Why is Wellness so Important for Attorneys
Being an attorney carries great responsibility, stress, risks, and rewards where we gain a sense of fulfillment from serving the members of our community. As an attorney, you are a fiduciary to your clients which means you must put someone else’s interests ABOVE YOUR OWN. Think about what that means. With all of this in mind, we often forget about our own wellness as shown in a study by the National Library of Medicine states, “A nationwide study of ~13,000 lawyers indicated that 28% experienced depression, 19% reported anxiety, 21% had alcohol use problems, and 11% had problems with drug use.” (Krill et al., 2023) When we look at those statistics, we often think to ourselves that we would never end up in that situation, but we have to remember that heavy stress and anxiety will make us do things that we would not usually do. It is not only important that we need to recognize when we start developing these feelings but also that we do not push those feelings away just because you feel that there are other things that are more important to be worried about. Having the ability to face and deal with feelings of anxiety and stress in a healthy way will greatly improve our private lives as well as our professional lives. One key to increasing your mental health and physical well-being is by having a healthy work-life balance. Making sure that you are not burning yourself out and living a healthy lifestyle will make you more confident in your work. Not only are you benefiting yourself when you prioritize your health but you are also able to build much stronger relationships with your clients. Assisting clients can often be stressful for both parties which can lead to misunderstandings and communication breakdowns. Making sure that we are taking care of ourselves from getting enough sleep to staying mentally sharp can greatly reduce the possibilities of having instances where there is a breakdown between lawyer and client. By ensuring that we are mentally ready to take on these situations we will maintain positive and professional relationships with our clients.
As an attorney, it is important that we look after our clients to the best of our abilities and we can not do that if we are not looking after ourselves. Do not become a statistic from the stress that comes with being a lawyer. Make sure to look after yourself and take care of your mental health and physical well-being to ensure you are living a healthy lifestyle and optimizing the performance of your duties as a lawyer.
For more information and tips on wellness for lawyers, email me at [email protected] or call me at (281) 694-5897 for a complimentary 30-minute consultation.