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Last week was the first fall edition of Law Student Mental Health Week, bringing the LSD's Mental Health Day to Oct. 10 in keeping with the national observance. Lots of law schools hosted their own special events.
American University Washington College of Law hosted a YouTube Live event for Law Student Mental Health Day featuring Laurie Besden, Pennsylvania Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers Executive Director, who is in recovery.
In this webinar – "Rewiring Your Brain for Stress Resilience" with Jennifer Riggs, a neuroscience coach, speaker, and former lawyer – you will learn: how stress affects the brain; how we can change the brain; how common coping strategies do not serve; and what strategies we can use instead to improve our brain’s stress resilience.
It was 2:30 in the morning on a Tuesday late last November, and there were seven people in my bedroom. For some people, that might be the beginning or end of a great evening. But this bedroom ensemble included two cops, two paramedics, a medic trainee, my wife – and in
It still bothers me how many “mental health” initiatives in fact focus on wellness as the main or only theme. The real truth is that while mental health and wellness are in fact both important to having a healthy mind overall, the two are totally separate concepts that could stand to be addressed as such.
Law school is a unique experience, but it is also incredibly stressful. For some transgender law students, school is more complex than just going to class and studying for finals. Some trans people, such as myself, deal with high levels of stress and anxiety in daily life aside from the struggles of law school.
There are many sources of law school unhappiness, from the massive loans to the high-stakes exams. Some of this is structural; you can’t do anything about it. But there are changes you can make to improve your law school life—not only to survive, but to thrive while you’re there.
Hey you! Yes, you reading this. We need to have a little chat. Did you know that those who work in the legal profession have the 11th highest suicide rate, according to a 2016 study done by the Center for Disease Control? In fact, women in law experience
After a quick google search of “mental health and law school,” I found an endless list of articles discussing how intensely the problems of mental health affect law students. This is crucial to raising mental-health awareness; the problems faced by law students are important to talk about. But being in law school myself, I was wondering if some people might need reassurance about how law school can sometimes make us… happy! I
Whatever coping mechanisms we learn and practice as law students will remain with us as we practice law. Law school is the perfect time to learn how to treat our bodies and our minds in healthy ways so we can be helpful and active members of this esteemed profession.
Stress during law school is kind of inevitable, so figuring out how to handle it is key not just to surviving, but thriving.
The ABA Law Student Division will address them during this year's Law Student Mental Health Week with "Rewiring Your Brain for Stress Resilience," a webinar on Thursday with by Jennifer Riggs, a neuroscience coach, speaker, and former lawyer.
The ABA Law Student Division has officially moved Law School Mental Health Day to October 10. This change affords all of us an earlier opportunity to bring our services and resources to our students.
Anne Brafford, JD and editor-in-chief of Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change, has developed a Well-Being Tool Kit for the Legal Profession, available here. This free, practical toolkit offers many helpful resources for lawyers and law students seeking to improve
In 2014, a Survey of Law Student Well-Being found that nearly one in four of participating law students screened positive for anxiety and 17 percent screened positive for depression. Additionally, 6 percent reported thinking about suicide within in the last 12 months. One in five reported binge drinking twice in
Law students will be the first to tell you: law school is stressful. It’s competitive, expectations are high, and there’s a lot to do and only so many hours to do it. Now, stress can be a good thing sometimes. But too much stress—especially the long-lasting kind—is not so good. So what should you do?
Law students and lawyers experience much higher rates of depression, anxiety, stress, and alcoholism than the general public. These problems usually start, or escalate, in law school. Drs. Jeff Fortgang and Shawn Healy, two psychologists with Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Massachusetts, examined the various contributing factors, ways of recognizing distress, and suggestions for getting help and staying healthy in "The Full Weight of the Law: How Legal Professionals Can Recognize and Rebound from Depression."
Students face countless issues and stressors as they transition both into law school and ultimately from law school into the profession. Some students will seek assistance when issues and pressures mount, while others will attempt to go it alone. In recognition of National Mental Health Day for law schools, this
It can be hard to maintain mental wellness as a law student because of established stigmas and a lack of available resources. But, because wellness helps with success, students are taking action to change how law schools approach this subject. In this episode of the ABA Law Student Podcast, host Caitlin Peterson talks to
Do you ever have the thought that if you had known what law school was like prior to starting - truly knew what it was like - you might have chosen to become a professional bee keeper instead? There are many experiences in life that you cannot fully understand prior to living them. Law school is one of those.
If you're looking for more information and help with mental health issues, visit these links from the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs: Webinars “Fierce & Gritty: Resilience Training for Lawyers” “I’ve Got Your Back; You’ve Got My Ear: Suicide Prevention in the Legal Profession” “Keeping Legal Minds Intact: Mitigating Compassion
So you've been following our Mental Health Day content for the past two days. Now you think it's time for you to make a difference. Well, we've got two great opportunities for you to get involved through the Law Student Division.
The ABA Law Student Division has selected March 28, 2016 as the official National Mental Health Day at law schools across the country, and will be getting the word out to break the social stigma many still face when it comes to discussing mental health. To help address mental health and
By Matthew Gorney. For the fifth consecutive year, the Law Student Division will recognize National Mental Health Day in an effort to increase awareness of how law students are affected by mental health issues. National Mental Health Day is Tuesday, March 27. The Division encourages law schools to take part in the
Before the Bar is the blog of the ABA Law Student Division. It brings together a diversity of opinions, experiences, and voices from those associated with the law anywhere in the world and is targeted to law students, current, past and future.
Unless stated, the opinions shared by our writers do not reflect the official position of the American Bar Association.
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