Well-Being in the Legal Profession

Some use alcohol and drugs to regulate the negative emotions felt in response to stress. Although this may alleviate the symptoms in the short term, relying on this coping strategy can lead to alcohol or drug misuse or dependency and is associated with a deterioration of mental health. Heavy alcohol consumption and high-risk drug use are specifically associated with an increase in depressive symptoms, and the Study found that those who reported moderate to severe depressive symptoms are proportionately and significantly more likely to have engaged in high-risk alcohol consumption. 

The Study relied on the World Health Organization (WHO) Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-10 (AUDIT-10) Scale to classify what constitutes heavy alcohol consumption. The AUDIT-10 has 10 questions and the possible responses to each question results in a total score from 0 to 40. A score of one to seven suggests low-risk consumption according to WHO guidelines, scores from 8 to 14 suggest hazardous or harmful alcohol consumption and a score of 15 of more indicates the likelihood of alcohol dependence. The statistics outlined below reflect survey respondents who had a score of 8/40 or higher.

The Study found that 37% of male and 42% of female national survey respondents had a possible alcohol dependency problem and that professionals who use a billable hour model are proportionately more likely to report risky drinking. The legal workplace culture of centering events, after-hour activities and business development activities around alcohol consumption may be contributing to this problem.

The Study found that 23% of national survey respondents used non-medical drugs in the previous 12 months with 15% of those respondents being considered moderate to high risk as defined by the DAST-10. Examples of risk include but are not limited to engaging in illegal activities or experiencing withdrawal symptoms.