Mind your work

During 2012, LawCare conducted a survey of lawyers in the UK and Ireland. 1,147 took part. The results showed that 68 per cent had suffered from stress and 35 per cent had suffered from depression. 27 per cent admitted no impairment. 5 per cent were currently suffering from stress (including depression) and 74 per cent had noticed an increase in stress, with 17 per cent having taken some time off work due to stress in the past year.

The most common causes were work overload (57 per cent), feeling isolated (57 per cent), poor management and lack of appreciation (54 per cent), poor pay (40 per cent), long hours (40 per cent), and having unattainable targets (34 per cent).

In terms of the effect of stress on general wellbeing, the percentage of participants who stated that stress had a negative impact on 'feeling good' and 'work and time management' ranged between 15 and 70 per cent, a variable but often significant level.

This was the first survey that LawCare had attempted on this issue and indicated that law firm managers should be alert to and deal with the stress levels of their lawyers; make information about stress more readily available and socially and occupationally acceptable; address, not neglect, cases of work overload; and consider how support and lawyer assistance could be made available.

So what about law students? It is well documented that law students experience higher levels of psychological distress than members of the general population and university students in other professional disciplines (NK Skead and SL Rogers, 'Do law students stand apart from other university students for mental health?', International Law and Psychology (2015)).

A study of law students' wellbeing in 2014 resulted in the development of a behavioural toolkit to help law students and law schools make decisions and choices which would improve the mental health of students.

Key factors affecting law students' wellbeing included the perceived higher demands associated with studying law. Frequency of engaging in leisure activities, especially online, was also implicated, although not always in a positive way (i.e. online activity was not necessarily relaxing, enjoyable, or worthwhile).

Stress management for lawyers

In the normal practice of law in the UK, the many reasons for possible stress include the following:

• Time, paper, and people management. Most legal work is time constrained with difficult deadlines. Inherent in this is the need to manage larger volumes of paper and deal with many and varied personalities;

• Work/leisure imbalance. The dilemma of whether working long hours equates to success is a perennial one. Excessive long hours result in little or no leisure time;

• Problem-driven nature of work. Clients typically present with their 'problems' - often involving trauma, loss of independence, and negative financial consequences. The lawyer is expected to help both legally and emotionally;

• Adversarial process. The lawyer deals with conflict, both personal and professional. At times, the adversarial process adds chaos to the lawyer's life; and

• Liability and personal/professional accountability. Lawyers take responsibility for the advice and services they provide. This accountability is a source of stress.

Strategies to improve the experience and management of stress include cognitive-behavioural techniques and mindfulness techniques, all in the context of an 'Active Steps' approach (J Koch and HCH Koch, Active Steps to Reducing Stress (2008)), which covers four main areas of everyday working:

• Thinking :Different techniques to make one mentally calmer, in the context of increasing positive, logical, and mindful thinking;

• Lifestyle : Everyday areas of nutrition, health, exercise, and managing home/work balance and environments;

• Communication:It feels good to communicate effectively with positivity and warmth, and

• Behaviour: Many practical strategies help one get better organised and to relax more often and more deeply

Exciting and worthwhile careers carry a level of unwanted stress - the legal profession is no different. The background of long hours, detailed work, time pressure, and ultimate professional accountability for actions (and inactions) result in a need for lawyers to manage high levels of stress. Lawyers, like others, are susceptible to using unhealthy 'stress control' techniques, including alcohol, drug, and nicotine misuse, poor diet, and a plethora of other unhealthy or ineffective psychological and social practices.

Thankfully, however, there is no reliable or replicated evidence that there is a higher incidence of unmanageable stress among lawyers than the other high-pressure professions. So on that reassuring note, the key question is, how can lawyers start the year with 'active steps to combat their stress?

More information on workshops in 2016 to manage stress, see www.hughkoch.com.

Hugh Koch is a clinical psychologist and the director of Hugh Koch Associates

Copyright & permissions