Mental Health Data for the Legal Profession

  • 25% of lawyers suffer from elevated feelings of psychological distress, including feelings of inadequacy, inferiority, anxiety and depression (compared to between
    3 and 9 percent of the population overall).


  • When comparing lawyers to professionals in over 100 other industries, lawyers ranked first in experiencing depression.


  • In a study conducted in 1995, 44 percent of lawyers said that they did not have enough time with their families, and 54 percent felt they did not have time for themselves.


  • More than half of all lawyers say they do not have a mentor that is interested in their career.


  • Substance abuse factors into as many as 80 percent of all disciplinary complaints.


  • Lawyers have a higher probability of committing suicide than any other profession, often “at an age when they would be expected to be most socially productive.”