Managing Stress, Grief, and Mental Health Challenges in the Legal Profession; Not Your Usual Law Review Article

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2565

MANAGING STRESS, GRIEF, AND MENTAL

HEALTH CHALLENGES IN THE LEGAL

PROFESSION; NOT YOUR USUAL LAW REVIEW

ARTICLE

Deborah L. Rhode*

NTRODUCTION

The statistics are shocking and the stories are worse. Lawyers report

almost three times the rate of depression and almost twice the rate of

substance abuse as other Americans.

Law ranks among the top five careers

for suicide.

Although entering students rank better than students in other

fields with respect to mental health and substance abuse, law graduates leave

with higher rates of problems.

Of equal concern are the numbers of current

and future lawyers who, when surrounded by signals of distress, look away

or fail to look at all. For example, one third of law students have reported

that if they saw a classmate suffering, they would be very or somewhat likely

to do nothing.

And to state the obvious, the pandemic has made all these

problems worse. New research suggests that about half of Americans believe

that challenges posed by COVID-19 have adversely affected their mental

health; a third of Americans are showing signs of clinical anxiety or

depression, and rates of drug and alcohol abuse are soaring.

* Ernest W. McFarland Professor of Law and Director of the Center on the Legal Profession,

Stanford Law School. This Article was prepared for the Symposium entitled Mental Health

and the Legal Profession, hosted by the Fordham Law Review; the Neuroscience and Law

Center; the Center on Race, Law and Justice; and the Stein Center for Law and Ethics on

November 6, 2020, at Fordham University School of Law. The research assistance of Carrie

Lebel is gratefully acknowledged, as are comments by Ben Barton and Jason Solomon.

1. Sue Shellenbarger, Even Lawyers Get the Blues: Opening Up About Depression,

ALL ST. J. (Dec. 13, 2007, 11:59 PM), https://www.wsj.com/articles/

SB119751245108525653 [https://perma.cc/9V4Y-JHBG].

2. Rosa Flores & Rose Marie Arce, Why Are Lawyers Killing Themselves?, CNN (Jan.

20, 2014, 2:42 PM), http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/19/us/lawyer-suicides/ [https://perma.cc

/WZ54-DSSN].

3. Kennon M. Sheldon & Lawrence S. Krieger, Does Legal Education Have

Undermining Effects on Law Students?: Evaluating Changes in Motivation, Values, and Well-

Being, 22 B

EHAV. SCIS. & L. 261, 280 (2004); see also Jerome M. Organ et al., Suffering in

Silence: The Survey of Law Student Well-Being and the Reluctance of Law Students to Seek

Help for Substance Use and Mental Health Concerns, 66 J.

LEGAL EDUC. 116, 119–20 (2016).

4. Organ et al., supra note 3, at 143.

5. P

ATRICK R. KRILL, WELL-BEING DISRUPTED, THE KRILL REPORT (2020) (citing Sandro

Galea et al., The Mental Health Consequences of COVID-19 and Physical Distancing: The

Need for Prevention and Early Intervention, 180 JAMA

INTERNAL MED. 817, 817–18 (2020));

2566 FORDHAM LAW REVIEW [Vol. 89

Stories of lawyer impairment are similarly disturbing because they put a

human face on those statistics. One story that particularly affected me, and

thousands of others, came to light in a 2017 New York Times article, now a

book, Smacked.

The author, Eilene Zimmerman, movingly described the

death of her ex-husband, Peter, from an infection related to drug abuse. Peter

was a partner at a leading Silicon Valley law firm who had exhibited signs

of serious ill health and substance abuse that were missed or ignored by his

colleagues. The Stanford Center on the Legal Profession subsequently

invited Eilene to join a dialogue with Patrick Krill, one of the nation’s leading

experts on substance abuse in the profession, and Andrew Benjamin, who

has done pathbreaking research on mental health among law students.

Before a large and stunned audience, Eilene described a scene from Peter’s

memorial service. When a young associate from his firm “stood up to speak

of their friendship . . . [q]uite a few of the lawyers attending the service were

bent over their phones, reading and tapping out emails. Their friend and

colleague was dead, and yet they couldn’t stop working long enough to listen

to what was being said about him.”

Since that occasion, I have registered the need to write more about

wellness for lawyers and have done so both in law review articles and in my

casebooks Legal Ethics and Leadership for Lawyers. All of these

publications review research on the scope and causes of the challenges and

the sources of meaning and happiness that can insulate those individuals from

distress.

I won’t reiterate all of those research findings here. Rather, this

Article provides a brief updated overview of the problem and essential

responses. It proceeds in three parts. Part I offers a brief overview of recent

research on the scope of mental health challenges in the legal profession and

Patrick Krill, The Events of 2020 Have Changed Our Collective Mental Health—and Risk-

Profile, LAW.COM (June 30, 2020, 11:58 AM), https://www.law.com/2020/06/30/the-events-

of-2020-have-changed-our-collective-mental-health-and-risk-profile/

[https://perma.cc/DXX3-L8E6]; Nirmita Panchal et al., The Implications of COVID-19 for

Mental Health and Substance Use, K

AISER FAM. FOUND. (Feb. 10, 2021),

https://www.kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/the-implications-of-covid-19-for-mental-

health-and-substance-use/ [https://perma.cc/QV7X-HF4P].

6. E

ILENE ZIMMERMAN, SMACKED (2020); Eilene Zimmerman, The Lawyer, The Addict,

N.Y.

TIMES (July 15, 2017), https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/15/business/lawyers-

addiction-mental-health.html [https://perma.cc/N4MH-LXYR].

7. Patrick Krill is the founder of a behavioral-health consulting firm for the legal

profession and the former director of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation’s treatment program

for addicted lawyers, judges, and law students. Andrew Benjamin is a law and psychology

professor at the University of Washington. A recording of the program is available, and it

makes for an unsettling experience. See Stanford L. Sch., The Elephant in the Room: The

Legal Profession, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse, Y

OUTUBE (Feb. 16, 2018),

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJngsXBIQeQ [https://perma.cc/3FWD-CSV3].

8. Zimmerman, supra note 6.

9. See, e.g., D

EBORAH L. RHODE, AMBITION: FOR WHAT? (forthcoming 2021); DEBORAH

L. RHODE, LEADERSHIP FOR LAWYERS 82–85, 625, 627 (2020); DEBORAH L. RHODE ET AL.,

LEGAL ETHICS 1–3, 1037–46 (8th ed. 2020); DEBORAH L. RHODE, THE TROUBLE WITH

LAWYERS 9–29 (2015) [hereinafter RHODE, THE TROUBLE WITH LAWYERS]; Deborah L. Rhode,

Preparing Leaders: The Evolution of a Field and the Stresses of Leadership, 58 SANTA CLARA

L. REV. 410, 413–24 (2019).

2021] MANAGING STRESS, GRIEF, AND MENTAL HEALTH 2567

its underlying causes. Part II suggests some institutional strategies for

change. Part III provides some strategies for individuals who are struggling

with these issues.

MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES

A. The Scope of the Problem

The most comprehensive recent study of lawyers and substance abuse was

cosponsored by the American Bar Association and Hazelden Betty Ford

Foundation. Based on responses from almost 13,000 attorneys, it found that

about a fifth of all lawyers qualify as problem drinkers and suffer from

anxiety and just over a quarter struggle with mild or serious depression.

Figures on drug use are unreliable because three-quarters of the survey

participants declined to answer even an anonymous survey question, a refusal

that reflects the stigma and illegality associated with such substance abuse.

A smaller 2019 study by ALM Intelligence of 3800 lawyers and allied

professionals in large law firms reported even higher frequencies of

problems.

For example:

 Almost two-thirds of respondents reported feelings of anxiety and over

three-quarters knew of colleagues who did.

 Almost three-quarters of respondents reported that work conditions were

contributing to the respondent’s own issue(s) of anxiety, depression,

substance abuse, and/or other mental health problems.

 Two-thirds of respondents reported that work has caused their personal

relationships to suffer.

 Seven out of ten respondents believed that mental health and substance

abuse were significant problems within the profession.

Even the accumulation of relatively minor “microstressors” can make

people more vulnerable to physical and mental health difficulties and impair

judgment, motivation, and work performance.

By some estimates, at least

60 percent of doctor-related visits have something to do with stress-related

complaints.

10. Patrick R. Krill et al., The Prevalence of Substance Use and Other Mental Health

Concerns Among American Attorneys, 10 J.

ADDICTION MED. 46, 46 (2016).

11. Zimmerman, supra note 6.

12. ALM

INTEL., MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE SURVEY (2019).

13. Id.

14. Id.

15. Id.

16. Id.

17. Rob Cross et al., Don’t Let Micro-stresses Burn You Out, H

ARV. BUS. REV. (July 9,

2020), https://hbr.org/2020/07/dont-let-micro-stresses-burn-you-out [https://perma.cc/E46F-

GZJ5].

18. Id.

2568 FORDHAM LAW REVIEW [Vol. 89

B. Underlying Causes

Primary reasons for lawyers’ disproportionate vulnerability involve both

the characteristics of those who enter law and also the priorities and pressures

that they encounter in legal education and legal practice. Research generally

suggests that law attracts a disproportionate number of individuals with

personality traits such as competitiveness, combativeness, and pessimism,

which combine to make them especially susceptible to pressure, stress, and

related mental health difficulties.

Law school often compounds the

problem. Entering students rank better than students in other fields in terms

of mental health and substance abuse but graduate with higher rates of

problems.

Reasons include the excessive work, crushing debt burdens,

intense competition for jobs and grades, and lack of resources concerning

psychological health.

For students of color, racial bias and feelings of

isolation and exclusion create further challenges.

Students from socially

and economically disadvantaged backgrounds experience related stigma and

a perceived lack of cultural competence.

Even students who recognize that they have problems are often

understandably reluctant to seek help. They worry about reputation, stigma,

expense, and threats to bar admission, employment, or academic status.

one recent survey of fifteen law schools, although over 40 percent of students

thought that they had needed help for mental health problems in the prior

year, only about 20 percent received counseling from a mental health

professional.

Although a quarter reported signs of excessive drinking, only

4 percent reported ever receiving assistance for substance abuse.

Students

with the most serious issues were the least likely to seek assistance.

Only

19. See NANCY LEVIT & DOUGLAS O. LINDER, THE HAPPY LAWYER: MAKING A GOOD LIFE

IN THE

LAW 74–75 (2010); see also RHODE, THE TROUBLE WITH LAWYERS, supra note 9, at 17,

155 n.56.

20. Organ et al., supra note 3, at 117; Sheldon & Krieger, supra note 3, at 262.

21. N

AT’L TASK FORCE ON LAW. WELL-BEING, THE PATH TO LAWYER WELL-BEING:

PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POSITIVE CHANGE 35 (2017),

https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/images/abanews/ThePathToLawyerWellBein

gReportRevFINAL.pdf [https://perma.cc/3HE8-UDBU]; Rhode, supra note 9; Kathryne M.

Young, Understanding the Social and Cognitive Processes in Law School That Create

Unhealthy Lawyers, 89 F

ORDHAM L. REV. 2575 (2021).

22. Bonita London et al., Psychological Theories of Educational Engagement: A Multi-

method Approach to Studying Individual Engagement and Institutional Change, 60 V

AND. L.

REV. 455, 462–63 (2007); see also Rhode, supra note 9.

23. London et al., supra note 22, at 462–63. For cultural competence, see Grover E.

Cleveland, Helping First-Generation Lawyers Thrive, L

AW PRAC. TODAY (Apr. 13, 2018),

https://www.lawpracticetoday.org/article/helping-first-generation-lawyers [https://perma.cc

/G2PV-5VHD].

24. Organ et al., supra note 3,

at 141; Young, supra note 21.

25. Organ et al., supra note 3, at 140–41.

26. Id. at 140.

27. Id.

2021] MANAGING STRESS, GRIEF, AND MENTAL HEALTH 2569

half of students say that their law school places substantial emphasis on

preparing them to handle the stresses of law practice.

In many professional settings, the problems escalate. Causes include

excessive competition and workloads, concerns about job security, and a

culture that rewards immediate accessibility. Law is the nation’s second

most sleep-deprived occupation, which escalates the risk of anxiety and

depression and impairs performance.

Availability 24/7 functions as a

proxy for commitment, and overwork is a major cause of psychological and

physical challenges.

As a cartoon in The New Yorker puts it, “[a]ll work

and no play makes you a valued employee.”

Technologies that have made

it easier to work from home have made it increasingly difficult not to. In the

ALM Intelligence survey, the most commonly identified problems were:

always being on call (72 percent); billable hour pressure (64 percent); lack of

sleep (59 percent); and client demands (59 percent).

Almost two-thirds of

respondents struggled to use all their vacation, and when on vacation, almost

three-quarters felt unable to disconnect.

Microstresses that cumulatively cause impairment fall into three general

categories:

 those that drain your personal capacity (the time and energy available for

life’s demands);

 those that deplete your emotional reserves; and

 those that challenge your identity and values.

Many of these problems are particularly pronounced for lawyers of color

and for women. Other pieces in this Symposium detail the challenges of

structural racism.

Other studies detail the difficulties for women, who still

assume a vastly disproportionate share of work in the home and pay the price

in the world outside it.

One female associate in the ALM Intelligence

survey described the challenges: “The ability to disconnect is non-existent,

28. LAW SCH. SURV. OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT, STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN LAW SCHOOL:

ENHANCING STUDENT LEARNING 7 (2009), https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED512516.pdf

[https://perma.cc/PJ25-XZF8].

29. Anahad O’Connor, Really?: The Claim: Long Work Hours Can Cause Depression,

N.Y.

TIMES (Feb. 6, 2012, 11:40 AM), https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/06/really-the-

claim-long-work-hours-can-cause-depression/ [https://perma.cc/JU7C-JG6A]; Catherine

Rampell, America’s 10 Most Sleep Deprived Jobs, N.Y.

TIMES (Feb. 22, 2012, 4:41 PM),

https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/22/americas-10-most-sleep-deprived-jobs/

[https://perma.cc/RAP8-JV9Z].

30. J

EFFREY PFEFFER, DYING FOR A PAYCHECK: HOW MODERN MANAGEMENT HARMS

EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND COMPANY PERFORMANCE—AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT 133–

35 (2018).

31. Leo Cullum, Illustration of Executive Speaking to His Employee, in

THE NEW

YORKER, Apr. 20, 1998, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/04/20 [https://perma.cc/

N5YY-C7KA]

32. ALM

INTEL., supra note 12.

33. Id.

34. Cross et al., supra note 17.

35. Gregory S. Parks & Julia Doyle, The Rage of a Privileged Class, 89 F

ORDHAM L. REV.

2541 (2021).

36. D

EBORAH L. RHODE, WOMEN AND LEADERSHIP 17–21, 83–86 (2017).

2570 FORDHAM LAW REVIEW [Vol. 89

so much client pressure and internal pressure . . . . I’m on track to bill 2,150

hours this year and I have a 19-month old baby. This set-up is not sustainable

and completely unhealthy.”

Such problems have intensified during the

pandemic, as women take on greater caretaking responsibilities for elderly

relatives and children coping with distance learning from home.

Yet many workplace leaders place responsibility for solutions anywhere

and everywhere else. In my prior survey of managing partners and general

counsel, common views were:

 “Everyone feels stressed. . . . It’s the profession we’ve chosen.”

 “Clients expect availability twenty-four hours a day.”

 “It’s a real tough issue. We do programs on the subject but I’m not sure

people have time to attend.”

In the ALM Intelligence survey, 60 percent of respondents believed that

their firms had sincere concerns for their mental health, yet only 37 percent

believed that such concerns influenced the firms’ practices and business

models.

When asked if their firm pushed back on unreasonable client

demands, more than 70 percent said “No.”

II.

INSTITUTIONAL STRATEGIES

Changing the culture, policies, and practices that contribute to these issues

is no small challenge. The National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being has

sketched out a comprehensive reform agenda, with forty-four specific

recommendations for legal employers, legal educators, bar regulators, and

other stakeholders.

The ALM Intelligence survey also identified reform

priorities for law firms. They included setting reasonable expectations for

lawyer workloads, resisting excessive client demands, and reducing reliance

on billable hours in reward structures.

Further lessons have emerged from the pandemic. Considerable evidence

has suggested that reducing face time and commutes and giving lawyers more

flexibility to work remotely and control their schedules can increase

37. ALM INTEL., supra note 12.

38. Lauren Weber, Women’s Careers Could Take Long-Term Hit from Coronavirus

Pandemic, W

ALL ST. J. (July 15, 2020, 8:00 AM), https://www.wsj.com/articles/womens-

careers-could-take-long-term-hit-from-coronavirus-pandemic-11594814403

[https://perma.cc/X379-YFLP]; see also Joan C. Williams, Opinion, Real Life Horror Stories

from the World of Pandemic Motherhood, N.Y.

TIMES (Aug. 6, 2020),

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/opinion/mothers-discrimination-coronavirus.html

[https://perma.cc/R5MR-RYZN].

39. Deborah L. Rhode & Lucy Buford Ricca, Diversity in the Legal Profession:

Perspectives from Managing Partners and General Counsel, 83 F

ORDHAM L. REV. 2483, 2500

(2015) (quoting Telephone Interview with Susan Blount, Exec. Vice President & Gen. Couns.,

Prudential Fin., Inc. (n.d.)).

40. Id. (quoting Interview by Deborah L. Rhode with participant (June 24, 2014)).

41. Id. (quoting Telephone Interview with Stephanie Corey, Chief of Staff for Gen.

Couns., Flextronics Int’l Ltd. (July 17, 2014)).

42. ALM

INTEL., supra note 12.

43. Id.

44. Buchanan & Coyle, supra note 21.

45. ALM

INTEL., supra note 12.

2021] MANAGING STRESS, GRIEF, AND MENTAL HEALTH 2571

productivity and enhance psychological well-being.

Yet one large-scale

study also found that the average workday was almost an hour longer during

the pandemic.

And although workers appreciated the flexibility to address

caretaking needs during the day, having job obligations bleed into evening

hours brought corresponding downsides. Employees were expected to be

constantly accessible.

That is not a new phenomenon, as noted above.

Employers need to be careful that as the profession expands opportunities to

work from home, it also preserves opportunities not to.

III.

INDIVIDUAL STRATEGIES

A. Setting Priorities and Managing Time

In periods of stress, setting priorities and managing time are especially

critical because people have limited bandwidth and may be easily distracted.

Research demonstrates that “attention deficits” under stress can significantly

impair both work performance and personal relationships.

So during these

periods, researchers advise taking care of basic health needs (sleep, exercise,

diet), avoiding alcohol and drugs, structuring your time to match your values,

and developing strategies to maximize efficiency.

Experts recommend

scheduling crucial work for the time of day when you perform best,

protecting that time from nonessential interruption, and dividing daunting

tasks into smaller manageable ones.

They also advise against multitasking

and working for too long or too short a stretch.

To avoid being

overwhelmed, individuals under stress should delegate, ask for help, and

focus only on what is most critical and most urgent.

46. Susan Smith Blakely, What Can Law Firm Leaders Learn from a Pandemic?, ABA J.

(May 14, 2020, 8:30 AM), https://www.abajournal.com/voice/article/what-can-law-firm-

leaders-learn-from-a-pandemic [https://perma.cc/HTX7-92MP]; Joan C. Williams, The

Pandemic Has Exposed the Fallacy of the “Ideal Worker,” H

ARV. BUS. REV. (May 11, 2020),

https://hbr.org/2020/05/the-pandemic-has-exposed-the-fallacy-of-the-ideal-worker

[https://perma.cc/J6M9-EXNP].

47. Evan DeFilippis et al., Collaboration During Coronavirus: The Impact of COVID-19

on the Nature of Work (Nat’l Bureau of Econ. Rsch., Working Paper No. 27612, 2020). For

discussion, see Jena McGregor, Remote Work Really Does Mean Longer Days—and More

Meetings, W

ASH. POST (Aug. 4, 2020, 4:47 PM), https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/

2020/08/04/remote-work-longer-days [https://perma.cc/257N-VZQU].

48. McGregor, supra note 47.

49. See Rhode & Ricca, supra note 39, at 2483, 2500–01.

50. Edward M. Hallowell, Overloaded Circuits: Why Smart People Underperform, in

HBR’

S 10 MUST READS ON MANAGING YOURSELF 79, 82, 90–94 (2010).

51. Robert Steven Kaplan, What to Ask the Person in the Mirror, in

HBR’S 10 MUST

READS ON MANAGING YOURSELF, supra note 50, at 147, 154, 150.

52. David A. Rasch & Meehan Rasch, Overcoming Writer’s Block and Procrastination

for Attorneys, Law Students, and Law Professors, 43 N.M.

L. REV. 193, 229 (2013); John

Rampton, Manipulate Time with These Powerful 20 Time Management Tips, F

ORBES (May 1,

2018, 8:00 AM), https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnrampton/2018/05/01/manipulate-time-

with-these-powerful-20-time-management-tips/?sh=65caa13457ab [https://perma.cc/X7CW-

H496].

53. See Rampton, supra note 52; see also Rasch & Rasch, supra note 52.

54. Hallowell, supra note 50, at 82, 91–93.

2572 FORDHAM LAW REVIEW [Vol. 89

However, the conventional wisdom that people should not “sweat the

small stuff” can be misleading in professional contexts. Researchers find that

conscientiousness is a key predictor of effective performance and that

inability to handle small matters promptly and courteously is a sign of

performance failure.

For example, responding promptly to emails is a

signal that the person is conscientious, organized, dependable, and

hardworking.

That does not mean responding instantly or outside of

normal working hours. But, researchers suggest, if “you’re habitually ‘too

busy’ to answer legitimate emails, there’s a problem with your process. It

sends a signal that you’re disorganized—or that you just don’t care.”

course, that signal may not be accurate for people under exceptional stress.

They may not be indifferent or totally disorganized, just intermittently

overwhelmed. Because so much communication was now online, and

alternative distractions were less available during the COVID-19 crisis,

people’s expectations for prompt responses have escalated.

In this context, it is important to make every effort to avoid missing

important deadlines. But, not all deadlines are created equal. When I clerked

for Justice Thurgood Marshall, and he saw his clerks looking excessively and

unnecessarily stressed, he would remind us, “No one is on death row.” But

he also had ample experience in dealing with individuals who were. In those

circumstances, his hours were legendary and he expected the same of others,

stress be damned.

Although few legal tasks have the urgency of those

involved in capital cases, law is a profession where deadlines generally

matter. Extensions are not always possible and missed deadlines can cause

real hardships for clients, colleagues, students, staff, and publishers. So, even

those in distress should try to meet key due dates and to leave some margin

for error.

The key when facing serious challenges is to recognize which deadlines

and obligations are unrealistic or just far too costly to your health and other

responsibilities. Engaging in triage and deferring nonessential tasks can

sometimes buy enough time to meet critical obligations. But, sometimes

bailing is the only plausible choice, and what matters is when and how you

do it. Waiting until the last minute in the hope that you can manage is riskier

than alerting others while there is time for them to make reasonable

accommodations. Helping to find others to replace you signals your

acknowledgment of the disruption you have caused and your commitment to

minimize it.

55. Adam Grant, Opinion, No, You Can’t Ignore Email. It’s Rude., N.Y. TIMES (Feb. 15,

2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/15/opinion/sunday/email-etiquette.html [https://

perma.cc/WH5C-WSRQ].

56. Id.

57. Id.

58. D

EBORAH L. RHODE, CHARACTER: WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT MATTERS 180 (2019);

Deborah L. Rhode, Lessons from Iconic Leaders: Thurgood Marshall and Nelson Mandela,

48 H

OFSTRA L. REV. 705, 711 (2020).

2021] MANAGING STRESS, GRIEF, AND MENTAL HEALTH 2573

B. Reframing, Refocusing, and Reaching Out: The Value of Gratitude and

Giving

Research from positive psychologists makes clear the benefits from being

grateful for what you have, instead of dwelling on what you do not.

Experts

recommend reframing your circumstances by comparing them to something

worse, because that can give you hope and perspective.

I usually pick

cancer because it has caused so much pain for members of my family, and I

have had several personal scares. During the pandemic, when I was

experiencing symptoms, I tried modifying my reframing exercise. “Well, at

least I don’t know I have cancer,” or “at least my cancer is one of the good

treatable kinds.” It also helped to broaden my horizons. I reminded myself

of all the pandemic miseries I was spared: people dying because they don’t

have access to the kind of health care I could afford. “How about doing

something for them?” I told myself.

Altruism is always a good strategy for making people feel better about

themselves, and it can be particularly important for those in distress because

it diverts focus from their own problems. When I was a child, my mother (a

social worker) often invoked the cliché that “it is better to give than to

receive.” I dismissed it then as platitudinous nonsense. I know now the ways

that she was right. When you give something meaningful to others, it gives

pleasure both to you and the recipient.

A large body of research bears this out. Activities that “contribute to the

world beyond ourselves” are best able to promote meaning, fulfillment, and

well-being.

And they generally bring greater long-term satisfaction than

activities that are just pleasurable in the moment.

Even if the meaningful

pursuits are not always enjoyable at the time, they tend to make individuals

feel good afterwards because they resonate with deeply held personal

values.

Although cultural messages push us constantly to think about what

59. Michael F. Steger et al., Being Good by Doing Good: Daily Eudaimonic Activity and

Well-Being, 22 J. RSCH. PERSONALITY 22 (2008); Kori D. Miller, 14 Health Benefits of

Practicing Gratitude According to Science, P

OSITIVEPSYCHOLOGY.COM (Feb. 19, 2021),

https://positivepsychology.com/benefits-of-gratitude [https://perma.cc/H4MC-A3H2]; In

Praise of Gratitude, H

ARV. HEALTH PUBL’G (June 5, 2019), https://www.health.

harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/in-praise-of-gratitude [https://perma.cc/33PZ-EKQB].

60. See Nuala Walsh & Suzanne M. Egan, Things Could Have Been Worse: The

Counterfactual Nature of Gratitude, in P

ROCEEDINGS FOR THE 26TH AIAI IRISH CONFERENCE

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND COGNITIVE SCIENCE 339, 344 (2018); Alex M. Wood et al.,

The Role of Gratitude in the Development of Social Support, Stress, and Depression: Two

Longitudinal Studies, 42 J.

RSCH. PERSONALITY 854 (2008).

61. T

AL BEN-SHAHAR, HAPPIER: LEARN THE SECRETS TO DAILY JOY AND LASTING

FULFILLMENT 33 (2007); BILL BURNETT & DAVID JOHN EVANS, DESIGNING YOUR LIFE: HOW

BUILD A WELL-LIVED, JOYFUL LIFE 218 (2016); EMILY ESFAHANI SMITH, THE POWER OF

MEANING: CRAFTING A LIFE THAT MATTERS 15 (2017); Daryl R. Van Toneren et al.,

Prosociality Enhances Meaning in Life, 11

J. POSITIVE PSYCH. 225 (2015).

62. ED DIENER & ROBERT BISWAS-DIENER, HAPPINESS: UNLOCKING THE MYSTERIES OF

PSYCHOLOGICAL WEALTH 225 (2008); Veronika Huta & Richard M. Ryan, Pursuing Pleasure

or Virtue: The Differential and Overlapping Well-Being Benefits of Hedonic and Eudaimonic

Motives, 11 J.

HAPPINESS STUD. 748, 757–58 (2009); Steger et al., supra note 59, at 38–39.

63. D

IENER & BISWAS-DIENER, supra note 62, at 225; Huta & Ryan, supra note 62, at 759.

2574 FORDHAM LAW REVIEW [Vol. 89

will make us happier, researchers find that focusing attention solely on

ourselves tends to diminish happiness over the long run.

“Selfless”

activities are good for the self. Activities aimed at helping others result in

greater physical and psychological health, longer lives, higher satisfaction,

and even more effective performance.

One British commentator put it this

way: “We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.”

Gifts where you have some personal connection to the recipient or the cause

are especially beneficial.

For similar reasons, concern for others can help you keep from letting your

own stress and related difficulties cause problems for those who work with

and for you. One major cause of mental health challenges in our profession

comes from colleagues or supervisors who let their own challenges or lack

of planning cause chaos for those around them. Subordinates end up picking

up the balls that their superiors drop or having to work excessive or

inconvenient hours because their stressed supervisors were willing to impose

stress on them. Constant directives to “just make it happen” by thoughtless

coworkers breeds what Patrick Krill calls a “trickle down toxicity [and]

downward flowing distress.”

What is, in short, needed for the legal profession is not a short agenda. At

both the individual and institutional levels, lawyers need to develop far better

strategies for assisting themselves and others who are coping with stress.

Making more individuals aware of the pervasiveness of problems and the

best ways to deal with them can help reduce the disabling consequences of

distress and the stigma. That compounds the problem. Acknowledging our

own and our profession’s vulnerabilities and resolving to address their causes

are among the greatest contributions we can make to our collective well-

being. That is part of how we all get through life’s challenges and help others

do so as well.

64. DIENER & BISWAS-DIENER, supra note 62, at 187.

65. See A

LLAN LUKS & PEGGY PAYNE, THE HEALING POWER OF DOING GOOD: THE

HEALTH AND SPIRITUAL BENEFITS OF HELPING OTHERS xi–xii, 17–18, 45–54, 60 (2d ed. 2010);

EBORAH L. RHODE, PRO BONO IN PRINCIPLE AND IN PRACTICE: PUBLIC SERVICE AND THE

PROFESSIONS 30–31, 58 (2005); JAMIL ZAKI, THE WAR FOR KINDNESS: BUILDING EMPATHY IN

FRACTURED WORLD 166 (2020); Joo Yeon Shin & Michael F. Steger, Promoting Meaning

and Purpose in Life, in T

HE WILEY BLACKWELL HANDBOOK OF POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL

INTERVENTIONS 90, 90–91 (Acacia C. Parks & Stephen M. Schueller eds., 2014); see also

Peggy A. Thoits & Lyndi N. Hewitt, Volunteer Work & Well Being, 42 J.

HEALTH & SOC.

BEHAV. 115 (2001).

66. C

HAIM STERN, DAY BY DAY: REFLECTIONS ON THE THEMES OF THE TORAH FROM

LITERATURE, PHILOSOPHY, AND RELIGIOUS THOUGHT 171 (1998).

67. ELIZABETH DUNN & MICHAEL NORTON, HAPPY MONEY: THE SCIENCE OF HAPPIER

SPENDING 105–34 (2013).

68. Patrick Krill, “Just-Make-It-Happen” Mentality Is Bad for Lawyer Well-Being,

AW.COM (Mar. 19, 2019, 1:33 PM), https://www.law.com/2019/03/19/just-make-it-happen-

mentality-is-bad-for-lawyer-well-being [https://perma.cc/C3BF-U5Z9]