The Mental Health Status of Law Students: Implications for College Counselors

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe law students' psychological symptoms, assess the role of law school stress in students' symptoms, and suggest ways college counselors can help this population. More than half of the 316 participants displayed symptoms of depression and psychological distress, and nearly half showed symptoms of anxiety. Law school stressors significantly predicted students' symptoms. Workload, peers, and low instrumental support most impacted students, thus providing specific directions and implications for college counselors.

A Critical Race Theory Assessment of Law Student Needs

“…Counseling sessions should be free whenever possible, even for a set number of sessions and then subsidized. Administrators should prioritize access to these services (Flynn, et al, 2019), with everything from having a phone number students can call on their own to set up appointments with professional therapists, to ensuring that counseling is available not only nearby, but also virtually for students who cannot attend in-person. Telehealth appointments also enable students of color—who rarely have on-site counseling available from professionals of their racial or cultural background—to connect online with counselors who may better understand their unique challenges.…”

Students Anxiety Experiences in Higher Education Institutions

“…Some students may hesitate to ask the instructors for help; therefore, they become anxious because they are unable to meet the course requirements. Some difficult curriculums include mathematics [11][12][13], biology [14,15], statistics [16], chemistry, physics, history [17], and law [18]. In addition, there are several medical specialization classes that cause students' anxiety, such as dental and medical [19], medical and engineering [20], dentistry and veterinary [21], and pharmacy [22].…”

Embedded Student Counseling Services: Insights From Veterinary Mental Health Practitioners

“…Graduate students, in general, may tend to experience numerous difficulties regarding competing roles and responsibilities (Benshoff et al, 2015), and the issues experienced by veterinary students are very similar to those reported by professional students in other disciplines. For example, literature suggests that both medical students (Dyrbye et al, 2006(Dyrbye et al, , 2008Schwenk et al, 2010) and law students (Bibelhausen et al, 2015;Flynn et al, 2019;Larcombe & Fethers, 2013;Organ et al, 2016) report high rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidality. They may also experience stressors related to heavy workloads, adjustment to the professional school environment, exposure to human suffering, financial concerns, perfectionism, and managing ethical dilemmas, which may affect their mental health (Bibelhausen et al, 2015;Dyrbye et al, 2005;Flynn et al, 2019;Jolly-Ryan, 2009;Lester et al, 2011).…”