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Pamela DeNeuve

Lawyer & Law Firm Peak Performance Strategist

Lawyers: 5 Amazing Ways To Win and Stomp Out Depression

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Lawyers Like to Win!

Lawyers/Solicitors like to win! More and more of these legal warriors are kicking depression to the curb refusing to ignore their mental health any longer.

In the United States, 1 out of every 10 individuals suffers from depression. In the ranks of lawyers, however, the rate of depression increases to 1 out of every 4.

The old stigma of a depressed person walking around moping, looking down, their shoulders hunched over most of the time is an inaccurate description of most individuals who are depressed.

Certainly, most lawyers who are depressed are not moping around or bedridden. They are at their firms billing hours every day despite personal or outside pressures. 

7 Signs You May Be Depressed

Here are seven signs to monitor yourself and detect if you regularly suffer from any of the following:

1.   Chronic fatigue

2.   Irritability at home and work (Anger, Fear)

3.   Hopelessness, and despair (Anxiety)

4.   Insomnia or other sleeping problems

5.   A lack of enjoyment in pleasurable activities

6.   A loss of libido

7. Using alcohol, drugs, food, shopping or other excesses to cope with life.

What is Smiling Depression?

Smiling depression is: appearing happy to others, literally smiling, while internally suffering from depressive symptoms. Smiling depression often goes undetected. Those suffering often discount their feelings and brush them aside. They might not even be aware of their depression, or want to acknowledge their symptoms due to a fear of being considered “weak.”

Smiling Depression and the Legal Profession

Meet Phil

Phil, a successful litigator I worked with summed up smiling depression, “Pamela I just keep smiling while I was depressed that just about sums up my life.  I have a successful law practice, a loving wife, children that make me proud. I work hard every day, and I smile and laugh with everyone but deep down inside, I hate myself.

At home, I have a few drinks to stop my brain from accusing me. I can only sleep a few hours at a time. My thoughts center on self-loathing. No one could ever imagine how I feel about myself.”

One of the things I had my clients perform when we sat down in a two-session, four-hour intake is to draw the first house they lived in before the age of seven years old.

The attorneys and I discovered where their primary coping mechanisms were developed, something I call the Basic Operating Principle.

This information provides a foundation to address current ongoing problems. It is satisfying for me to watch the transformation.

It is important to note that Phil was not consciously aware how messages from his youth affected his chronic depression as an adult. Once consciously aware, my clients can quickly address their issues of depression.

Many lawyers who suffer from depression don’t even identify themselves as depressed.

Meet Samantha

Samantha describes her day, “I look as if I have it all. As I put on my makeup in the morning, I also fix a smile on my face.  I take my medication, drink a couple of cups of coffee for energy just to get out of the door and then head to Starbucks for a double expresso. When I arrive at work, I paste a smile on my face but feeling like I’m dying inside.”

I find this is not an unusual occurrence in many law firms.

Samantha continues, “I close my door and bury myself in my work, billing as much as I can to make myself feel somehow worthwhile. I feel as if I am an inadequate human being.

I wonder why I am so unhappy because I have every reason to be happy. Despite these painful thoughts, I keep smiling until I can get home and let my hair down and drink half of a bottle of wine to relax. ” 

12 Reasons A Solicitor Might Be Depressed:

A solicitor could be experiencing sadness about many things such as:

1.   Losing an important case

2.   Burnout, frustration, overwhelm

3.   Pressure to maintain billable hours

4.   Overwhelm from workload

5.   Unresolved mental or emotional issues

6.   Lacking self-esteem or self-worth for a variety of reasons

7.   Loss of a purpose to life

8.   Unexplainable sadness but something doesn’t feel right

9.   Loneliness, feeling no love or appreciation anywhere at work or home

10.   A failed relationship, divorce, miserable marriage

11.   Crisis at home with troubled children

12.   Feeling at a loss with nowhere to turn

The fact that lawyers are one of the largest populations of depressed professionals indicates that this is an epidemic that must not be ignored.

7 Steps to Combat Depression

Law firms, Attorneys, Solicitors and Barristers must face this epidemic head on.

  1. Put your pride and ego aside and admit that depression is a real affliction and seek professional help.
  2. Stop using alcohol and pills to cope with your depression. It is like having a gangrenous sore and putting a bandage over it each day.
  3. Refuse to think of depression as a weakness and call it what it truly is, “AN ILLNESS.”
  4. Incorporate healthy food choices eat more fruits, vegetables and drink 64 ounces of water and minimize caffeine and sodas.
  5. Exercise, a daily walk, run or work out at the gym can help change your body chemistry.
  6. Monitor your work habits and avoid burnout at all costs.
  7. Incorporate relaxation techniques such as meditation, yoga or recreational reading to relax and rejuvenate.

You Deserve to Feel Happy

While having the ability to surmount human feelings is the hallmark of a good attorney, this can be a HUGE detriment to a lawyer on a personal level.

You are in the helping profession so don’t spend all of your energy helping others while feeling miserable or even worse discounting your own feelings.

Lawyers believe that they don’t deserve to be happy or that it is impossible to feel content. These are erroneous concepts, and everyone deserves a decent chance to wake up each morning feeling hopeful, encouraged and content.

Be sure to get the emotional and business support that you need to make sure that 2017 will be your best year ever. 

#Solicitor #lawyer #attorney #Barrister #Lawfirms #Biglaw #Stress #Depression #Engagement #Attrition #Goals #2017 #legalsupport #coach #consultant #adviser

“I help law firms and lawyers increase profits and engage their lawyers.” Pamela DeNeuve 

pamela@pameladeneuve.com

Email me to schedule an informal conversation to engage and reduce stress for 2017

Links:

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2044877/Could-YOU-victim-smiling-depression.html#ixzz3sJ8e0JhM

Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Smiling Depression Nothing to smile about Posted Nov 12, 2014 https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-guest-room/201411/smiling-depression

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