Law and Psychiatry
Dr. Richard O’Reilly, Associate Professor at the Department of Psychiatry at UWO, and Director of
Research and Education at Regional Mental Health Care London/St. Thomas, spoke to the health law class today.
His topic was “Law and Psychiatry: always two solitudes?”
Omar raised a study from 2006, Understanding the Negative Effects of Legal Education on Law Students: A Longitudinal Test and Extension of Self-Determination Theory, which indicated that law school had a detrimental effect on the mental health of law students. The reason for this was lack of institutional supports.
The study was raised to indicate that mental health issues are not just something we might potentially see with our clients, but among our peers as well. Negative perceptions formed in law school often translated into similar challenges in a legal career.
Another article in the Times Online from earlier this month indicated that long hours and stress pushes lawyers to drink and do drugs more. One lawyer was quoted in the article as saying,
The legal profession, unlike other classic professions such as medicine and teaching, does not give a damn, as long as you are profitable.
The place to address these issues is early though, in the law school. This means that school administrators should be responsible for instituting support and counselling programs, and perhaps restructuring schools so that they are less competitive and more cooperative.
