I'll Drink to That. On Second Thought,...

Which profession is most likely to suffer from stress, depression, and alcohol or substance abuse?  That's right—here's lookin' at you, kid.  According to the FT, alcohol-related deaths in the UK among lawyers are double the rate of the general population, and in the US the ABA puts alcohol abuse among lawyers at 18% vs. 10% nationwide.

Assuming these statistics are roughly accurate (and one of my motto's is "never debate the facts"), the two obvious questions are:  Why?, and, What's to be done about it?

Concerning why, the FT lines up the usual suspects:  Law is an inherently stressful profession where the expectation is of invariant perfection, requiring long hours, a scrupulous eye for detail, and possibly a tendency towards pessimism, or at least a congenital absence of spontaneity and exuberance.   I would add that the business- and marketing-driven nature of large firm practice may be at odds with the academically or intellectually inclined "do-gooder" self-image that many law students start out with, causing cognitive dissonance at the least and utter professional flameout at worst.  Finally, virtually all associates and a substantial proportion of partners are convinced that their lives are not their own, and study upon study has confirmed that the perception of lacking control over one's situation—or even basic information about one's firm, as exemplified by the headhunter who remarks that "we now have partners asking us what is going on at their own firms"—magnify stress.

But similar observations could be made about other high-profile and high-stakes professions, not least among them medicine.  What makes lawyers different? 

I will venture two hypotheses, neither, I hasten to add, supported by a scintilla of data:  They are merely my suppositions based upon a career in the profession:

• First, lawyers are typically agents rather than principals.  By this I mean that they are seeking the attainment of goals largely dictated by others, and commonly with a set of facts and circumstances largely if not completely pre-determined.  This is archetypal of litigation, but also largely of corporate and transactional work.  Most high-achievement Type A professionals that I know, including myself, instinctively prefer the role of client to broker, talent to agent, and executive to employee.
• Second, the lawyer's role as classically conceived is to be risk-averse, cautionary, even negative.   Theirs is to foresee the future debacles and, by astute draftsmanship or trusted counsel, avert ruin or risk.   This is a far less inherently jolly approach to life than that of the innovator or deal-maker.

Which brings us to:  What to do about it?

If you are among the legion contributing to these statistics, I have serious and heartfelt advice:  Quit.  Do something else.  Start now.

Both positive and negative reasons compel me to say this.  The negative reasons are to escape whatever pressures are driving self-destructive behavior, and one's doctor, priest, and spouse would presumably second that notion entirely on its own and independent of any other motivation.

But the positive reason is, to me, far more compelling:  You aren't going to be as good as your unconflicted colleagues.  If you love what you're doing 110%, you will excel without ever looking at the clock.  But if you're only 85% committed, there's someone down the hall who is 110%.  They win, you lose.