Depression and the Law
Last week, Professor Panter took my Pre-Trial Civil Law class on a field trip to the Richard J. Daily Center, which houses over 120 courtrooms and hearing rooms, and the official law library of the City of Chicago.
The building also features a 50-foot Picasso sculpture in its courtyard.
Professor Panter has got to be one of the most well-connected lawyers in the city of Chicago; he knew just about every lawyer in the building. He asked four of them to give the students in my class—all three of us—career advice. Here were their responses:
1) Read your books and read them carefully.
2) Go into business.
3) Enroll in med school.
4) Do something else.
I’m sure the lawyers were joking, but I didn’t find their ‘advice’ very funny, and here is why:
-Lawyers scored the top spot in a study measuring rates of depression in over 100 occupations. (Eaton, Mandel, and Garrison, “Occupations and the Prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder,” 32 J. Occupational Med. 1083-1132 [1990].)
-Lawyers are about four times more likely to experience clinical depression than the general population. (“Are Lawyers Distressed? . . . And How!” Wash. Stater Bar News [WSBA Lawyers’ Assist. Program Staff] [Feb. 1988] at 13.)
-Clinical depression aside, one in four lawyers will experience feelings of inadequacy and inferiority in personal relationships. Lawyers experience rates of anxiety and social alienation, much higher that that of the general population. (ibid.)
So why are so many lawyers in the Richard J. Daley Center and across the United States so unhappy with their jobs?
Technorati Tags: Depression, Alcoholism, Lawyers
Posted in Classroom Observations | 
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February 20th, 2007 at 11:39 am
If you can’t laugh at your soon-to-be chosen profession then you are on a collision course with each statistic that you just quoted.
So lighten up, have some fun, and go sue a small child
February 20th, 2007 at 11:42 am
Ricky, this first comment is to let you know that you should change “advise” to “advice”.
February 20th, 2007 at 11:56 am
Counselor NambyPamby,
I’m all for self-deprecating humor, even with respect to one’s profession. But there is a limit, and I truly think lawyers have reached it.
Don’t you think there are times when the self-deprecator gets carried away? When all the jokes take their toll? All the pop psychology/self-help books I’ve read in my life seem to think so.
I have a friend here in Chicago, and most of his humor is self-deprecating, and all the girls he likes say that he’s “so funny”…but these girls would never date him because, they tell me, he has such low self-esteem.
Would you consider this a valid analogy?
-Rick Lax
February 20th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Depression is a very real problem for many people, no matter their profession. Nearly 10% of the US population is depressed during any given year, and everyone will experience depression at some point in their life. If we ignore the chemical component, the reason most people are depressed is that they spend their lives doing crap that they don’t want to do. Do lawyers really like all the various activities that lawyering entails? It would seem not.
I offer some concrete anecdotal evidence for you to consider. Two brothers, one named Ryan and one named Devin, grew up in the same house, went to the same schools and generally lead similar lives until graduating from the University of Michigan together. The first brother decided to teach martial arts for a living. He accepted a low-paying job at a local martial arts school. The second brother decided to become an investment banker and accepted a much higher-paying job in New York. The first brother made enough money to live comfortably and save some for a house. He spent his time laughing with friends, reading inspiring literature and eating imaginative home-made meals. The second brother was on track to retire at the age of 30. He spent his time working (over 90 hours per week) and eating at MacDonald’s.
The first brother eventually opened up his own martial arts school in sunny California. He got married, had two lovely children and taught until the day he died, happily leaving his spent body with no regrets.
The second brother went prematurely bald, married a gold-digger who divorced him after 3 years of adultery, developed 2 ulcers and died cold and alone.
Remember, you can find a way to make money doing anything you want. You just have to be creative. Find something you love, do it well and find somebody to pay you for it. Otherwise you’ll end up like my brother, a loveless shell of a man, counting his coin rather than his smiles.
Beware…BEWARE!
February 20th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Counselor Ryan,
You and your brother should talk.
Also, in an unrelated note, if your brother (but not you) needs a good lawyer two years from now, please give him my contact info.
(See, Counselor NambyPamby, I can make lawyer jokes too. Just dont’ like to make them exclusively.)
-Rick Lax
February 20th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
There’s a difference between self-deprecation and just finding the humor in the job. As one who is on the final lap in law school, I find that this is a distinction that is lost on too many people that sit next to me in class…
February 20th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
I know a great number of other professionals (doctors, dentists,accountants,teachers, etc.). Without exception every one of these professional perceives “the grass to be greener on the other side”. Each will tell you why you should consider a career in any profession other than their own. This is just “human nature” How often do you hear a professional or for that matter any working stiff tell you about how satisfying their work may be. I think you are looking too deeply into this issue!
February 20th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Counselor Chuck,
You’re a professional who, in the past, has told me how satisfying your work is. So that’s one.
-Rick Lax
February 20th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
The grass is always greener on the other side. Now you know why Steven and Andy didn’t go into medicine..so one decided to try law.
February 20th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
One contributing factor: trial lawyers engage in tasks that are disconnected from humanity.
Look two posts prior where you are assigned the task of prosecuting someone’s parents for not taping a warning on their trampoline. If you’re going to get paid and build a strong record as an attorney, the next several hours of your life are going to be spent researching every opportunity to destroy the defendant’s case. Regardless of how kind of a person he might be, regardless of how his losing might jeopardize his ability to put food on the table for his family, & regardless of how innocent of a mistake it may have been, your job is to maximize the liklihood he is perceived guilty.
Unless every case you get aligns with your moral values, it seems two effects are highly likely:
1) Somewhere in your subconscious you feel guilty for working out of alignment with your morals in ways that directly damage individuals you hardly know.
Or 2) More likely, as it requires less psychological vigor to endure, you supress the feelings of guilt until you eventually become a cold-hardened attorney who rationalizes prosecuting anyone for anything b/c hey that’s how the system works & it’s their fault if they can’t get a good defendant.
Even if these effects don’t influence all lawyers. & even if this disruptive work only comes by once or twice per year, exposure to this type of work largely unique to the legal system is likely to contribute to the statistics in question.
Aristotle believed true happiness was only attainable as a result of living a moral life. (Virtue Ethics) Ironically, as agents of the justice system, lawyers seem more likely to have to compromise their morals than individuals in almost any other career.
February 20th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Field Trip!!
February 21st, 2007 at 12:06 am
Counselor Michael,
I think you’re very right about all that stuff. All good points. If you have clients you can’t believe in, then, yeah, that would have to take its toll. And I’ve just been talking about Civil cases so far, imagine how much more tough it is for criminal lawyers. Money is one thing; putting people in jail/keeping them on the street is another.
-Rick Lax
February 21st, 2007 at 3:03 am
Here’s a relevant op-ed in today’s NY Times from the professorial perspective about anti-authoritarian urges amidst law school angst:
http://select.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/opinion/20althouse.html
February 21st, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Michael
This is the kind of ignorance that keeps lawyers among the most hated and unappreciated people in society, though they perform a service that must be done. Since you live in America, you must appreciate the laws that we have in place to maintain order. Without lawyers who are brave enough to zealously defend their clients and prosecute those who have done harm to their clients, the system would fall apart and we might as well be living in Lithuania. Just because you feel like you are morally superior doesn’t give you the right to judge people who do the dirty work in our society. Do you appreciate your garbage man? Then you should stop hating those who do things you are too afraid to do.
February 21st, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Counselor Michael,
Counselor Rambo makes good points, so do read them.
You two are on different ends of the spectrum. I think we can all agree that there are a lot of lawyers out there and some are noble and some are not and some have clients they believe in and some have clients they don’t believe in.
Counselor Rambo, do note that Counselor Michael used qualifiers (e.g., “even if these effects don’t influence ALL lawyers….”). And he didn’t actually say that he was morally superior to all lawyers. I’ll bet if you ask him, he’d say that he felt morally superior to SOME lawyers, and I think he’d be right.
-Rick Lax
February 22nd, 2007 at 11:59 am
H E A V Y T A L K !
My goodness - If I worked in a beautiful building in a beautiful city with a good income AND I got to walk into work each day past a beautiful Picasso sculpture - And I were a professional - I’d find something to smile about!
I’m sure every case you’d accept has its merits and as a lawyer if you feel you are genuinely helping deserving people then you’ll be able to enjoy each day and take pride in your work. If you don’t feel that way, then you’ll learn to avoid those circumstances. I should think it’s your choice, isn’t it?
February 22nd, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Law is sometimes no more pleasant a profession than the function of a doctor who performs a colonscopy. His service is not supposed to be fun, but it is important, and when done correctly, provides people relief. Lawyers don’t need to like their jobs, only to do them well.
February 24th, 2007 at 8:08 am
If you asked me - I’d say my moral development is completely irrelevant.
I would, however, also point out that my hypothesis relied on a developed sense of morality among lawyers, NOT a lack thereof. The depression itself resulting from occasional disalignment that builds up over the course of years.
If you asked me, I’d probably also conclude by telling you that a sweet opportunity just opened up for one lucky lawyer out there & I’d wish luck in getting it to those who apply. http://www.lessig.org/blog/archives/003707.shtml