The Depressing Nature of the Law:
Is Law Hazardous to Your Health?

by Rebecca M. Nerison
Psychologist, WSBA Lawyers' Assistance Program

Emily made partner last year. She enjoys a spectacular view from her office windows — when she takes the time to look out. She has everything she has always wanted, yet feels enervated and guilty about not enjoying her success.

Edgar graduated from law school four years ago. He took a temporary job at a hardware store while looking for legal work, but his last employment interview was two years ago. He still works at the hardware store. Edgar feels hopeless and worthless.

Studies show that lawyers are more likely to be depressed than other professionals. I regularly see depression in the lawyers I counsel through the Lawyers' Assistance Program. Depression is often associated with feelings of loss, isolation, powerlessness and hopelessness. What is it about the law that causes this state of depression? What makes the law so hazardous to the health?

Law is a largely adversarial enterprise in which the winner takes all. Barbara Harper, director of our Lawyers' Assistance Program, believes it is often this adversarial attitude that contributes to depression. When lawyers relate continuously to the world in an us-vs.-them/win-or-lose mode, interpersonal problems are inevitable.

In his 1994 book, The Soul of the Law, psychotherapist and lawyer Benjamin Sells notes that his lawyer-clients frequently experience problems in maintaining close relationships. They are so into the habit of arguing that it's hard to break out of it when they're with family, friends and colleagues. The interpersonal distance created by this fundamental disconnectedness often engenders feelings of isolation and misunderstanding. Sells calls litigation's fixation on winning "psychologically corrosive."

Another attribute of the law is what Sells calls the "tyranny" of the rational, objective mind. Lawyers must leave their feelings, beliefs and preferences out of their work. If a lawyer's world view differs greatly from the cause being advocated, an internal split can occur. This degree of objectivity and detachment may lead to feelings of isolation from the true self and others.

A third attribute of the law is its hierarchical nature. Law schools are rife with competition to earn the best grades and win the top jobs. Those who land in firms must then bill the most hours, make partner, lure the most (and richest) clients, and win the biggest judgments. In recent years, the pressure to produce and compete successfully for clients has intensified as business loyalties shift and the number of lawyers grows. Failure to meet ever-rising standards equates with professional mediocrity and a loss of prestige and power.

Disillusionment with the practice of law is a common precursor to depression. It occurs when expectations don't match perceptions of reality. Despite modern cynicism, many lawyers have entered the law to help others, that is, "save the world." Some become lawyers for the financial rewards; others expect intellectual stimulation; and still others just like the idea of calling themselves lawyers — all goals easily thwarted in today's changing legal climate.

Many older lawyers complain that practicing law just isn't fun anymore. Younger lawyers looking for jobs or those who are underemployed struggle under the burdensome debt of student loans. Increasing competition results in more specialization, so many lawyers find themselves churning out work that is no longer challenging. All of these factors result in a loss of personal vision.

Another occupational hazard for lawyers is the failure to honor body and soul. The pressure to bill thousands of hours can persuade the lawyer that there's no time for anything but work. Taking on others' problems and dealing with deadlines requires listening to everyone, but often neglecting oneself. Busy lawyers tend to neglect activities that nature has designed to nourish parts of the body other than the mind: nutrition, exercise, rest, recreation and the maintenance of relationships. Alcohol and other drugs (including caffeine) may become a quick fix for the symptoms of an impoverished spirit.

Likewise, reliance on money can entrap successful lawyers. They may realize they dislike their work but can't quit because of their inflated lifestyle. A person boxed in by financial obligations often feels powerless to change. Those who want a life apart from work struggle with the decision to leave the law. Some lawyers leave altogether; others change practice areas or settings to better suit their values.

Studies suggest that law students are four times more likely to get depressed than the general population.1 Sells points out that law school isolates students from the rest of the world by training them to view human problems objectively, intellectually and impersonally. Students feel reassured when their legal skills give them the tools to solve others' problems, but those same skills prove useless in confronting their own feelings. Graduate students in other fields, such as medicine, are known to experience similar levels of depression during their training. But while these levels in other professions return to the national average, the level of lawyers' depression remains constant throughout their careers because the insidious internal processes that started in law school are perpetuated throughout the practice of law.

Humiliation and defensiveness are among these processes. Barbara Harper believes that defending against humiliation becomes a way of life for lawyers reminiscent of adolescent self-consciousness and the need to look good. She tells of watching a group of nicely dressed young lawyers drinking at a fashionable restaurant and loudly bragging to one another about their legal exploits. She could sense the feelings of powerlessness and the fear underlying the arrogant behavior. This contributes to depression.

And what about the rate at which law schools are pumping out new graduates? In the state of Washington alone, 1,015 new lawyers were licensed in 1998, adding pressure to an already competitive job market. Many of these new lawyers are unable to find employment, so they go solo — something most law schools have not prepared them for. Sometimes they take non-lawyer positions that preclude them from future legal employment.

What are law schools thinking? Are they aware that the current supply exceeds the demand? Are they communicating this fact to eager applicants? Are they informing students of the emotional price they are likely to pay as they learn and practice law? In all fairness, many graduate schools, including psychology programs, are guilty of oversupplying a dwindling market, probably for similar economically driven reasons. Certainly, law schools bear some responsibility for the current and future psychological climate of the profession.

While it's true that there are many things lawyers can do to clean up their lifestyles, Sells sees their task as more fundamental. He encourages them to live lives that are "ordinary" in the sense that they remain in touch with the needs of the soul: savoring everyday sights, sounds, smells; reconnecting with passions deeply felt; being "erotically attached to the world."

Emily and Edgar already know how to work hard. Now they need to reintegrate. The big players — law firms, government agencies, law schools — must transform their environments into places where whole human beings can thrive. After all, law needn't be hazardous to the health.

Rebecca M. Nerison is a psychotherapist with the WSBA Lawyers' Assistance Program. She has a Ph.D. in counseling psychology and is a licensed psychologist.

This article is reprinted with permission from the March-April 1998 issue of the ABA Bar Leader.

1 Beck, Sales and Benjamin, Lawyer Distress: Alcohol-related problems and other psychological concerns among a sample of practicing lawyers, 10 Journal of Law and Health (1995).