The image of the wizened attorney, tie loosened and coat rumpled, slumped at the bar with cocktail (or two) in hand after a day in court has long been a trope of fiction. A new, large-scale study of the behavioral health of practicing attorneys conducted by the American Bar Association (ABA) and Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation found that stereotypes like these hold more than a kernel of truth.
The national study, which surveyed some 15,000 licensed attorneys from 19 states, found that 21 percent qualify as problem drinkers, 28 percent struggle with some level of depression and 19 percent demonstrate symptoms of anxiety. The study, co-authored by Patrick Krill, director of the Legal Professionals Program at Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and Linda Albert, representative of the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs, was published this month in the Journal of Addiction Medicine.
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