Representatives from both an independent and the court system\u2019s employee mental health provider and a mental health practice told the small group gathered during the lunch break at 60 Centre St. in Lower Manhattan on Oct. 5 that watching out for symptoms of depression in themselves, their workplace and their loved ones was critically important.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just sadness,\u201d Marjorie Mangot, a mental health educator for the court\u2019s Corporate Counseling Associates, said of depression. \u201cIt\u2019s really a numbness. It\u2019s not crying or sorrow as much as it\u2019s feeling flat \u2026 It is a feeling of heaviness, wading through wet cement, carrying a backpack full of stones. Ordinary tasks like showering or replying to a text, or making a meal can feel really heavy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Court system employees and their families can call up or access counselors through their Employee Assistance Program and receive free help, no questions asked. Anyone in New York City can call 988, a mental health and suicide prevention helpline that connects people struggling with mental health or grappling with thoughts of suicide with support. Both phone lines have trained counselors answering them 24\/7. <\/p>\n

The Lawyer Assistance Program is another free, confidential program available 24\/7\u00a0for all New York State Bar Association members that offers free counselling sessions for lawyers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those in the legal profession can be particularly at risk for depression and mental illness: 41% <\/a>of attorneys say it\u2019s \u201cdetrimental\u201d to their mental health while nearly 22% report depression at any given time and over 40% say they\u2019ve experienced depression at some point in their careers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Across the U.S., 21 million, or 8.3% of people, reported experiencing at least one major depressive episode in a year and roughly 20% of people will experience clinically significant depression at least once in their life, according to data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Depression.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is extremely prevalent,\u201d Mangot said. \u201cIf you\u2019re not experiencing it, someone in your life may be.\u201d
\n\"\"Mangot speaks about depression in Manhattan Supreme Court. Photo by Isabella Gallo\n<\/p>\n

Knowing what to look for in yourself and others is important, the pair said. <\/p>\n

Sudden changes, like weight loss or gain, inability to sleep or sleeping much more, feeling achy for no reason or a \u201cbone-deep\u201d tiredness that sleep doesn\u2019t touch, having trouble concentrating, making decisions or working, memory lapses, withdrawing from friends, family, school or work, and feelings of persistent sadness and hopelessness are symptoms and warning signs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re experiencing these symptoms most of the day, nearly every day for at least two weeks, it\u2019s a signal that it may be helpful to talk to someone and see more about what\u2019s going on,\u201d Mangot said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Seeking services when you\u2019re struggling or asking someone if they\u2019re okay and working to connect them to resources if you notice they\u2019re struggling can be the difference between life and death, said Deirdr\u00e9 De Leo, a behavioral health director at VNS Health: Depression is the most commonly identified mental health condition among people who die by suicide.<\/p>\n

\"\"De Leo speaks about suicide prevention.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number one sign that goes with someone who\u2019s going to die by suicide is feeling hopeless,\u201d De Leo said. \u201cIf people start talking about being hopeless, they start saying things like, \u2018Things are never going to get better.\u2019: Do me a favor and ask them if they\u2019re okay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s okay to say, \u2018I\u2019m worried about you,\u2019\u201d De Leo continued. \u201cIt\u2019s okay to say, \u2018Hey, sometimes when people feel this way, they think about not wanting to live. They think about ending their life. Have you had those thoughts?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

If the person you\u2019re talking to says that they are thinking that, De Leo said you should immediately connect them with 988 and offer to sit by them as they make the call, as well as encourage them to seek out other forms of support and notify people in their lives or supervisors if necessary.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York\u2019s court system took time Monday to provide advice and support to its attorneys, judges and staff…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[15311,2710,2190,9,11,10,49,51,50,107302],"class_list":["post-365196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-depression","tag-law","tag-mental-health","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-new-york-state-unified-court-system"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}