Introduction

Lawyers sometimes consider themselves to be counselors- giving legal counsels. They too need counseling therapy as they are sometimes so caught up in their work. The mental health of lawyers needs to be in the best shape for optimum delivery.

While some law firms prioritize the mental health of their lawyers, some others don’t take cognizance of it. Some lawyers do not help matters by downplaying the need for a counselor.

In this article, we will review why a lawyer needs a counselor.

Why a Lawyer Needs a Counsellor

• Lawyers Suffer Mental Health Issues 

A survey was carried out on lawyers in the past. In the study, it was estimated that 28% of lawyers suffer from depression.

Some of these lawyers who suffer from depression, mental fatigue, and stress are unable to speak up. They believe it’s viewed as a sign of weakness in their profession.

One of the ways to fix this is through counselors as counseling sessions are private ones where the lawyers can express themselves without prejudice.

• Counselling Therapy Helps the Lawyer Unload

As a lawyer, you are not immune to regular human experiences. Inability to express yourself about these experiences can hamper your effectiveness as a lawyer.

Being an attorney is a job that involves a lot of talking on behalf of your client. Bottling up issues can lead to emotional breakdown hence you need to be able to talk about your experiences.

One of the places where you can talk about your problems is at the counselor’s office. One of the responsibilities of a counselor is listening.

Conclusion

For the overall well-being of the lawyer, it is important to go through counseling therapy sessions. In some law firms, every lawyer fixes a date with the counselor just as they fix dates with the doctor. They understand the importance of the mental health of the lawyer.    

Introduction

Being an active lawyer involves long hours of work and study. Practicing for court dates, reviewing past cases, plus long hours of meetings with different people. The build-up of stressful events can lead to mental breakdown for lawyers with some suffering from depression. 

Excessive intake of substances to help relieve the stress of the job is likely to occur among lawyers. In this article, we will propose health tips to help prevent addiction for a lawyer. 

Health Tips to Prevent Addiction for a Lawyer

1. Set Limits

Many lawyers become so engrossed in their work that they work their bodies beyond their limits. Some forgo sleep over their client’s cases and need to stay on substances like steroids, caffeine in a bid to sustain the lifestyle.  

To prevent addiction, do not allow the use of these substances to become a habit. Set limits for your body, take rest at the appropriate time. Set healthy boundaries for yourself. 

• Work Out 

Lawyers are one group of people who tend to sit at one spot for long hours. There is also an increased tendency for binge eating among lawyers especially when they are working on cases. 

As a lawyer, develop a habit of working out at least weekly. You can develop the habit of doing push-ups if you sit for one hour. You can take runs or walks at selected times during the week. Working out is a healthy habit that helps you exercise your body and keep your mind refreshed. 

• Socialize

Immense pressure from the job cause many lawyers to forgo relationships. One of the ways to help yourself as a lawyer is to meet up with friends and attend family functions. Being around friends helps you ease off the stress of work.

The propensity to abuse substances to overcome depression and stress is higher when you are alone.

Conclusion

These are very few tips to help you avoid addiction as a lawyer. If you are on the verge of a mental breakdown from work, it’s best to take a break.   

Everyone knows who a Lawyer is. Even though you have a very faint idea, you are still aware of the fact that, they are professionals who are well respected in the society.

Lawyers possess this aura which would make you love them the more, but the sad part is, we do not identify with the stress-filled lives that they lead.

The reason for this stress is not far-fetched. Based on their position in the society, they cannot afford to be less than themselves. They have to keep up with the status that the society expects from them, so they would go through all the trouble to make sure that they satisfy the public.

Now, in a bid to get rid of the stress accumulated at work, one grave mistake that a good number of Lawyers make, is to abuse certain substances which makes them addicted either in the long or short run.

When they become hooked on a certain substance, it becomes the ruler of their lives. Any form of motivation they need would be drawn from that substance.

Lawyers are individuals who set goals for themselves, without considering the feasibility. They go all out to ensure that those goals are achieved, and they do not really consider their health in the whole process.

Lawyers need to ensure that their lives is a more important priority than their career. Hence, it needs to be considered first, before their career.

One way they can go about it, is to find ways to ditch stress, and one proficient way is to rest effectively. This can be achieved by going on a vacation for a certain duration of days or weeks.

During this period, it would be best for the Lawyer to disconnect himself or herself from any work-related activity.

This should be a period of rejuvenation and resetting of the mind. The Lawyer would be surprised to see an increase in productivity when he or she resumes work.  

A good number of lawyers usually struggle with addiction. They take drugs and alcohol in a bid to help them get the competitive advantage or handle stress and control mental health problems. It is very usual for lawyers who are addicted to substance use addiction, to sacrifice their health into ensuring that they are successful career-wise. With this, their relationship and social life is at risk.

Lawyers are individuals who have the ability to take over interactions and conversations. They are very adept at shifting attention away from themselves, which makes it extremely difficult for their family and friends to notice, and even persuade them to seek help.

The legal profession is one which makes it very easy to come up with a substance abuse addiction. The challenges and obligations which comes with the job, has the capacity to induce a good number of mental health issues which includes: depression and anxiety. Several studies have shown that the workplace of an individual plays an important role in the likeliness of an employee to be caught up in the web of addiction.

Stress happens to be one of the main factors which contributes to substance addiction. Lawyers usually face high levels of stress, and this increases the risk of coming up with substance abuse. The workload and the need to commit to time, is usually on the extreme, and this is what the legal profession puts on individuals.

Typically, a Lawyer has to work for long hours on end, they have to deal with certain irregularities from time to time, coupled with much workload and tough time issues, and all this contributes to the stress levels of a Lawyer.

It should be noted that, most times, the origin of substance addiction, is usually from Law school. There is always this stress to perform well academically, and hence, they use either drugs or alcohol to assist them.

The most effective form of treatment for an addicted Lawyer, is to opt for specialized addiction treatment centres. There are some rehabs which are meant specifically for Lawyers and you can be sure that their recovery progress would be quicker.

When an attorney requires rehabilitation, just any old rehab will not do. Attorneys are high functioning individuals with very particular needs and wants. Government funded rehabs or even the average middle of the road rehab center do not have the operating budget to give an attorney a successful treatment experience. An attorney will need a minimum level of comfort and accommodation when they attend rehab, as well as intelligent staff and counselors and flexibility around their treatment schedule. What they need is executive rehab.

In an executive rehab program, the lifestyle choices of an attorney are honored and met. Attorneys are high income earners, and in order to transition smoothly into a rehab environment, an attorney should not have to radically adjust their lifestyle. It is too jarring to the recovery process. Instead, an attorney should be able to check into rehab, maintain a high quality diet, receive personal attention and services and be surrounded by enough of the finer things that they do not have to focus on adjusting to a different comfort bracket.

Another valuable aspect of executive rehab is the flexibility in the treatment schedule. Attorneys frequently cannot sever their work commitments just to go to rehab. Frequently, they will still be responsible for some work duties, albeit reduced ones. Because of this, they can greatly benefit from the flexibility of an executive rehab program schedule. An executive rehab can customize a treatment schedule around individual clients so that they can be present for their work obligations. They can make a treatment calendar around their client’s meetings and travels, and are prepared to adjust it should something unforeseen arise in their client’s professional obligations.

And lastly, an executive rehab will provide an attorney with the accommodations they need to remain functional and comfortable. Executive rehab centers provide business amenities to their clients so that they can meet professional obligations out of the facility. They also offer their clients features such as hot tubs, saunas, game rooms and private gyms so that they can maintain the level of luxury that they are used to. Executive rehab is the whole package, and is bound to make an attorney’s addiction treatment experience a positive, productive one.

Attorneys can fall into addiction tendencies, just like anyone else, but unlike other professionals, they may have a particularly hard time being held accountable for it. In fact, attorneys are some of the least likely professionals to receive addiction treatment. There are a number of reasons an attorney would deny their addiction, to themselves and to the world. They are accustomed to arguing their case, whether they are right or wrong. They are highly intelligent and it is difficult to impress them with a counter argument. In addition, they usually have a lot at stake, between their careers, reputations, lifestyle and reputations. They do not want their addictions found out.

Attorneys argue cases for a living. Their professional duties include researching a case and preparing an argument to sway the decision about the case. Chances are, when it comes to their addiction tendencies, they have probably developed an intelligent case around defending them the way they would a court case. They have compiled data, for their own benefit, that reflects their addiction tendencies in a positive light, such as any type of health benefit they may receive from the source of their addiction, or statistics that favor liberal use of whatever it is they are indulging in. The obvious trouble with this reasoning is, just like some of their court cases, they are ethically defending the wrong side of a case. An attorney may defend someone who should actually be penalized, and they may defend their own addiction tendencies which are actually disastrous.

Attorneys also have good reason to deny and cover up their addiction tendencies: they have a lot to protect. Legal professions are high income earning. They bring in a salary that one would do anything to keep. With this high salary, attorneys make large investments which can only be sustained by their ongoing income. The prestige of their careers and the value of their reputations are what gets them work and notoriety in their professional field. It is what supports their families and their personal interests. Many attorneys deny and hide their addictions so that none of these things will be jeopardized.

It has been proven that attorneys are at a higher risk of addiction, particularly substance abuse, than other members of society. This is highly due to the stress and pressures of the legal profession, but is also influenced by other social, psychological and neurological factors.

Many cases of addiction in the legal profession are going untreated because most lawyers hide their problem. Despite the availability of rehabilitation programs that are customized to suit the legal professional’s lifestyle, the primary factor influencing attorneys to seek treatment for addiction is when they can no longer hide their problem and are sued for malpractice.

There are certain addiction trends that can be observed through out the legal profession, which chart the general progress of addiction through an attorney’s career.

• Law School: Approximately 25 percent of law students are reported to develop a substance abuse problem while attending their educational institution. The number begins modestly, but rises to 25 percent by graduation.

• Practicing Law: Over 15 percent of practicing attorneys are afflicted with addiction, which is nearly twice the amount seen in other professions, and the severity of the addiction will statistically increase with time.

• Early Career: It is estimated that younger attorneys battle substance abuse problems at a rate of 17 percent.

• Later Career: Substance abuse problems among senior attorneys increase to 24 percent.