One in Three lawyers battles with alcoholism, depression or anxiety.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – According to the latest studies, one in three lawyers battles with alcoholism. It seems that Ally McBeal was more of a reality show that we thought as one in three lawyers battles with the same problems as the skinny, well-dressed character and her band of misfit lawyers.
According to a new study that was founded by the Bar Association of America and the Betty Ford Hazelden Foundation, one in three lawyers battles with alcoholism. It seems like the men and women of law appear to be strong and fearless only in front of a jury, or a judge, but in real life, there aren’t able to object to anxiety, depression and alcoholism.
To be a lawyer is not easy. You have to convince clients to let you represent them, then you have to convince a jury, or a judge that your clients are innocent, your family that you actually meant to come home to dinner and so on. It is a life in which you constantly have to convince others of things that you may not truly believe in yourself. And this causes high amounts of stress that ultimately leads to depression and alcoholism.
A recent survey that analyzed around 12,000 active lawyers from 19 states in the United States of America has discovered that the highest rate of drinking problems are associated with lawyers that are below the age of 30. This category of lawyers ranked highest with 31.9 percent.
The next category is comprised out of those who are junior associates at big law firms. Among the members of this category, an astonishing 31.1 percent preferred to have a cap, or two before heading out home.
The results of the study could be influenced by the fact that Americans in their late twenties and early thirties prefer to drink more than those who are in their late thirties. But it could also be because young lawyers who are struggling to make a career and a name for themselves are much more stressed than older ones who already have a secure partner or associate position at a firm.
Many young practitioners also have to deal with a great amount of student debt and a difficulty in finding a secure job. These problems are also on the plate of young doctors, but it seems that lawyers prefer to drink twice as much as doctors. So the young age and the educational debt are not contributing factors.
According to the authors of the study which was published in the magazine “Journal of Addiction Medicine”,
“Attorneys experience problematic drinking that is hazardous, harmful, or otherwise consistent with alcohol use disorders at a higher rate than other professional populations.”
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