The powerful hold of addiction does not discriminate based on race, age, gender, education, socio-economic standing, or career status. In fact, substance abuse is especially prevalent for those who practice law, with nearly 20% of lawyers and attorneys victim to drug addiction, alcohol addiction or prescription drug addiction.
In 2014, the Yale Law School Mental Health Alliance published a report on the mental health of Yale Law students. Half of the respondents agreed that mental health challenges impaired law school academic performance, and just over half agreed that mental health challenges affected them socially. The report also showed:
- 21.6% reported binge drinking at least twice in the past two weeks
- 20.4% have thought seriously about suicide sometime in their life
- 6.3% have thought seriously about suicide in the last 12 months
- 17.4% of respondents screened positive for depression with 20% indicating that they had been diagnosed with depression at some time in their life
- Roughly one-sixth of those with a depression diagnosis had received the diagnosis since starting law school.
Positive Sobriety Institute Can Help
As a practicing attorney, clients rely on you to make the best decisions for their case and livelihood. Even as a high-functioning addict, lawyers can still compromise their decision-making skills in high stakes situations. If substance abuse addiction is exposed at some point during their career, impaired attorneys can expect to face substantial consequences for their drinking or drug use, including disbarment, job loss, bankruptcy, divorce, arrests, and more. Don’t risk these consequences another day – help from our rehab for lawyers is available.
Positive Sobriety Institute serves attorneys, lawyers, and legal professionals suffering from alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and prescription drug abuse through compassionate care, effective rehabilitation, and relapse prevention for long-lasting sobriety. Call our compassionate team today to learn more about our rehab program for lawyers and success rates.
How Will My Career Be Affected?
The American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs has the mandate to educate the legal profession concerning alcoholism, chemical dependencies, stress, depression and other emotional health issues, and assist and support all bar associations and lawyer assistance programs in developing and maintaining methods of providing effective treatment for long term recovery.
Like all our professional programs, PSI works closely with the state Lawyers Assistant Programs to facilitate comprehensive objective evaluation and treatment recommendations. All lawyers in our program assessed for concurrent depression, anxiety and stress disorders, which are disproportionately represented among practicing lawyers, judges and law students.
At Positive Sobriety Institute, our goal is to help patients return to their legal practice after stabilizing on a safe path to recovery. Given our unique standing with the professional health programs and state boards, our recovering lawyers and attorneys will benefit from a seamless transition back to the practice of law after completing rehab. We administer rehab for attorneys that takes extreme caution to preserve the patients’ reputation in the legal arena, occupational status, and career longevity.
Risk Factors For Addiction
Lawyers, attorneys, and other legal professionals risk for developing addiction is twice as high as the general population due to the stress of their legal profession. Aside from the normal risk factors of addiction development such as genetics, behavioral and mental health issues, or trauma, legal professionals face added pressures in their jobs that expose them to a higher risk of developing substance abuse addiction.
When lawyers and attorneys enter rehab at Positive Sobriety Institute, our clinical team considers the following demands of the legal profession when creating a recovery plan customized to identify the needs of the patient and target the root of addiction.
Autonomy. Whether lawyers and attorneys work for themselves, a small firm, or a larger firm, they usually have autonomy over their cases. This comes with great responsibility, but little accountability, giving them the means to live with addiction if they choose.
Long Workdays. One of the many demands that contribute to the stress of a law career is long work hours. Legal professionals are constantly faced with competitive pressures in the economy. To keep up, a lawyer will typically put in 60-80 hour workweeks, which adds extreme stress and fatigue to their daily lives.
Personalities. Lawyers and attorneys typically share common personality traits that can contribute to addiction development such as perfectionism, pessimism, risk-averse, and competitive. Although many of these traits can be attributed to their success, they can create obstacles for effective coping skills and personal health.
Mental Health. Research shows that almost 30% of lawyers suffer from mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. During rehab, we carefully assess all co-occurring mental and behavioral health issues to properly diagnose all dual disorders that contribute to or effect addiction.
A Recovery Experience You Can Trust
The clinical team at Positive Sobriety Institute has decades of combined experience in treating lawyers, attorneys, and legal professionals who suffer from alcohol, drug, or prescription drug addictions. We execute comprehensive rehabilitation that is highly tailored, exclusive, and confidential to cater to the specific needs and stressors brought upon by the legal industry. Our clinical team is experienced in balancing the needs of the individual, while working with licensing boards and employers that allow our patients to fully recover from addiction and return to the field of law.
Call Us Today
We know you have a lot to lose – and a lot to gain from recovery. Everyone deserves a life free from the holds of substance abuse. Let us help you break free from addiction and regain control of your life. Please call Positive Sobriety Institute today for more information on our rehab program for attorneys: (312) 312-9000. We are available 24/7 to speak with you.
We also treat the following types of professionals:
- Doctors, Physicians, Nurses, and other healthcare professionals
- Professional Athletes
- Business Executives and CEOs
- Dentists
