Addiction Issues Affects Lawyers’ Mental Health And Society

The law is a high-esteemed and economic profession, many people in the society believe that Lawyers are tough and ambitious, but we cannot deny the fact that they too are undergoing a lot of stress in their day to day lives. Pressure coming from their family, from the people surrounding them and much more from the demands of the kind of work they have.

They are trained to be intellectual and emotionally detached; they think rather than feel which hinders them to cope with emotional problems. Their profession demands perfection thus putting up pressure to give their clients and peers their highest competency. In the hearing proceedings and antagonistic nature of the court gives them the impression not to show any signs of weakness according to Lawyers with Depression.

Thus, mental health distress and substance abuse are more directly linked to the profession.

According to CBC News, the lead researcher of a U.S Study that was published in the Journal of Addiction Medicine, Patrick Krill, compared to the other high professions, lawyers are much more vulnerable to greater risk of depression about three times higher than the general population in the United States.

Journal of Addiction Medicine published last February that among the highly educated professionals the rate of lawyers is two to three times higher.

Its impact on the society is huge; people who depend on lawyers, the functioning of the economy and government are affected because of the declining capacity of the lawyers.

Michele Hollins, a lawyer who is a victim of depression, made a full recovery, and when she started her term as a president of the Canadian Bar Association last 2014, she spoke openly about mental health and made sure those programs were in place. Lawyer assistance programs are important to provide confidential counseling and treatment.