This is disturbing on a personal note. The legal profession ranks fourth for its high rate of suicides, according to age-adjusted information provided to CNN by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The top five are:
1) Dentists
2) Pharmacists
3) Physicians
4) Lawyers
5) Engineers
The CNN story also cites statistics that lawyers are 3.6 times more likely to suffer from depression than nonlawyers.
Several state bars are responding with hotlines, public education and lawyer assistance programs, the story says. Seven bar associations have added a mandatory mental-health component to their continuing legal education requirements. The states are California, Montana, Iowa, Mississippi, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina. In addition, Kentucky has added a program on behaviors that increase suicide risk to its annual continuing education conference.