'Being A Lawyer Makes Me Sick'

Stressed out? You’re not alone. A few months ago, we surveyed ATL readers about their work-related, stress-induced illnesses. Over 50% of respondents have some serious head trips, suffering from “depression/anxiety/other mental illness.”
Our survey was far from scientific, but this rate strikes us as high. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the rate of mental illness in the general population is half of that, at 26.2%.
A third of the survey takers said they had insomnia/sleep apnea/sleep problems and headaches/migraines. Ulcers and alcohol/drug abuse are also problems for Biglaw folks. These rates though seem more in line with the rest of America.
See the full results from the survey, and hear tales from stress-sufferers, after the jump.


Here are the survey results (click to enlarge):

Some commenters suggested illnesses we’d left off the list:

Other – chronic lower back pain. Never had this problem until I started sitting at a desk for hours on end. Not working out as regularly probably contributes as well. Biglaw to blame for both!

Neck aches. Constantly. I think it is from the desk chair.

We hear you. That’s a risk factor for blogging as well. Too bad the stereotype of a blogger lying in bed with a laptop does not ring true at Above The Law.
Many women cited stress interfering with their pregnancies:

Miscarriage x 2. It is double terrible in my opinion because you have to deal with the event and with telling your superiors (who are inevitably men).

Per a request, one commenter linked a source on women lawyers suffering unusually high miscarriage rates.
If this happened to you during your first month on the job, it might make you rethink the lawyer career decision:

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Chest pains that put me in the hospital less than one month after starting at Skadden Arps. At the age of 30, previously fit as a fiddle. Got in trouble for missing work that day, too.

We sympathize with this teeth grinder. We also rock a custom-made nightguard:

1. Clenched Jaw (now rocking the mouthguard every night)
2. Eyesight! My prescription doubled after my first year of law school, and it’s only gotten worse from there.
3. Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (scar tissue on muscles impinging on the nerves) due to an old injury that flared up after sitting at my desk or in front of my laptop at home for 14 hours/day.

One commenter scoffed at the stressballs:

What kind of loser gets that stressed as an associate? What’s the worst that can happen to you? Some a**hole partner whose life you’d probably hate to have b****es you out for subpar work or cutting out early? Yeah, that’s some rough stuff.
If you’re stressed because you don’t want to lose your job in this economy, fine. But everyone’s going through that right now. Lawyers shouldn’t be unusually stressed just because of their job responsibilities. Our jobs aren’t physically dangerous, and the quality of our performance rarely has that much of an effect on anyone’s life.
The problem is that law tends to attract gigantic pussies who would get stressed working at Best Buy.

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Some commenters chimed in to suggest stress-reduction strategies, like exercising, studying buddhism, having sex, reading anti-anxiety books, and going to muscle relaxation classes. Or cutting and running:

Oh, eye twitches and a regular tightening of my chest muscles. After a decade or so, I decided “anxious to please” and BIGLAW was not a good fit. It was worth the pay cut to lose all those bosses.

We’ll close with advice proffered by Elie in the thread that preceded this post:

The only advice worth giving is to jealously guard your own health. Being a big-time lawyer isn’t as bad for your health as being a coal miner, but few would argue that being a lawyer is good for your body…. Remember, an ounce of prevention could be worth … at least another year you can bill, before everything truly breaks down!

Earlier: Work-Related Illnesses: Open Thread