Combatting stress and labelling success

Every day, too many lawyers wake up with stress, anxiety, and depression, not only at the prospect of five years of austerity under a Conservative government, but for equally present mental health issues.

Since 2000, Mental Health Awareness Week has run each year between 11 and 17 May. This year, the Mental Health Foundation continues to shine a light on the difficulties faced by those who suffer from mental health problems, but focuses too on 'mindfulness'.

According to the supporting literature, mindfulness is 'an integrative, mind-body based training that helps people to change the way they think and feel about their experiences'.
As well as being a treatment for those with mental ill-health,
its exercises can help focus
the mind in the present
moment, boost attention and concentration, and improve relationships. It has been readily adopted by global organisations, including Google, as well as
used in prisons to assist in rehabilitation.

As lawyers, in our professional lives, we are often faced moments of high-stress. Sometimes these might be clients who are in high-stress situations, a particularly heavy workload, or other demands on our time, such as time recording and billing. Sometimes we can feel overwhelmed and from
time to time that impacts on our ability to concentrate, maintain relationships, and properly advise our clients. There are
also physical and psychological side-effects, some of which we can easily pass off as other unrelated problems.

In America, a study has found that lawyers with the lowest pay are the happiest. As The New
York Times noted this week, '
Of the many rewards associated with becoming a lawyer - wealth, status, stimulating work - day-to-day happiness has never been high on the list.'
A recent survey of 6,200 lawyers on their jobs and health found the usual labels considered to be markers of 'success' in the legal world had almost no correlation with individual well-being and happiness.

The research says that if we want to experience happiness
in the law, we should be working in public-service roles or in the legal aid sector. The current difficulties being experienced by legal aid lawyers are unlikely to mean the same is true on this side of the pond, however.

Last year, LawCare, the legal profession's support helpline, reported that 75 per cent of calls were stress related. Depression was the second most common issue. Where a reason was given, over a quarter of cases identified workload as the specific cause
of their problem.

Whatever industry we work
in, these figures are serious
and impact upon us all. It is not always possible for us to identify colleagues who may be suffering with mental health problems, which is why it is increasingly important for firms to create supportive cultures that are free from stigma and out of date machismo. Mental health problems can often be easily managed and have little impact on a sufferer's daily life, but
only if they are addressed and treated. It rests with us all to create a working environment where colleagues feel supported and valued and, where issues begin to develop, we are able
to speak out sooner rather
than later. SJ

Kevin Poulter is SJ's editor at large and a legal director at Bircham Dyson Bell