Is lawyer misery overhyped?

Is lawyer misery overhyped?

An article recently posed that question, and it's taken me some time to absorb it and collect my thoughts.

I think two things can be true:

1️⃣ First, lawyers love to complain about the profession.

2️⃣ Second, lawyers face higher numbers of anxiety, depression, and substance abuse--whether self-reported or otherwise.

📣 Acknowledging the second does not give credence to the first.

😄 For all but about one year of my six years in #BigLaw so far, I have enjoyed being an associate.

😓 At the same time, I have dealt with anxiety, low mood, and a changing relationship with alcohol.

By talking about mental health and well-being for lawyers, I think we can reduce the stigma about the numbers that we self report and about the help a lot of us get (or want to get, or need to get).

By talking about ways to change the profession for the better, I think we can shift the narrative from complaining about the profession (and celebrating those who leave), to creating work in which more of us thrive and commit for the long haul.

It is not about (over or under) hyping either scenario. It is about creating space to talk productively about what's going well, what's not going well, and how we can make change so that this a sustainable career for the generations to come.

🤔 The interesting thing here is that when I am happy as a #BigLaw associate, I do often feel out of the norm. I feel like I have to hide that. I feel like it is so unusual to like being an associate and so much easier to complain.

🤦‍♀️ At the same time, when I am anxious, nervous, or struggling with my mood, I feel like I have to hide that too.

➡ It is a lose-lose scenario. ⬅

Lawyers are humans.

Our feelings about our work are complicated.

Our internal struggles--diagnosed and otherwise--also are complicated.

Some of us are happy in the job.

Some of us struggle.

Some of us experience both.

Without acknowledging the statistics (whether self reported or otherwise), we cannot make change.

Without acknowledging that with certain changes, more of us would be more content, we cannot improve the profession.

Lawyers can like the work and call for it to continuously improve.

So, is lawyer misery overhyped?

Perhaps.

But that doesn't mean we stop evaluating how we can make the legal ecosystem better for every stakeholder.

#lawyerwellbeing #legalissues #culture