As I sit here after reading a piece on suicide I find myself thinking of good old Willie Shakespeare…..”The first thing we do is kill all the lawyers”……while I agree with that sentiment it may be a moot point….why? It seems that there is an alarming trend of suicides among lawyers….so what Willie thought was a good idea, they are doing it to themselves……
Overworked and burdened by a mix of worries unique to their profession, lawyers have a growing tendency to kill themselves—and bar associations are just beginning to grapple with it, CNN reports. Eight of the nation’s 50 associations are trying to stop the pattern after South Carolina lost six lawyers in an 18-month period; Oklahoma had a spate of losing one a month; and Kentucky saw 15 commit suicide since 2010. “It’s been primarily men,” says the head of Kentucky’s bar association. “To a large degree, it’s been trial attorneys. The men are primarily middle-aged.” The issues can begin in law school, where, according to one study, 40% of students are depressed and take that into their professional careers. Many don’t seek proper treatment or take a career break, and hide their unhappiness from spouses—who are stunned when their husband commits suicide. “I never dreamed that I would be a widow at 58,” says a wife in Ohio. “We were starting the best chapter of our lives.” But all those innocent people imprisoned and all those lost hours and missed holidays with family, can take their toll, reports the Courier-Journal. “They become like a weak-kneed boxer in the 15th round,” said a Kentucky Supreme Court justice. “They keep flailing away. But they lose purpose. They lose hope.”
Lawyers are like doctors….they may have chose the career for the noblest of reasons….they soon see the cash that is thrown at them….and then it becomes wealth accumulation over principles….
Where is the outrage at another “grim Trend” military and vet suicides? Yes, it is written about but unfortunately it is quickly forgotten with the next “scandal” to come along…..
I have mixed emotions on this.