Showing posts with label dysthymia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dysthymia. Show all posts

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Lawyers and Dysthymia

Lawyers tend to suffer from all kinds of maladies. Now, we have to worry about "dysthymia," too:

My kind of depression is termed “dysthymia” in the DSM IV (mental health’s diagnostic “Bible”). With dysthymia, a person can still function—after a fashion. However, life’s colors are faded. It’s more difficult to enjoy pursuits that had, not long ago, brought pleasure. We withdraw from our closest relationships.

More here. I think the lesson is not to go into divorce law, aka family law. I used to make appearances for other lawyers in family court, and I got really sad after spending just an hour in court. Many people in family court are self-represented (pro se). It is hard to see people go at each other in public, especially when kids are involved.