Jan 24 2009
Three Things I Learned Writing a Book about How to Succeed in Law School — Part I
Thanks to Steve for giving me this opportunity to get the word out about my new book—1L of a Ride: A Well-Traveled Professor’s Roadmap to Success in the First Year of Law School (Thomson West 2009) (420 pages)—while also sharing some things I learned while writing it . This post about psychological distress in law students is the first of three guest posts. My book is branded as “a candid step-by-step roadmap to both academic and emotional success in law school’s crucial first year.” Parts of what follow are modified excerpts from Chapter 18—“Maintaining Well-Being.”
Part I: Psychological Distress in Law Students
Our students are struggling. As a former law student and veteran law teacher, I knew, of course, that first-year law students are under stress. But until researching the book, I had no idea of the depth or extent of their suffering. I discovered that studies have long shown that law students suffer disproportionately from stress, anxiety, and depression. Data from as far back as 1957 show that psychological distress in law students significantly outpaces not only the general population, but other graduate student populations, including medical students.
A 1980s study of University of Arizona law and medical students found that law students scored significantly higher than both the general population and medical students in nearly every category of psychological dysfunction measured, including anxiety, depression, feelings of inadequacy and inferiority, hostility, and obsessive-compulsiveness. (Citations omitted to avoid cluttering up this post, but are available on request.) Continue Reading »
