Hi everyone, I was wondering if there are any other lawyers or law students on here. I'm supposed to graduate from law school in about a year. I would love to hear from others in the field with ptsd. How have you coped with your symptoms at school/work? Are there any areas you have felt necessary to avoid? What do you wish you had known about being a lawyer with ptsd when you started? Also, if you work in a different field with similarities I would be interested in hearing from you. Thanks!
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Any Other Lawyers/law Students On Here?
- Post starter cat-lady
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- #2
I guess that answers my question! I will leave this up though in case one ever joins. I would love to hear from you if you join later and find this old post. I think we need more lawyers who have a good understanding of what it's like to live with ptsd. I look around my law school class and they have so little idea of what I deal with. That's not good because so many people caught up in the legal system in need of help have ptsd. That being said, I understand why there are so few of us in this profession because it's not the easiest career to balance with symptoms. I would like to educate my classmates better on this but I don't know where to start.
Kintsugi
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There are lawyers on this site. Sorry no one responded to this thread. :meh:
Best of luck to you.
Best of luck to you.
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- #4
I am a law student who studied for 2 years. 2 more years and im out, but i may just continue with my psych degree instead as well.
How have you coped with your symptoms at school/work?
it's been very difficult as i only got my ptsd diagnosis recently. despite suffering from this bullsh*t my whole life. the thing is, i still resiliently coped. i used visual imagery to guide myself, and started on CBT exercises (daily), and ended up getting perfect score and high grades in my first semester. i transfered to an honours program afterward.
in my second year, i lost track of CBT. much like now, and could barely keep at passing. i tried acceptance and commitment and 'awareness' exercises (they didnt help as much with studies but did good for some of my obsessive thoughts). eventually, i started to maintain my grades, but not as good as when i was doing CBT.
We are a pedantic bunch. Hypervigilance does not help with study but it does help with acting in a crises scenario which may have legal ramifications.
Are there any areas you have felt necessary to avoid?
not at all due to ptsd, but i would rather focus on the things i would rather do like mental health law. if anything i am more likely to go into mental health law, as i already have a deep interest in psychology, i would love to study mental health if law is my choice for the future.
What do you wish you had known about being a lawyer with ptsd when you started?
that oral presentation and good memory for naming things, are two very important things which i am almost biologically struggling to deal with (which i did not fully realize until my diagnosis).
How have you coped with your symptoms at school/work?
it's been very difficult as i only got my ptsd diagnosis recently. despite suffering from this bullsh*t my whole life. the thing is, i still resiliently coped. i used visual imagery to guide myself, and started on CBT exercises (daily), and ended up getting perfect score and high grades in my first semester. i transfered to an honours program afterward.
in my second year, i lost track of CBT. much like now, and could barely keep at passing. i tried acceptance and commitment and 'awareness' exercises (they didnt help as much with studies but did good for some of my obsessive thoughts). eventually, i started to maintain my grades, but not as good as when i was doing CBT.
We are a pedantic bunch. Hypervigilance does not help with study but it does help with acting in a crises scenario which may have legal ramifications.
Are there any areas you have felt necessary to avoid?
not at all due to ptsd, but i would rather focus on the things i would rather do like mental health law. if anything i am more likely to go into mental health law, as i already have a deep interest in psychology, i would love to study mental health if law is my choice for the future.
What do you wish you had known about being a lawyer with ptsd when you started?
that oral presentation and good memory for naming things, are two very important things which i am almost biologically struggling to deal with (which i did not fully realize until my diagnosis).
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Sideways
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Truth is I'm not sure how to answer this thread in a positive way, because my experience with trying to pull off law and ptsd hasn't been great. My big mental health crash 7 years ago, I actually pulled off work for a while afterwards, tried returning to work on graduated RTW programs but ultimately it didn't work out. But I think with my symtpom mix, work of any kind would likely have had a similar outcome.
The systems in the US and Australia are also pretty different, so I don't think I'm a good example in that respect either. I worked civil litigation, and I think that if/when I return to practice that probably isn't going to be where I settle because the nature of the workload with its peaks and troughs and the need to run on adrenaline for periods during trials isn't v healthy.
The systems in the US and Australia are also pretty different, so I don't think I'm a good example in that respect either. I worked civil litigation, and I think that if/when I return to practice that probably isn't going to be where I settle because the nature of the workload with its peaks and troughs and the need to run on adrenaline for periods during trials isn't v healthy.
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- #7
Sideways
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And I hit Post before adding that if you're passionate about working in this area (sounds like you are), yes it's tough and still a fairly inflexible industry (particularly the larger firms - tend to have a dark ages approach to flexibility in work), but go for it. Find the right firm and the right area of law (takes time) and I reckon you can make this work for you.
this makes me feel less bad for reconsidering law in general.
law is stressful man, ptsd and law may not go together.
but then again, what job does ptsd ever even go well with? probably no job.
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- #9
Sideways
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I think it could work, but definitely finding the firm is going to be critical. Certainly here, there's huge differences from firm to firm in the way they approach flexibility for their staff.
Also picking the right area of law, which may come with a bit of experience. Like I said, the adrenaline-junky lifestyle of civil lit just wouldn't work for me, but a more process-driven area like property might suit me better in the future. And figuring that out is probably going to be part experience, part trial-and-error. But I'm certain it can be done, it'll just require a lot of hard work and probably some flexibility in your idea of the 'dream job'. Actually the 'dream firm' is usually more important, and like I said, if you need flexibility, that probably won't come from one of the big flashy ones, especially when you're starting out and finding your feet.
Once you rack up experience in a particular area, the game changes a bit, because firms (here at least) tend to he more prepared to be flexible if you're bringing experience to the table...to a degree!
Working in small firms v's large firms is a completely different experience and environment. So keep an open mind about smaller, less flashy firms.
Also picking the right area of law, which may come with a bit of experience. Like I said, the adrenaline-junky lifestyle of civil lit just wouldn't work for me, but a more process-driven area like property might suit me better in the future. And figuring that out is probably going to be part experience, part trial-and-error. But I'm certain it can be done, it'll just require a lot of hard work and probably some flexibility in your idea of the 'dream job'. Actually the 'dream firm' is usually more important, and like I said, if you need flexibility, that probably won't come from one of the big flashy ones, especially when you're starting out and finding your feet.
Once you rack up experience in a particular area, the game changes a bit, because firms (here at least) tend to he more prepared to be flexible if you're bringing experience to the table...to a degree!
Working in small firms v's large firms is a completely different experience and environment. So keep an open mind about smaller, less flashy firms.
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- #10
Just finished my last final for the semester. Officially only one year of school left. Yay! I also finally went into the school disability office today afterwords. They work quickly! They already got the law school to agree to keep a professor away from me who had been sexually harassing me and sent out a notice to all the professors that I am to be allowed to step out of class if I need to deal with a flashback. They were very helpful. I wish I had gone in to them sooner. They also advised that I file right away whenever I start a new job even if I'm feeling fine in case I need accommodation later.
Anyway, summer semester starts Monday and I'm taking a class in domestic violence law. This is the area my ptsd comes from so this should be interesting to see how it goes. I don't want to practice this area of law but I really need to know it for my own life.
Xraydave, I like the idea of getting a specialty to focus on. I think that will help. Some of my better professors have advised to get a specialty to focus on as soon as possible. It seems like that's better for employment. Also, if you find law too stressful it can give you another area to go into. I was thinking something similar. I would like to specialize in technology law and if I find it too stressful then just shift to technology instead of law. I think a lot of good low stress jobs could be found in what my school has called 'alternative law careers.' That is actually what I'm interning in right now. I do legal research for a publishing company that publishes legal guides and legal software. I think it fits me much better than a firm would.
Ragdoll circus, I agree civil litigation does not sound like a good match for my symptoms either. I am trying to avoid areas like that. It gets me way too anxious. I like the idea of going to something more process-driven like property.
Anyway, summer semester starts Monday and I'm taking a class in domestic violence law. This is the area my ptsd comes from so this should be interesting to see how it goes. I don't want to practice this area of law but I really need to know it for my own life.
Xraydave, I like the idea of getting a specialty to focus on. I think that will help. Some of my better professors have advised to get a specialty to focus on as soon as possible. It seems like that's better for employment. Also, if you find law too stressful it can give you another area to go into. I was thinking something similar. I would like to specialize in technology law and if I find it too stressful then just shift to technology instead of law. I think a lot of good low stress jobs could be found in what my school has called 'alternative law careers.' That is actually what I'm interning in right now. I do legal research for a publishing company that publishes legal guides and legal software. I think it fits me much better than a firm would.
Ragdoll circus, I agree civil litigation does not sound like a good match for my symptoms either. I am trying to avoid areas like that. It gets me way too anxious. I like the idea of going to something more process-driven like property.
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- #11
Sideways
VIP Member
You may find domestic violence confronting, but you never know. I wrote my thesis on Rape Law, knowing full well I'd never work in crim. Reading case law was really really tough. But for the most part, I was able to stay really objective, and I think that was because I was essentially just trying to devour as much info on the subject as I possibly could.
More than 10 years post-admission, I'm still glad that I toughed out the subject. I know what there is to know, the stuff that I needed to know for me. And I'll never be an expert in the area, but I know the basics, I know the law, and that's been healing for me. Difficult, but healing.
Good luck with your exam results & your final year:)
More than 10 years post-admission, I'm still glad that I toughed out the subject. I know what there is to know, the stuff that I needed to know for me. And I'll never be an expert in the area, but I know the basics, I know the law, and that's been healing for me. Difficult, but healing.
Good luck with your exam results & your final year:)
M
MaybeaPerson
I just got my diagnosis, after having a zombie 2nd year and a very, very painful 3rd year of law school. I just finished my last semester and assume that at least I'll graduate - I have invitations, anyway. In my country I'm required to article as part of the licensing process, but I am delaying that for a year while I "get myself together" (how this happens is an entirely other story that I'm not too clear on). I guess feeling like I somewhat deserve to live would be a good place to start, not falling apart at the smallest trigger, feeling exhausted from managing what little mask of normality I'm able to cobble together.
Anyway, I feel bad posting as a not-so-shining example of a law student. I dove into law school as a way of moving blindly forward; for me it was an easy "in" to a group--I've never belonged to any group, or been able to keep friends my entire life. Right now I don't know if I can trust any feeling I have (it all feels so wrapped up in the unending worthlessness), but thinking about the practice of law makes me nauseous. The happiest I ever felt in law school was being buried in academic research, exploring the policy aspects of courses, journal work...all stuff most of my classmates complained about as not being related to actual practice (hah).
So a big part of this year is also figuring out where I want to go from here. My therapist tells me that my feels are fragmentation, and can occur as a result of long-term trauma, which I guess is why I don't see this happening any time soon.
Anyway, I feel bad posting as a not-so-shining example of a law student. I dove into law school as a way of moving blindly forward; for me it was an easy "in" to a group--I've never belonged to any group, or been able to keep friends my entire life. Right now I don't know if I can trust any feeling I have (it all feels so wrapped up in the unending worthlessness), but thinking about the practice of law makes me nauseous. The happiest I ever felt in law school was being buried in academic research, exploring the policy aspects of courses, journal work...all stuff most of my classmates complained about as not being related to actual practice (hah).
So a big part of this year is also figuring out where I want to go from here. My therapist tells me that my feels are fragmentation, and can occur as a result of long-term trauma, which I guess is why I don't see this happening any time soon.
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