No, I Can’t Just Drink a Cup of Tea: Why and How Law Schools Must Change for the Sake of Mental Health

Abigail M. Seeley*

Law students—and, subsequently, lawyers—are mentally and emotionally unwell.¹ While new law students often begin their first year of school filled with excitement, hope, and passion for the law, professors and students alike acknowledge the rapid decline in the apparent wellbeing of students.²

Unfortunately, these concerns are backed by the numbers. In spring 2021, researchers—including St. Thomas Law’s own Jerry Organ—administered an anonymous, voluntary survey to law students from thirty-nine schools across the United States, receiving over 5,000 responses.³

The survey, dubbed the “Survey of Law Student Well-Being” or “SLSWB,” followed up on a similar survey conducted by the same researchers in 2014. The 2021 SLSWB found that thirty-three percent of the surveyed law students had been diagnosed with depression and forty percent were diagnosed with anxiety.⁴

Not only were these numbers significantly increased from the 2014 SLSWB, but they also under-represent the number of students who may be eligible for one of these diagnoses. Participants were also asked to complete screeners for anxiety and depression. Forty-three percent of participants screened positive for moderate to severe depression and fifty-four percent screened positive for anxiety/mental distress.⁵

From the 2014 SLSWB to the 2021 SLSWB, the percentage of students struggling with psychiatric difficulties—including anxiety, depression, disordered eating, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts—increased substantially.⁶ Most concerningly, almost thirty-three percent of the law students who responded to this survey indicated they had seriously considered attempting suicide in their lifetime, with eleven percent having considered it in the last year.⁷

The numbers are not much better for lawyers. A 2016 survey of almost 13,000 attorneys found that “[l]evels of depression, anxiety, and stress among attorneys were significant, with 28%, 19%, and 23% experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively.”⁸ Another study published just this year found that lawyers were twice as likely to experience suicidal ideation compared to the general population, with lawyers who describe high levels of stress being twenty-two times more likely to have suicidal thoughts.⁹

These worrisome statistics beg the question: what are we as a profession doing to ensure our law students and lawyers are mentally and emotionally well? How are we changing the law school environment to prevent the continued rise of mental health disorders in our profession? The answer: we are not doing enough. Law schools are failing lawyers and law students alike.

Consider, as an example, the infamous “curve” upon which students are graded. Despite much of a lawyer’s work requiring collaboration with others, the curve sends a different message.¹⁰ The curve tells students their success is entirely relative to the success of their peers. Despite any progress a student may make, she is constantly aware that the more successful her peers are, the less successful she will be when final grades roll out. This mindset inherently stymies collaboration, particularly for students whose scholarships or career goals depend on maintaining high grades.¹¹

To fight this message and increase collaboration with peers, many law schools have expanded their curriculum to include experiential learning programs of a wide variety.¹² These experiential curriculums give students a chance to collaborate with their peers while developing practical skills. However, these exercises also increase student workloads and stress levels. Often, these exercises do not exist to replace the final exam at the end of the semester as the sole determinant of a student’s grade, as was once the standard practice. Instead, students are often asked to complete a final assessment of similar caliber in addition to any discussion posts, quizzes, drafting exercises, and other experience-based projects.¹³

Substantially altering the grading and curriculum of law school only solves some problems. Even with standardized grading and more thoughtful, manageable workloads in the classroom, the “workaholic” culture of law school breeds unwellness.¹⁴ Students, particularly in their second and third year of law school, have almost impossible expectations to meet. They are encouraged to take a full course load while also participating in clubs, competing on advocacy teams, writing and editing for a journal, networking and volunteering in the community, working for their future employers, and more.

In attempts to meet those expectations, while earning strong grades and completing all assignments, students are sacrificing sleep, socialization, self-care, and happiness.¹⁵ In fact, lack of healthy sleep is almost an expectation for law students.¹⁶ Rather than making substantive changes to reduce student stress and allow more time for student relaxation, law schools—perhaps inadvertently—are placing the responsibility and blame on students for their poor mental health.¹⁷ The message that “[students] need to learn how to deal with [their] stress in healthy ways” is certainly true, but advice to “go for a quick walk” or “look at funny things” minimizes the almost insurmountable anxiety students sometimes feel because of daunting expectations.¹⁸

So, what can law schools do? First, law schools should eliminate or substantially alter the curved grading system. Second, professors and administration should focus on thoughtfully incorporating practical experiences into curriculum, with particular attention to creating a balanced workload for students. Third, law school advisors should focus on the individual student’s career goals, passions, and time constraints in helping students determine which extracurriculars and classes are important, rather than pushing students to do it all. Lastly, law schools must reduce the impossible expectation that, on top of everything else, students are exclusively responsible for finding the time, energy, and resources to care for their worsening mental health. Failure to implement these kinds of changes will cost law students their happiness, mental health, or even their lives.

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* Abigail M. Seeley, J.D. Candidate, University of St. Thomas School of Law Class of 2024 (Membership Editor).

1. See, e.g., Jennifer Jolly-Ryan, The Last Taboo: Breaking Law Students with Mental Illnesses and Disabilities out of the Stigma Straitjacket, 79 UMKC L. Rev. 123 (2010); Matthew S. Theise, Joseph A. Allen, Martha Knudson, Kim Free, & Paige Petersen, Depressive Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation Among Lawyers and Other Law Professionals, 63 JOEM 381 (2021). ↩︎
2. Lawrence S. Krieger, Institutional Denial About the Dark Side of Law School, and Fresh Empirical Guidance for Constructively Breaking the Silence, 52 J. Legal Educ. 112, 113 (2002). ↩︎
3. David Jaffe, Katherine M. Bender, & Jerome Organ, “It Is Okay to Not Be Okay”: The 2021 Survey of Law Student Well-Being, 60 Univ. of Louisville L. Rev. 441, 451 (2021). ↩︎
4. Id. at 483. ↩︎
5. Id. at 464-65. ↩︎
6. Id. at 483. ↩︎
7. Id. at 467. ↩︎
8. Patrick R. Krill, Ryan Johnson, & Linda Albert, The Prevalence of Substance Abuse and Other Mental Health Concerns Among American Attorneys, 10 J. Addiction Med. 46, 46 (Feb. 2016). ↩︎
9. Patrick R. Krill, Hannah M. Thomas, Meaghyn R. Kramer, Nikki Degeneffe, & Justin J. Anker, Stressed, Lonely, and Overcommitted: Predictors of Lawyer Suicide Risk, Vol. 11 Healthcare 536, 543 (2023). ↩︎
10. Lawrence S. Krieger, Human Nature as a New Guiding Philosophy for Legal Education and the Profession, 47 Washburn L. J. 247, 299 (2008). ↩︎
11. Carol L. Wallinger, Moving from First to Final Draft: Offering Autonomy-Supportive Choices to Motivate Students to Internalize the Writing Process, 54 Loy. L. Rev. 820, 831 (2008). ↩︎
12. See, e.g., Experiential Learning, Univ. of Minn. L. Sch., https://law.umn.edu/academics/experiential-learning (last visited Sept. 26, 2023); Practical Training, Univ. of St. Thomas Sch. of L., https://law.stthomas.edu/jd-program/training/index.html (last visited Sept. 26, 2023); Experiential Learning, Univ. of Mich. Sch. of L., https://michigan.law.umich.edu/academics/experiential-learning (last visited Sept. 26, 2023); Hands on Learning, Univ. of Kan. Sch. of L., https://law.ku.edu/academics/hands-on-learning (last visited Sept. 26, 2023). ↩︎
13. See, e.g., Kirstin D. Kanski, Course Syllabus for Sales at University of St. Thomas School of Law 1–3 (2023) (on file with author); Cindy B. Guys, Course Syllabus for Constitutional Law at Southern Illinois University School of Law (2023), https://law.siu.edu/_common/documents/syllabi/sp-23-syllabi/CON-LAW-SYLLABUS-2023.pdf. ↩︎
14. Krieger, supra note 10, at 301. ↩︎
15. See Mayumi March, Sacrifices in Law School, Medium (Apr. 25, 2021) https://mymayumi.medium.com/sacrifices-in-law-school-877a6a404f97. ↩︎
16. See, e.g., Hafsa Mansoor, “Sleep is a Distant Memory, and There’s Nothing but Caffeine in my Veins”: Self Care for Law Students, First Gen JD, (May 6, 2019) https://firstgenjd.com/2019/05/06/self-care-for-law-students/; Maya Itah, Surviving on a Pitiful Amount of Sleep, Tipping the Scales (June 23, 2014) https://tippingthescales.com/schools/surviving-on-a-pitiful-amount-of-sleep/. ↩︎
17. See, e.g., Grit & Resilience: Well-Being for Law Students and Lawyers, Temple Univ. Beasley Sch. of L. https://guides.temple.edu/grit (last visited Sept. 27, 2023). ↩︎
18. How to Deal with Law School Stress in Healthy Ways, New England Sch. of L. https://www.nesl.edu/blog/detail/how-to-deal-with-law-school-stress-in-healthy-ways (last visited Sept. 27, 2023). ↩︎