By Rebecca Nerison, Ph.D.
Lawyers in our part of the country are subject to a double whammy. First, the fact of being a lawyer puts you at greater risk for depression than the average person. Second, our latitude and wet weather are known to induce Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) in some. Depression, by any name, makes it difficult to work. And lawyers who don’t work diligently become, by definition, lousy at what they do.
Why does a depressed mood make it difficult to work? Because your energy and motivation shrink or disappear altogether. When you’re depressed, you can lose an important connection between what matters to you and your ability to behave in a manner consistent with that. For example, you may want to get an early start on a project, but you can’t get out of bed. Coping with everyday tasks may become impossible.
And that’s the rub, isn’t it? As a lawyer, your working hours are filled with urgent tasks and details competing for attention. If your energy level and ability to concentrate are high, you probably have the resources to keep up. Conversely, if energy and concentration are poor, you quickly fall behind. The daily tasks languish incomplete, and the really important stuff never happens.
What is the really important stuff? Rainmaking, for starters. Those of you in private practice know that nothing happens without a client, so developing relationships with referral sources and prospective clients is crucial to your long-term success. If you can’t get out of bed, will you make the calls, speak to strangers at meetings (or even attend the meetings), and connect with prospective clients and contacts? It’s possible, but improbable.
In addition to rainmaking, you will address such issues as business planning, retirement planning, career planning and development, building relationships with family and friends, and maintaining physical health and fitness if you want a viable practice and a life of some kind. These activities generally fit into the category described by Stephen Covey in Seven Habits of Highly Effective People as “Important But Not Urgent.” In other words, they are vital tasks without deadlines. Neglecting them produces few, if any, immediate consequences but results in long-term pain.
So how do you know if SAD is interfering with your life? The hallmark feature is a pattern of onset and remission of depressive symptoms at certain times of the year, usually between September and April. We aren’t sure what causes SAD; one hypothesis is that it’s brought on by a biochemical imbalance in the hypothalamus due to shortening of daylight hours and lack of sunlight in winter. The classic symptoms include low energy, sleeping too much, overeating, weight gain, and carbohydrate craving. According to the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-IV, younger people and women are at higher risk.
In lawyers, here are some behavioral indicators that signal a problem: leaving mail unopened; failing to return phone calls; producing work late; feeling overwhelmed; failing to keep commitments; irritability; withdrawal from others; chronic worry or failing to worry when you should; office dishevelment; and self-medicating with alcohol or drugs, sex, food, gambling, or other mood-altering behavior.
The good news: SAD and depression of all kinds usually respond well to treatment. In the case of SAD, it may be as simple as reading in front of a special light for thirty minutes a day. SAD and other types of depression usually diminish with the help of counseling and/or antidepressant medication.
The bad news: lawyers usually wait far too long to get help. They know something is wrong but assume they’ll snap out of it on their own. Some people do.
But many don’t. The annals of lawyer discipline are strewn with the wreckage of careers marred by behavior that could have been prevented, or at least minimized, by addressing the root issues. Doesn’t it seem kind of silly to have tools readily available and not use them?
More to the point, why spend months or years feeling lousy or doing lousy work? To me, this is a tragedy far worse than a career ding. At the end of the day, all we really have is time. It’s the quality of that time matters most.
So, put aside lawyerly stubbornness and get some help if you need it. You’ll probably feel better, and your clients will be grateful.
Rebecca Nerison, Ph.D., works with lawyers and others who feel stressed or unhappy with some aspect of their professional or personal lives. She is a licensed psychologist in the Smith Tower and has worked with lawyers full time since 1997. She is on the web at www.lawstress.com and can be reached at (206) 217.5438 or at stressless@ziplip.com.
