The authors of the report surveyed more than 3,300 law students from 15 law schools about their drinking, drug use and mental health. Almost a quarter showed signs that they should undergo further testing for alcohol addiction, and more than a quarter had received at least one diagnosis of ‘depression, anxiety, eating disorders, psychosis, personality disorder, and/or substance use disorder.’

Needing help but not getting it

Despite this, there seems to be a disparity between the percentage of students who may be in need of help and the percentage who receive it, with only four per cent of respondents indicating they had sought help from a health professional for issues associated with alcohol or drugs. Furthermore, although 42 per cent replied that they had thought they needed help for emotional or mental health problems in the past year, only half of them had received counselling from a health professional.

Culture of competitiveness

The primary factors that respondents said would discourage them from seeing a health professional about these issues were the potential threat to bar admission, the potential threat to job or academic status, and social stigma. Tellingly, a higher percentage of respondents who were third-year law students identified these factors as a concern compared with those respondents who were in their first year. This suggests that despite law schools’ efforts to convey that students will not be penalised for admitting they’re in difficulty, students are getting the message that seeking help could be problematic for their careers. It’s difficult to counter what the study characterised as a deeply rooted culture of competitiveness in legal education that ‘reinforces a message that students are better off not seeking help and instead trying to handle problems on their own.’ Source: Bloomberg BNA