In talking with a law student today I noted claims that in 2009 it is often easier for lawyers to out themselves as gay than to admit that they suffer from depression, particularly a depression that is incapacitating and that is exacerbated (even triggered) by work practices.
In the lead up to the annual Tristan Jepson Lecture it was thus interesting to see the 'admission' in the Sydney Morning Herald (at least it wasn't pitched as a 'confession') that a NSW District Court judge had suffered from depression and that the judiciary was fearful about revealing its humanity.
The federal Attorney-General's Jepson speech noted that last year Professor Ian Hickie
... announced the findings of a comprehensive study on the prevalence of depression in the legal profession. One-third of solicitors, ... and one in five barristers, suffer depression to a level associated with disability. ...The Attorney-General rather squibbed the problem, commenting that "The first question is best left for the clinicians" before going on to note the suggestion by researcher Dr Mamta Gautam
Perhaps more disturbing are Professor Hickie’s findings in relation to law students, 40 per cent of whom are said to suffer from anxiety and depression. With their courage and confidence undermined, they are, as a group, less likely to seek treatment and more likely to suffer in isolation.
These statistics give rise to two questions. Why is depression so common in the legal profession, apparently more so than in other parts of the Australian workforce, and second what can we do to address it?
that the nature of the legal profession - its adversarial, conflict-driven nature - and the personality traits of the people attracted to the practice of law may contribute to the high incidence of depression in the profession.What are we going to do about it?
What can we do to address the staggering number of lawyers, barristers, law students and other legal professionals who live with and suffer from depression?It is unclear whether we are going to do much at all, apart from exhortations in exercises such as Legal Workshop to "develop a Work/Life balance" (an exhortation considered by some people as inconsistent with the way that such exercises are actually undertaken) and rhetoric among large legal service providers - public and private - about their undying and of course heartfelt commitment to caring for their staff.
Tonight I would like to put the spotlight on all of us, to discuss what we can do, as individuals and as part of the proud legal profession as a whole.
I encourage everyone in the profession to look closely at their own mental state, the mental health of their colleagues and to promote a healthy work/life balance. We must take proactive steps if we are to overcome depression in the legal profession.
One of my naughtier students commented that initiatives such as the 2009 Courting the Blues study [PDF] by Kelk, Luscombe, Medlow & Hickie on attitudes towards depression among Australian law students and practitioners) are well and good, but the brutal reality of life for many novice solicitors in large practices is 'shape up or ship out' ... fine for the binary proletariat to be depressed, just not visibly so or just not on our premises.
That is a dour view but on occasion more practical than the Attorney-General's claim that
By raising awareness, connecting people to solutions, forging relationships and tapping into the insight and knowledge that exists within and outside the legal profession, we are making significant progress.Is it unrealistic to expect a warmer, gentler way of law in a profession that is built around an adversarial ethos, recruitment of over-achievers, institutionalised bullying, commercial imperatives and values set by fordist practice managers in both the public and private sectors? Progress is being made, but perhaps not as quickly as the A-G claims.
