The statistics are stark and unsettling. Lawyers have the highest suicide rate of any profession. Attorneys suffer from drug and alcohol addiction at twice the rate of the general population. And 25 percent of male attorneys and 40 percent of female lawyers experience clinical depression during their careers—once again, more than any other profession.
The reasons behind that grim picture are not difficult to discern. The combination of a Type A personality so common to attorneys coupled with the pressure-cooker environment in which we pursue our profession promote a fertile breeding ground for all these medical and social ills.
