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Why Lawyers Drink
-- By TamarLisbona - 01 Apr 2016
Introduction
A study, conducted by the American Bar Association and the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, found that “one in three practicing lawyers are problem drinkers, based on the volume and frequency of alcohol consumed.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/05/business/dealbook/high-rate-of-problem-drinking-reported-among-lawyers.html?_r=0) More specifically, the study finds that “being in the early stages of one’s legal career is strongly correlated with a high risk of developing an alcohol use disorder.” As a first year law student, this finding doesn’t shock me, but it is ominous nonetheless, and I want to begin thinking about how to stem the bleeding on this never-ending problem. With that goal in mind, I plan to observe myself and my peers to figure out why we’re turning to drink, drugs, stimulants, and downers, in the hopes of figuring out what we might do to form healthier habits.
Why do lawyers drink?
Drinking is a thread in the tapestry of American behavior – for better or for worse. But within the legal profession, excessive drinking at rates much higher than the general population reveals a profession crippled by exhaustion, anxiety, and depression. In order to discuss what can be done about this industry wide problem, I would like first to hypothesize about why law students and lawyers might engage in alcohol abuse, focusing on the psychological and sociological factors at play.
Legal professionals and soon to be legal professionals naturally dissociate and need some type of adhesive to connect their multiple personalities or create the ideal “personality cocktail.”
Psychological theorists have different opinions about why dissociation occurs. Notably, Sigmund Freud believed that dissociation happens as a response to trauma, often Oedipal, and often occurring during childhood. Carl Jung added that dissociation could occur as a result of fictional, or even non-traumatic endogenous stimuli.
Carl Wylie splits. This splitting seems to be a defense mechanism that, like a dam, keeps his true thoughts and feelings at bay. Yet, this dissociation causes blur. He has issues remembering specific facts and details, and he hates discussing his work. In order to focus, Wylie self-medicates. He mixes wine with coffee to reach “that precise point when consciousness is heightened and everything glows.” Lawrence Joseph is not the only poet to describe this shift in mental state precipitated by alcohol as a means of self-calibration. In Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, playwright Tennessee Williams, himself an alcoholic, speaks through Brick, the former prodigal son now fighting with his repressed sexuality. Brick drinks until he hears the “click” in his head that makes him feel at ease. Williams as Brick describes the “click” as a “hot light turning off in his head, and the cool night turning on.” In his autobiography, Memoirs, Williams expands on this transition. “You felt as if a new kind of blood had been transfused into your arteries, a blood that swept away all anxiety and all tension for a while, and for a while is the stuff that dreams are made of.” (142)
While all people are layered, the desire to use alcohol to switch between or blend the personas is dangerous as it obscures the truth. As law students and young lawyers, we are struggling with our multiples selves, perhaps more acutely than the average person, and perhaps as a result of real (or imagined) burdens. Yet, like Wylie, as anxious perfectionists, the idea of failure or any deviation from the mean is unthinkable, hence we use stimulants and depressants to excite or subdue some of our many personalities until we hear the “click” of one-ness: the state we describe as high functioning.
Legal professionals are unsuccessfully dealing with work-related trauma.
As Freud described, dissociation can occur as a result of trauma to protect the ego. Trauma can occur as an acute episode, or it can accrue over time as the result of a devastating amount of stress that exceeds one’s ability to cope. Many lawyers are trying to forget. Having entered law school to do good, they are now pushing paper in order to pay off mountains of student debt. No matter the practice area, the nature and quality of the work can be stressful. Lawyers deal with despicable clients, aggressive and often arbitrary deadlines, and a lack of job security. These stressful bundles cause dissociation, which in turn causes discomfort and haziness, and lawyers drink and abuse other substances to hear the “click.”
The professional legal environment promotes a reckless drinking culture.
Many lawyers feel entitled. In an article published by the legal profession’s gossip blog, Above the Law, a journalist tackling the problem of the legal drinking problem concludes that lawyers essentially drink because they can. (http://abovethelaw.com/2012/10/why-do-lawyers-drink-so-much-because-they-can/) The author goes on to state that as a lawyer, “you can pretty much drink with impunity without significantly hurting your job performance.” While the article reads farcically, it’s easy to see the truth hiding behind the humor. This type of bad behavior starts in law school, and the cycle will continue unless something is done to break the chain.
What can we do about it?
Alcoholism is an illness that requires medical attention and rehabilitation. Yet, as law students about to enter the legal working world, there are things we can do to prevent bad habits from taking root. First, we must understand and accept the nature of our splitting. The process is natural and learning to sit with the discomfort will ease the desire to self-medicate. Personally, I have been trying to keep track of my splitting. I am trying to notice when I seemingly black out certain things, in an attempt to figure out what triggers these episodes. Second, as a profession, we should change the nature and outlook of the work and work environment to help ourselves deal with fear and ambiguity. Perhaps this could include making firm and law school events less focused on drinking, or exploring and promulgating alternative ways to relax and unwind such as yoga and meditation.
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