Being a lawyer can be more depressing than other professions. Though suicide and depression studies don’t often look at the problem occupationally, there are some old studies to explain why there has been a rash of lawyer suicides lately. One older study in 1991 of John Hopkins University found that lawyers are 3.6 times more likely to be depressed than average, and 1997 study in Canada found they were six times as likely to commit suicide than the average person.
Jim Dinwiddie, Harry Rankin, and Ross Turner all killed themselves recently. Each had his own story, his own reasons, but each was a lawyer in Kentucky. At least a dozen lawyers in Kentucky have committed suicide since 2010, and each for their own reason. Ross, for instance, helped fight the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville over priest abuse, and a friend said “Ross never seemed the same to me,” after the pain of the case.
That might explain why lawyers struggle with depression. They have ideals, hopes, a genuine love and hope for justice to be done, and are disappointed when justice isn’t done, when their sacrifice and pains are in fact scoffed at and they themselves are blamed for the injustice.
“They learn that justice is not always done. Innocent people are abused and some go to prison. People guilty of terrible wrongs go free,” wrote State Supreme Court Justice Bill Cunningham. “They worry that all the lost hours and missed holidays with family and friends…do not matter…They become like a weak-kneed boxer in the 15th round. They keep flailing away. But they lose purpose. They lose hope.”
“Everybody hates lawyers,” said Louisville trial lawyer Hans Poppe, as Courier-journal.com reported, “except for their own lawyer.”
Though the stories of lawyers who commit suicide vary from issues of marital fidelity to working without a proper license, to other various issues, the common denominator of working in a difficult profession that frustrates their hopes may be a core part of what leads lawyers to higher depression than average. Suicide happens to be an occupational hazard for lawyers, much the way it is with poets. Keeping that in mind, and learning to be kind to oneself, and getting the help you need, is part of being a good lawyer.
The Kentucky Lawyer Assistant Program can be reached at (502) 564-3795 and at kylap dot org; they can offer confidential assistant for depression, suicide, and other problems lawyers might face.
Well, if they would grow some balls and stand up to public corruption in the court house then maybe they wouldn’t be so depressed any more! They may get their feathers ruffled and even risk retaliation by corrupt judges and colleagues but anything is better than committing suicide.
bro(t)her! do your best to(o)
be pro-woman and pro-girl power
G-D is!
to all U.S. legislators,
if you want (desire) to help millions of girls and women
now and in the future
then make law!
Lily’s Law: 21 to buy laxatives; keep laxatives behind counter
so(w!) THAT
kids don’t steal laxatives!
laxatives are addictive and do cause serious internal injuries
p.s.
to all U.S. legislators,
don’t tell us THAT (you are pro-woman and pro-girl power)
if you are unwilling to show us THAT
p.p.s.
‘tell and show’
p.p.p.s.
to all U.S. legislators,
if you tell us THAT (you are pro-woman and pro-girl power)
then show us THAT
(by you doing your best to(o) make Lily’s Law law)
U.S. Department of Justice,
while you were sleeping I went fishing
on G-D’S web
look at what I caught and reeled in:
NYS WCB commissioner bios
(google it! ask it! aol it! yahoo it! bing it! info it! duck duck go it!)
eat! eat!
p.s.
U.S. Department of Justice,
when you delivered the FDNY the news “hire! all people
(not just friends and family)”
did you (DOJ) go down the FDNY’s chimney? or
did you (DOJ) kick the FDNY’s door down?
bro(t)her! never be afraid to(o)
deliver G-D’S Mail
Q: bro(t)her! who really is to blame (for every single scandal)?
A: bro(t)her! are not the complacent complicit?
bro(t)her! let’s pray (yea!)
for the EEOC and OSHA to(o)
go global!
2004 Federal Sentencing Guidelines Require Employers to Periodically Train All Employees on Workplace Ethics
(google it! bing it! aol it! ask it! yahoo it! info it! wow it! duck duck go it! dogpile it!)
p.s.
Q: who is to blame (for the most recent NFL scandal)?
A: man y people (he/she/they)
Q: are players to blame?
A: si!
Q: are coaches to blame?
A: oui!
Q: is the commissioner to blame?
A: jee!
Q: are owners to blame?
A: hai!
Q: are district attorneys to blame?
A: ja!
Q: is G-D to blame?
A: nyet!
bro(t)her! I do don’t you
want (desire) to ‘see and hear’:
1) a Chinese pope right wrongs for G-D!
2) a Jewish US president right wrongs for G-D!
U.S. Department of Justice,
while you were sleeping I went fishing
on G-D’S web
look at what I caught and reeled in:
NYS WCB 2001 Annual Report
NYS WCB 2006 Annual Report
eat! eat!
U.S. Department of Justice,
how many Indian-American women and men do you see in reports?
how many African-American women and men do you see in reports?
how many Asian-American women and men do you see in reports?
how many Latin-American women and men do you see in reports?
how many Native-American women and men do you see in reports?
how many Middle Eastern-American women and men do you see in reports?
p.s.
someone call the cops!
(someone call the EEOC!)
bro(t)her! cling not to(o) fame nor to(o) fortune
bro(t)her! cling not to(o) power nor to(o) praise
bro(t)her! cling not to(o) booze nor to(o) (Imelda’s silver) shoes
bro(t)her! cling not to(o) pills nor to(o) terrestrial thrills
bro(t)her! cling not to(o) the sun nor to(o) a teeny tiny gun
p.s.
bro(t)her! these terrestrial things are your doll’s dolls
p.p.s.
Q: bro(t)her! what’s your doll?
A: “that man!”s skin you (wee spirit) are in
p.p.p.s.
bro(t)her! cling to G-D