The percentage of lawyers who struggle with mental health matches that with doctors, veterinarians, and dentists.
Reuters1 claims that most lawyers in the US are happy, driven and hopeful in their careers, but want changes to their industry. A large majority of them believe that their field needs to adapt to modern times and are trying to figure out how to implement these changes.
The percentage of lawyers who struggle with mental health matches that with doctors, veterinarians, and dentists. However, their mental health ranks better than those without a college degree. Furthermore, studies confirm that out of 1,000 lawyers, many of them suffer from health problems and heavy drinking to the U.S. population. It has been reported that lawyers reported excess alcohol consumption twice as much as other advanced professional degrees.
Additionally, the study released that between 21% and 36% of lawyers are problem drinkers and 8% struggle with depression. The COVID-19 pandemic has also added an additional strain on legal professionals and lawyers.
Why is being a lawyer so stressful?
Attorneys often work in real time and have to adapt to their lifestyle and client’s demands. Many of them don’t wake weekends off and many work late into the night as well. Some examples of conditions that add strain to a lawyer’s career are:
- Deadlines
- Billing pressures
- Accounting Pressures
- Client Demands
- Long Hours
- Ever-changing laws
- No Time for Personal Life
- No Time for Family Life
- Rising business pressures,
- Evolving legal technologies,
- Law school debt that continues to accrue over time with interest.
- Personal reputation
- Pressures in growing social media presence
- Case load
- Searching and hiring qualified employees
- Managing employee turnaround
- Rent for office space.
What is the most reliable way of managing your business as a lawyer?
Being an attorney is tough and so much relies on your business and the way you manage it. In these unprecedented times, it may be more important than ever to simplify and optimize the services you provide to your clients.
Source:
- https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/maybe-lawyers-arent-uniquely-unhappy-after-all-study-says-2022-02-17/
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