Law Grads Say Schools Don't Offer Enough Mental Health Support
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Law schools are falling short when it comes to mental health resources for students, according to a new survey.
Fewer than a third of the 300 recent law graduates polled by Kaplan Bar Review this spring reported that their law schools did enough to assist students experiencing high levels of academic stress. Just 29 percent responded that their schools offered enough support to those students, while 40 percent said their schools did not do enough. Another 31 percent said they didn’t know how well their campuses did in providing mental health supports for struggling students.
“What students are telling us is that law schools need to do a better job of providing the kinds of services that they need for self-care, and also communicating how those services can help them,” said Kaplan Bar Review vice president Tammi Rice. “This is an important conversation to have. We have to conquer the stigma traditionally associated with mental health, particularly in the legal community.”
Researchers for decades have flagged mental health as a pressing issue for legal education, given the demanding nature of law school and the often competitive environment on campuses. Many of those same issues, including high rates of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse, are also prevalent within the larger legal profession.
A 2014 study that surveyed 3,000 J.D. students from 15 law schools found that 18 percent had been diagnosed with depression, and one in six received that diagnosis while in law school. The Survey of Law Student Well Being also found elevated rates of anxiety. Among the respondent pool, 37 percent screened positive for anxiety, and 14 percent met the definition of severe anxiety. Those rates outpace anxiety in the undergraduate and graduate student populations, the researchers found.
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Law students themselves are pushing for more mental health resources. The Mental Health Alliance at Yale Law School began as an informal student support group that in 2014 grew into an organization dedicated to removing barriers for Yale students seeking help. (Its 2014 survey of Yale students found that 70 percent had experienced a mental health challenge while in law school.)
Harvard Law School launched a student mental health survey in 2017, though it has yet to release the full results. But among them, 25 percent of students reported suffering from depression, 24 percent reported suffering from anxiety, and nearly 21 percent reported being at a heightened risk for suicide, according to an op-ed in the Harvard Crimson that was written by several leaders of the Harvard Law School Student Government.
The end of the school year can be a particularly fraught time on for law students. In addition to the stress of final exams, the prospect of the July bar exam can weigh heavily on those approaching graduation, according to Rice.
“We strongly encourage law students who need help during this time to reach out to their law school," Rice said. "Law schools want to make sure that as many of their students as possible pass the bar, so they have a vested interest in ensuring their students are ready in every way for test day.”
