Content uploaded by Anjali Nilkanthappa Shete
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Anjali Nilkanthappa Shete on Aug 17, 2018
Content may be subject to copyright.
IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences (IOSR-JDMS)
e-ISSN: 2279-0853, p-ISSN: 2279-0861.Volume 15, Issue 5 Ver. VII (May. 2016), PP 129-132
www.iosrjournals.org
DOI: 10.9790/0853-150507129132 www.iosrjournals.org 129 | Page
Legally Unhappy: Psychological Distress in Legal Practitioners
DrShete Anjali N1, Dr. K.D.Garkal2
Associate Professor, Physiology, Government Medical College, Aurangabad
Registrar, MUHS,Nashik, Maharashtra.
Abstract
Background: Occupational stress is of increasing importance due to increased demands for every occupation.
A range of adverse health outcomes have been identified; psychological disorders are significant because they
occur frequently and are often unrecognized. Of all professionals, lawyers form the highest rate of depression
and are more likely to suffer from the depressive disorders.
Aim: The primary objective of our study was to find out the levels of psychological distress in legal
practitioners. The secondary objective was to compare these findings in males and females.
Method: It was across sectional study. 50 lawyers of both sex of age 30-45 years and practicing since 10 years
were selected as cases. Thorough clinical examination was done to rule out any major illness. Each participant
was given DASS (Depression Anxiety Stress Score) questionnaire. Completed DASS data was tabulated and
analyzed by SPSS software. Unpaired t test was applied for statistical significance.
Results: Among the 50 cases, 36 cases were males and 14 were females. The levels of stress and anxiety was
reported higher in the study. The females were showing higher stress than males which was statistically
significant.
Conclusion: The present study concluded that lawyers are at risk of psychological stress. The females lawyers
were at more risk than the male lawyers.
Keywords: Legal Practitioners DASS 42 Psychological Distress
I. Introduction
Occupational stress is of increasing importance due to continuingstructural changes in the workplace
with both increasing demands and job securityimposed on employees. A range of adverse health outcomes have
been identified.Psychological disorders are significant because they occur frequently and are oftenunrecognized.
They can be accompanied by significant social morbidity.There areimportant implications for the lifestyle and
health of the employees and their families.The stress implied by various professions were studied; of which
most studied weremedical, engineers and teachers. In those; medical profession was having higher
stresslevels.(1)In a country where the depression rate is ten times higher todaythan it wasin the past (1) ; lawyers
sit at the unenviable zenith of the depressedprofessionals. Of all professions in the united states, lawyers suffer
from the highestrate of depression. They are more likely to suffer from major depressive disorders thanthe rest
of the professions.(2) Lawyers are also at a greater risk of heart disease,alcoholism and drug abuse than the
general population.(3)There were various studiesdone in other countries but, very less studies were seen in the
Indian lawyers.Today an increasing number of lawyers are experiencing burnouts,Insomnia, low productivity
and stress related illness(4) due to lack of balance inpersonal and professional lives. A psychosocial interplay
between personality, powerstatus and service and intellectual challenges forms the career dilemma of
lawyersconflicts.Job satisfaction has been defined as the positive orientation of anindividual towards the work
role which he is presently occupying and the pleasurableemotional state resulting from the appraisal of one‟s job
as achieving or facilitatingone‟s values. It is basically an individual matter and refers to what one expects
fromhis/her job and when there is mismatch between what is expected and what is receiveddissatisfaction
occurs. Due to high job demands there is significant impact of stress onthe lawyer‟s mental and physical health
which in turn leads to stress.(5)Some degree of stress is the normal part of life and provides thestimulus to learn
and grow without an adverse effect on health. (6) But, when stress isintense continuous or repeated as is often the
case with occupational stress;ill healthcan result it can destroy quality of life and also affect family life. It can
lead toemotional reactions like depression, irritability, anxiety, fatigue withdrawal, and low selfesteem.
Physiological (heart burn, eating disorders) muscle pain and behavioralreactions like smoking ,drinking.(7)Very
few studies were seen in India and hence this study wasplanned to see the psychological distress in lawyers.
II. Method
50 lawyers of both sex practicing at High court Aurangabad,were selected . Thorough clinical history
and examination was done.Thelawyershaving any major disorder or with recent history of any incidence
affectinghis/her mental health were excluded. The details included age, gender, H/Omedications were
Legally Unhappy: Psychological Distress In Legal Practitioners
DOI: 10.9790/0853-150507129132 www.iosrjournals.org 130 | Page
recorded .A written consent was taken and completeconfidentiality was assured. A validated
(8)questionnaire DASS 42 was given to eachparticipant along with a standard preface explaining the
purpose of the study and was asked to fill.The DASS 42 scale described by Lovibond and Lovibond(9) isa
survey that measures the level of depression, anxiety and stress levels in anindividual. The structure of the
DASS is similar to the tripartite model of Clark andWatson (10)which conceptualizes depression and anxiety as
having unique distinguishingfeatures and some common symptoms as well. During the testing of the scale a
newfactor emerged that referred to difficulty in relaxing, nervous tension, irritability andagitation. This
difficulty was labeled as “Stress” by virtue of perceived similarity to thesymptoms of tension or stress
described.The DASS 42 has 14 items for each of thethree scales.Items3,5,10,13,16,17,21,24,26,31,34,37,38 and
42 form the depressionscale and assess dysphoria, hopelessness, deviation of life , self deprecation, lack
ofinterest or involvement and inertia. The anxiety scale has 14 items;2,4,7,9,15,19,20,23,25,28,30,36,40 and 41
which measures autonomic arousal, skeletalstress scale has items 1,6,8,11,12,14,18,22,27,29,32, 33,35 and 39
which quantifies thedifficulty in relaxing, nervous arousal and being easily upset or agitated or
irritable.Therespondentsrate the extent to which they have experienced the symptoms over theprevious week on
a four point rating scale.The sum of scores obtained from the 14items in each scale and the scale severity is
interpreted as shown in the table.
Table 1 :DASS severity levels
G R A D E S
D E P R E S S I O N
A N X I E T Y
S T R E S S
N O R M A L
0 - 9
0 - 7
0 - 1 4
M I L D
10- 1 3
8 - 9
15- 1 8
M O D E R A T E
14- 2 0
10- 1 4
19- 2 5
S E V E R E
21- 2 7
15- 1 9
26- 3 3
E X T R E M E S E V E R E
28+
20+
34+
The scale has been tested and found to possess excellent reliability,good validity and simple in
language and requires less time.(11)
III. Statistical Analysis
The data was analyzed and coded.Unpaired ttest was applied for comparing the variables.
IV. Result
A total of 50 lawyers were selected for the study.They were practicing since7-10 years.The age of the
lawyers was ranging between 30-45 years. Among the50; 36 were males and 14 were females.DASS
questionnaire was given to them.When we analyzed depressionscale,31 cases reported no evidence
ofdepression,7cases reported mild depression,7 moderate depression and 2 reportedextreme severe depression.
The mean depression score was 8.96+8.16 ( Table 2).The anxiety scale reported 22 normal cases. Among the
remaining ,5 reported mild,10 moderate,8 severe and 5 extreme severe cases of anxietylevels.The mean anxiety
levels was 8.12± 6.03 ( Table 2) Our studyreported 28 normal cases of stress scale.; 6 cases were having mild
stress, 10 werehaving moderate stress,4 cases were having severe stress and 2 reported extremesevere stress
levels. The mean stress level was 17.62±7.18 ( Table 2).We further grouped the cases into males and females
and analyzed the data.In males the depression score was 9.71±8.35,the anxiety score was 10.08±7.28.And the
stress score was 10.47±6.60. In females; the depression score was7.64±6.54,the anxiety score was 8.78±6.49,
the stress score was13.79±8.76.(Table 3).The difference in depression and anxiety was notstatistically
significant, but the stress levels were showing significant difference in males andfemales.
V. Discussion
Mental illness encompasses a variety of mental impairments that may affectindividual‟s thought,mood
or behavior. It also affects his/her ability to function psychologically,socially, occupationally or interpersonally.
A lawyers role is to advocate for his/her clients. Andlawyers have the duty to act competently maintain client
confidentiality, avoid client‟s adverseinterests and communicate with clients to keep them reasonably informed,
among other duties.Mental illness can affect a lawyers ability to abide these duties and provide professional
andcompetent representation. It can lead to decreased work performance, burning out and inability
to maintain ethical responsibilities and discipline.Our study reported an overall mild degree of anxiety and mild
stress levels in the lawyers. The depression levels were in normal range for overall sample. When we analyzed
according to gender difference, it was observed that there were higher levels of stress among females as
compared to male lawyers which was statistically significant. The depression and anxiety levels in female
lawyers were seen to be lower compared to male lawyers.
The results in our study shows that lawyers definitely suffer from stressful situations leading to
psychological disturbances. Lawyers are expected to heavy workloads . By it‟s nature, the profession is full of
Legally Unhappy: Psychological Distress In Legal Practitioners
DOI: 10.9790/0853-150507129132 www.iosrjournals.org 131 | Page
multiple sources of conflict and adversity. Lawyers have to deal with conflict and uncontrollable uncertainty
from clients, opposing council,other lawyers, insurance companies and judges, etc. lawyers feel stress and
body‟s stress response can contribute to the root of mental illness. (11)Legal profession gives little in turn in
terms for the years of hard labor and stress(12). Various studies on lawyers job satisfaction have turned out
different results. Some studies find lawyers are among unhappiest professionals, while others say they are
equally satisfied or dissatisfied as other workers.(13) A study found that 40% of lawyers were dissatisfied with
their jobs (14). In 2006, one survey found that 56% of lawyers were very satisfied with their jobs.(11) In 1990,
study by the National survey found the most common reasons for lawyers negative job experiences were „ not
much time for self‟ and „not much time for family‟ (15) According to Berman; lawyers experience many of these
risk factors at higher rates than general population.(16)Daicoff in 1977 found that increasing competition results
in stress and low jib satisfaction among lawyers. It was found that when lawyers have less work to do as
compared with their colleagues,then the situation ends with job dissatisfaction.(17) Kirti Patel in her study
concluded that high demand,low support at the workplace and inadequate recreation at the workplace
corroborates with the development of stress.(18)
In this study, gender was significantly influencing the stress levels. Several studies have shown that
females were more prone for emotional disturbances than males.(19,20)The femalelawyers have lessjobsatisfaction
and more stress and burnout than males.(21)In our study,the female lawyers showed a lower depression levels.
This may be due to the fact females are more likely report concern, stress due to self-expectation and tendency
to report symptoms.(20)
Despite the prevalence of mental illness in our society, there remains a stigma attached to mental
illness. Lawyers may choose not to seek treatment out of fear that may be diagnosed with a mental illness and
the fear what it could mean to their ability to practice law. Some lawyers choose to remain silent about their
diagnosed or undiagnosed mental illness at work.
VI. Conclusion
Lawyers suffer from higher degrees of stress and anxiety levels due to high stress of the profession.
Female lawyers were showing higher stress levels than male lawyers. The study also concluded that lawyers
have a high risk of substance abuse and face stigma in the workplace.
VII. Limitations
It was a cross sectional, questionnaire based study. Small sample size was a major factor of limitation.
Comparison with general population and other professions were not done. Factors contributing the stress levels
were not analyzed.
Acknowledgement
I want to thank my brother, AdvocateUmesh N. Shete; who helped me in communication with the
lawyers. Without his assistance it was difficult to collect the data. I would also thank all the lawyers who readily
accepted to participate in the study. Some of senior lawyers gave the suggestions regarding forming LAWYER
ASSISTANCE PROGRAMMES at the courts ; which seems to be a very good suggestion.
References
[1]. T.D.Peterson,E.W.Peterson: Stemming the tide of the law student depression, what law school need to learn from the positive
psychology; http://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/faculty publication/ 871-2008.
[2]. William w. Eaton et all: Occupations and prevalence of major depressive disorders, J.Occupational med.'1079-1083,1990.
[3]. Martin E.P. Seligman,PaulR,Verkuil Terry H Many: Why lawyers are unhappy; Deakin law rev. 49, 66, 2005.
[4]. AkiomeKnows,Orito Kawakami, Takashi Haratani: Job stressors and long term sick leave due to depressive disorders among
Japanese male employee,; J. Of epidemiology and community health , 64,229-235,2010.
[5]. Anita Sharma, ShewtaVerma, DalipMalhotra: Stress and burnout as predictors of job satisfaction amongst lawyers; European
journal of social sciences, 3(14),348-359,2010.
[6]. RajiaKalimo, MostafaBotawi, Carey Cooper: Psychosocial factors at work and their relation to health; WHO, Geneva, 1-
15,1987.
[7]. H.K.Jenson, J.Wieclaw, T. Munch Hansen: Does dissatisfaction with psychosocial work climate predict depressive, anxiety and
substance abuse disorders; A prospective study of Danish public service employees; Journal of Epidemiology and community
health,64, 796-801,2010.
[8]. Julie D. Henry , John R. Crawford. The short-form version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21): Construct
validity and normative data in a large non-clinical sample; British Journal of Clinical Psychology (2005), 44, 227–239 .
[9]. Lovibond LH, Lovibond PF: Manual for the depression,anxiety,stress scales,2nded, Sydney. Psychology foundation of
Australia,1995
[10]. Clark LA,Watson D: Tripartite model of anxiety and depression: psychometric evidence and taxonomic implications, ;
J.Abnorm.Psychol; 100,316-336,1991
[11]. Psychology foundation of Australia: Depression, anxiety, stress scales at http://www.psy.unsw.edu.au/group/dass// accessed
April 15,2011.
[12]. Weir; The beginning of mental illness : American Psycho Assn. 43(2), 36,2012.
[13]. Wehrenberg: The suicide of a lawyer with depression: Ken‟s story, lawyers with depression
Legally Unhappy: Psychological Distress In Legal Practitioners
DOI: 10.9790/0853-150507129132 www.iosrjournals.org 132 | Page
[14]. http://www.lawyerswithdepression.com/articles/the-suicide-of-a-lawyers-with-depression-
[15]. ken-story/2011.
[16]. Curtis: Looking for a happier legal carrier or something different, CA Bar Journal
[17]. http://www.calbarjournal.com/January 2010/Topheadlines/TH1.aspx/2010
[18]. Carlton: Getting help when you need it California Bar Journal ;
[19]. http://www.calbarlap.com/CBJ /2006 -MCLE-article-doc.pdf/2006
[20]. Griffith: Job satisfaction in the legal industry law crossing
[21]. http://www.lawcrossing.com/article/112/job-satisfaction-in-the-legal-industry/2014.
[22]. Chiu L.Do professional women have job satisfaction than professional men lawyers as a case study? Journal sex roles; 3,7-
8,1998.
[23]. Hagan J. Kay F: Even lawyers get the blues; Gender, depression and job satisfaction in legal practice. Law Soc.Rev,41,51-
78,1999.
[24]. Diacoff S. Lawyers know thyself: A review of empirical research on Attorney attributes bearing an professionalism: Am.
Univ.Law Rev;46,3-14,1997.
[25]. Kirti A. Patel, Shekhar R. Rajderkar, JayshreeD. Naik, Vivek S. Behere: A study of certain correlates of job satisfaction among
judicial personnel in a district of Western Maharashtra;
[26]. Indian J. Occup. Environ.Med,18(2); 68-74;2014.
[27]. Grant K. Marsh P. Syniar G: Gender differences in rates of depression among undergraduates ;measurement matters; J.
Adolesc;25,613-617,2002.
Table 2: Overall DASS score in legal practitioners
N O R M A L
M I L D
M O D E R A T E
S E V E R E
E X T R E M E
SEVERE
M E A N ± S . D .
D e p r e s s i o n
3 1
7
7
3
2
8 . 9 6 ± 8 . 1 6
A n x i e t y
2 2
5
1 0
8
5
8 . 1 2 ± 6 . 0 3
S t r e s s
2 8
6
1 0
4
2
1 7 . 6 2 ± 7 . 1 8
Table 3: Gender difference in DASS score
D e p r e s s i o n
mean±s.d.
A n x i e t y
mean±s.d.
S t r e s s
mean±s.d.
M a l e s n = 3 6
9 . 7 1 ± 8 . 3 5
1 0 . 0 8 ± 7 . 2 8
1 0 . 4 7 ± 6 . 6 0
F e m a l e s n = 1 4
7 . 6 4 ± 6 . 5 4
8 . 7 8 ± 6 . 4 9
1 3 . 7 9 ± 8 . 7 6
N S
N S
S
NS= non significant. S= significant
Graph 1: Overall DASS score in legal practitioners
Graph 2: Gender difference in DASS score
