Tag: Darena Muça

Contributed by Darena Muça

Introduction

This past January, the McGill Research Group on Health and Law hosted its annual lecture, “Brain Injuries in Sports: from Awareness to Action,” delivered by Ken Dryden.  Dryden was a goal tender for the Montreal Canadiens hockey team during the 1970s. In 1973, he graduated from the McGill Faculty of Law; however, he never practised law. Besides being a renowned hockey star, appearing in the Hockey Hall of Fame and winning 6 Stanley Cups, he is an educator, politician and philanthropist dedicated to educating youths about the importance of higher education and raising awareness about sport-related brain injuries. In his presentation, Dryden shared his perspective that more steps ought to be taken to prevent brain injuries in the sport.  In consideration of Dryden’s lecture, this article sheds light on the difficulties of holding sports organizations liable for brain injuries in sports.

Looking into brain injuries

Contact sports can have dramatic impacts on the structure and function of the brain due to repeated body contact. Nathan Churchill, a post-doctoral fellow in the neuroscience research program at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, emphasizes that “there is growing concern about the risk of collisions in sports.” He notes that the effects of contact sports are not only seen in retired professional athletes, but also in young, healthy athletes in amateur and professional sports. Athletes with a repetitive history of blows to the head can suffer from traumatic brain injury (TBI) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive neurodegenerative disease, which is also found in the brains of people who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. CTE causes several cognitive, mood and behavioural symptoms, such as memory loss, confusion, depression and dementia. The term TBI was first introduced analyzing professional and amateur boxing, while CTE encompasses the “potential long-term neurological consequence of repetitive TBI” which can occur in numerous contact sports, such as football, wrestling, rugby, hockey and basketball. Continue reading “Liability for Brain Injuries in Sports”

Contributed by Darena Muça

Mental illness is a serious problem that impacts all members of society. Mental illness or addiction issues will affect approximately one out of five Canadians in their lifetime, according to the Center of Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). In 2004, the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology issued an Interim Report on Mental Health, Mental Illness and Addiction, which revealed high rates of psychological distress (depression and anxiety) among the Canadian workforce. However, certain professions are more acutely affected by mental illness. According to a survey from 2012 by the Canadian Bar Association (CBA), 58% of lawyers, judges, and law students surveyed had experienced significant stress/burnout, 48% had experienced anxiety and 25% had suffered from depression. This article examines how excessive working hours, difficulties balancing work and life, and a high-pressure and competitive environment may contribute to high incidences of mental illness in the legal profession.

Excessive working hours

The standard number of hours worked by employees in federally regulated industries is 40 hours per week, with a maximum of 48 hours per week in some cases. However, these provisions do not apply to all employees, and certain professions such as lawyers, are excluded from these national standards. As such, as suggested in the Senate’s report, lawyers might be at a higher risk of psychological distress because of excessive working hours. Continue reading “Elevated Incidence of Mental Illness in the Legal Profession”