More than a quarter of the 3,300 law students surveyed had received at least one diagnosis of “depression, anxiety, eating disorders, psychosis, personality disorder, and/or substance use disorder,” the study found. Yet only 4% reported ever having relied on a health professional to deal with alcohol or drug abuse, and only half of the 42% percent who said they thought they needed support for emotional or mental problems in the past year got counseling for it.
Since more than 60% said they failed to get help for their problems because they feared it would negatively affect their careers, the report suggested that law schools need to do a better job of teaching students that getting help will not hurt their career prospects.