Lawyers most likely to suffer stress, depression, alcohol abuse
Despite earning salaries of up to £500 000 a year, having well-respected jobs in the commercial and civil worlds and being able to be owner-managers of private practices, research over the past 10 years reveals that lawyers are the professionals most likely to suffer from stress, depression and alcohol abuse.
The Financial Times reports alcohol-related deaths in the UK legal profession are double the national average. About 30% of male lawyers and 20% of female lawyers drink to excess, according to LawCare, an organisation set up to help lawyers overcome stress and substance abuse. In the US, alcohol abuse affects 15 to 18% of all lawyers. Some experts attribute the problem to the personality of the lawyers themselves. The legal personality refers to the archetype a highly driven, detail-conscious perfectionist, who tends to be pessimistic, to blame him or herself for any predicament and to display facets of obsessiveness. Others say the problem is job-linked. For instance, most lawyers charge clients on the basis of billable hours, and annual targets can be harsh: 1 600 hours on average for UK associates and 2 400 for those in the US. The way that law firms are structured gives rise in itself to stressful situations, especially when firms increase in size. As many firms become global, the expectations on partners increases not only must they be professional lawyers, but also international business people. Full report in the Financial Times