4 surprising signs of attorney stress and some ways to address it
It’s no secret that attorneys are stressed. According to a 2023 study by the American Lawyer and Law.com Compass, about half of attorneys think that mental health problems and substance abuse are at a crisis level in the legal industry. That’s up about 8% since 2019. (Image from Shutterstock)
Nine years after graduating from law school, Kent Halkett found himself in the fifth-largest law firm (at the time) in the world, practicing as one of the youngest partners at age 34. It was exciting and stressful.
Within a few years at the Los Angeles office of Sidley Austin, Halkett says, he was diagnosed with clinical depression. And 15 years later, he attempted suicide, landing himself in a seven-week residential program that would save his life.
“If you’re a litigator 24/7, you’re taking on someone else’s problem, whether you’re representing the plaintiff or the defendant,” says Halkett, who’s licensed to practice in California and Tennessee. “It’s always an adversarial situation.”
It’s no secret that attorneys are stressed. According to a 2023 study by the American Lawyer and Law.com Compass, about half of attorneys think that mental health problems and substance abuse are at a crisis level in the legal industry. That’s up about 8% since 2019.
And about 38% of attorneys report feeling depressed—a percentage that’s been steadily increasing year over year. Not surprisingly, about 70% of attorneys are exhausted, and about 66% are experiencing physical and mental overwhelm and fatigue.
Alan Levin fit that bill. He had been a lawyer in Chicago for more than 30 years before he pivoted to become a therapist. About half of his clients are attorneys, which Levin attributes to attorneys’ interpersonal pressures and their repeated efforts to to suppress their emotions.
The long hours and the pressure to succeed are like a pressure cooker just waiting to explode. And often, your body will start giving you signs that you have to help your mind. While you may recognize common signs of stress—tension headaches, fatigue and mood changes—there are other surprising signs of stress that your body may provide. Here are some to watch and some ways to address the stress.
“If you’re a litigator 24/7, you’re taking on someone else’s problem, whether you’re representing the plaintiff or the defendant,” says Kent Halkett, who’s licensed to practice in California and Tennessee. “It’s always an adversarial situation.” (Photo by Karen L. Richard Photography)
Shoulder pain
When he’s stressed, Ben Michael, an attorney with Michael & Associates in Texas, develops a tightness in his shoulders.
“It starts to develop slowly, and the tightness is intermittent, but as the stress levels stay high, the tightness in my shoulders continues to worsen,” Michael says.
If not addressed, the shoulder tightness makes it difficult for him to sleep and to concentrate.
There’s a medical reason for this. When you’re stressed, your muscles—particularly around the head, neck and shoulders—tend to tighten, explains Dr. Thomas Pontinen, a co-founder at the MAPS Centers for Pain Control, an interventional pain center in the Chicago area.
If you ignore this muscle tightness, it could lead to tension headaches because the muscles become tight and tender, putting pressure on the nerves and blood vessels around your head, which often interferes with normal blood flow, Pontinen says.
Acne
Did you think that you left acne behind in your teenage years? Thanks to stress, it may be back. Lauren Davidson-Ibarra, an attorney and a co-founder of the Astral Law Group based in Los Angeles, experienced irritability and hormonal imbalances leading to her acne breakouts.
“I personally have struggled with hormonal imbalance and PCOS, and a tell-tale sign that stress is reaching nonoptimal levels would be an acne flare-up when it had previously been under control,” Davidson-Ibarra says.
This often happened when a trial was approaching, when important deadlines were arriving, when a project fell through, and when she was called to the office at all hours of the day and night. Davidson-Ibarra says she became very firm about boundaries, which has helped greatly with her stress levels. Now, she owns a firm and makes her schedule, which was the best thing that she ever did for her mental health, she says.
“The first time my boss caused a fight between my husband and me by calling me nonstop while we were out on date night was the last time,” she says.
Davidson-Ibarra left her firm and her acne behind.
Lockjaw
When Annie Little worked as a real estate finance attorney for seven years, her baseline stress level increased to its highest level that she’s ever encountered. It exacerbated her preexisting generalized anxiety and panic disorders, as well as the symptoms of her then-undiagnosed attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. In addition to shortness of breath, a pounding heartbeat, chest tightness and facial flushing and excessive sweating, Little also developed facial acne, an eye twitch and lockjaw.
”I wouldn’t be able to open my jaw fully because I would grind my teeth when asleep and awake,” says Little, who is based in Philadelphia.
Her symptoms were the worst at the end of a fiscal quarter because she primarily represented financial institutions that wanted to close deals, so this was her busiest time.
After seeking treatment for generalized anxiety and panic disorders in 2007, along with adding Zoloft, a prescription medication, to her medication list, her systems reduced.
For others who have lockjaw, a temporomandibular joint specialist or dentist should be able to fit you with a mouth guard, which will alleviate teeth grinding. If you find that you grind during the day, you may have to wear a mouth guard during the day and the night.
Sweating
When you’re stressed, your body typically releases catecholamines, a type of hormone made by adrenal glands, which can lead to excessive sweating. This can also raise your blood pressure, cause headaches and give you a pounding heart—all intended to help you prepare for a fight, according to Medical News Today.
The sweat from stress is slightly different than traditional sweat. When you are anxious, your apocrine glands release sweat that’s mostly comprised of proteins and fatty acids. It’s usually released in your armpits, on your scalp and around your groin because your apocrine glands (those responsible for stress sweat) are located in the areas of you body that have hair follicles, according to Piedmont, a nonprofit health care company in Georgia.
Little experienced all the above until she sought professional psychiatric help and began taking antidepressants.
“I began taking Zoloft, and the symptoms related to general anxiety and panic were greatly reduced,” Little says.
Next, she took an even greater step to make sure that her stressed would be zapped.
“I decided to put an end to the physical and emotional stress and started my lawyer coaching business in 2012 and never looked back,” she says.
