Exactly five years ago, I wrote an article focused on the mental health of lawyers. Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month and the first week of May is Wellbeing in Law Week, we are revisiting this topic to see if anything has changed.
The last five years have brought major changes to society in general, due in no small part to the coronavirus pandemic that temporarily turned everything upside down.
What about the mental health of lawyers? According to the 2023 ALM and Law.com Compass Legal Professional Mental Health Survey, 49% of respondents believe mental health issues and substance use are at “crisis level” in the legal industry. This is up from 41% in 2019.
Regarding depression, 38% of respondents reported feeling depressed, compared to 31% in 2019. In 2023, 71% of respondents will report feeling anxious, an increase of 7% compared to 2019. This is despite a marked increase in efforts to build society. Awareness of mental health issues in the legal field.
The adversarial nature of our profession and its focus on productivity and billable hours increases the risk of mental health and substance use issues. And the general nature of our profession has certainly not changed over the past five years.
One of the striking findings of the ALM Mental Health Survey was that almost 70% of respondents felt that their personal relationships had suffered as a result of being part of their profession. It’s an accusation from within. However, one bright spot is that 70% of respondents feel that their colleagues care about their mental health.
Law is a noble profession, but it falls short when it comes to the mental health of those who practice it. It has been said that there is a tension, if not outright opposition, between productivity and health in our profession.
Study after study proves that change is necessary. That change begins at the individual level, but for lasting change to take root in the profession, it must continue at the industry level, in law firms, courts, and law schools.
I don’t claim to know all the details, but I do know that it’s essential to keep the issue in conversation, even as a first small step. The good news is that Indiana is at the forefront of such efforts, including efforts by the Supreme Court, JLAP, the School of Law, and attorney and professional organizations such as the Indiana State Bar and DTCI.
Happiness starts at the individual level.
The theme of this year’s Wellbeing Week in Law, as I mentioned earlier, is “Wellbeing Reboot: A Fresh Start for Positive Change”. This he embodies two important ideas: (1) starting/restarting your health action plan with a clean slate, and (2) changing your behavior towards better well-being.
Each day we focus on different aspects of the legal profession’s health: physical, mental, career and intellectual, social and emotional. This is also the start of his similar 31-day mental health challenge, which includes suggestions for taking small steps each day towards improving your mental health. For more information on participation and resources, please visit https://lawyerwellbeing.net/well-being-week-in-law/.
In the five years since I last wrote on this subject, the state of mental health in the legal profession does not seem to have improved. That’s unfortunate, but there are clearly increasing efforts to address this issue and focus resources and attention on it.
There is no doubt that these efforts will continue, and perhaps one day they will help reverse the trends they are trying to address.
Reports indicate that we are facing a shortage of lawyers, and it is essential that we continue our efforts to improve benefits for lawyers in order to encourage more lawyers to enter the profession. We have to keep working in the right direction.
I encourage you to get involved in that effort in some way, whether as an individual working on your own well-being or participating in a collective effort to improve well-being in our profession in some way. Masu. Every little bit goes a long way. •
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J. Todd spurgeon He is a partner at Kightlinger & Gray and a member of the DTCI Board of Directors. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
