Law School is a place with all kinds of people in it. Some are highly ambitious, some are competitive, a few are high spirited, while a few are away from the mainstream competition. All in all, the atmosphere in a law school has a mood swing of its own. Some days are most relaxed, some get taxing to the mind to an extent that one cannot get enough sleep. The five-year plan of one’s life in law school has its ups and downs, and all of this is attributed to one’s Mental Health.
Mental Health is a term that needs no explanation, however, it needs to be understood on a very intricate basis by everyone around us. The shift in one’s mental health is not voluntary hence, everyone needs to understand that when one doesn’t feel fine mentally, it is firstly okay to feel so. Secondly, it is not to be made fun of.
Law School and Mental Health are parallel to one another, however, there comes a point when Mental Health cannot align with the normal functioning of a law school. The blame here is not on the law school, rather it is on the functioning of a law school.
It is understood that law as a career is not an easy one. One has to go through a lot of hard work, failures, rejections to become strong enough to be able to make it, in the rollercoaster called ‘Law’. However, every professor in the law school, every lawyer in the industry, every law student in the classroom has to know that one cannot function without a healthy mind and this needs to be taken care of without thinking about what other people would think.
Mental Health is as important as physical health
The society that we live in is structured in such a way, that we disregard Mental Health, and talking about it makes one, needy for attention or sympathy. The fear of getting labeled is one reason why everyone around us prefers to keep talks about Mental health at the back of the pedestal. This hence de-normalizes the topic of Mental Health to an extent where even thinking about it is deemed sinful.
In a setting of a law school, where there are constant reality checks about one’s progress, there are high chances that a few might not feel fine, mentally. While it is normal to feel this way, the lack of awareness about the same to other people in law school makes it difficult for law students to cope up with law school activities. While the normalcy of law school may prevail, it becomes a challenge for a few, who find it difficult to even wake up amidst the chaos that their degrading mental health has created.
When any one of us feels a tinge of discomfort physically, we resort to medical aid because we want us to function normally. However, the same if felt in the mind, we prefer to deny it altogether, because nothing can go wrong with the mind.
This is the bubble that needs to be burst in law schools all over our country. While moot courts, research papers, internals, externals, internships, and attendance are important, Mental health should come above all of it. Only when students feel fine mentally, can they indulge themselves in any activity for that matter, without feeling the pressure to do so. No one can function normally without a disrupted mind, which can be done for once when there’s physical discomfort. We can walk despite a hand pain, we can talk despite the leg pain but we cannot walk or talk when our Mental Health is not fine.
Law school is a brewing pot for mental health issues
The ten semesters of law school might seem like a little bit of time in one’s life. But when we break down the ten semesters, we find 50+ law subjects, 10+ internships, 5+ research papers, 5+ moot courts, and 75% attendance that is nothing but only the additions to one’s pressure in life, that law school adds up. These figures somewhere down the line have become parameters in the report card of one’s tenure at law school.
When we find one student doing all of it, there is a natural tendency to end up doing better than the other person. This is a healthy competition that takes place because the law student is voluntarily indulging himself in activities for his betterment. However, when this becomes a culture in law school, it becomes problematic, because not everyone has the same mental capacity to deal with situations. While a few might be okay with handling rejections of internships, or not winning moot courts, a few may take the failure otherwise which needs to be taken care of.
These are nothing but unrealistic expectations that are brewed in law schools because every law school wants to produce the best lawyers in the Country. If at all the students are unable to cater to these expectations, they are often looked down upon, because there are a lot of students who are considered better than those who couldn’t do what they could. This is the exact place where the student instead of getting encouraged, gets anxiety. This is the exact phase where the student instead of reaching the top, takes a detour, and goes down with unstable mental health. This has nothing to do with the fact that the student was once high-spirited, because anxiety, depression, panic attacks do not see the report card of a student.
The need to end the stigma attached to mental health
The best of a student doesn’t come from the internships he has done or the number of moots that he has won. The best in a law student comes when there is a stress-free atmosphere in the law school when the professors are sensitive enough to empathize with a student who feels low mentally. There can be a lot of reasons for the student to feel low, that might even affect the progress of one academically. Instead of belittling the left-over self-esteem of a student, if at all the law schools dig deeper into his mental well-being, there can be a new life given to that student.
The faculties in law schools need to be taught about Depression, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, and how they should be dealt with, with utmost care.
‘Never judge a book by its cover’ – is a phrase that every one of us should abide by because what may appear on the outside may not be the same inside. When a law student is seen struggling with issues mentally, if the faculties are sensitized and aware of Mental Health illnesses, a lot of damage can be prevented by taking care of the student. It is easier to claim and judge one’s well-being by one’s character, however, the internal struggles are often behind the veil of our minds that a lot of times aren’t even spoken of which is dangerous, if not interrogated.
When a student has low attendance, more than often, assumptions are made on a possibility that he/she might be addicted to intoxication or other activities that might not even hold for the person. When a student is seen performing low academically, again an assumption is made by the faculties that are a lot of times contrary to the reality of the student.
Assumptions in law schools should be kept aside when there is a possible case of Mental health issues because a student could be in dire need of help that only the law schools can provide. After all, the law school is the second home for students who are away from their respective homes.
This calls for ending stigmas related to Mental Health because no one can be the best when their minds beg to differ from it. This can only be done once the authorities of law schools realize the importance of Mental health.
Initiating a Mental health cell
While every law school has societies to cater to one’s recreational perspective, a cell entirely devoted to Mental Health could be a great start for normalizing stigmas attached to mental health.
A mental health cell in the law school premises would be a phenomenal kickstart to accepting the fact that Mental health issues are real. Every law school needs to take steps to make their students feel better mentally. A mental health cell that has a counselor to counsel students who are going through anxiety or depression can be a win-win situation for the law school because here, the student feels fine which is positive reinforcement for law school’s progress.
The existence of this cell attacks all the possible notions floating around Mental health, like –
Resorting to a psychologist or a psychiatrist is unnecessary.
Mental Problems do not occur to ‘Normal people’.
Seeking mental aid is expensive
Depression is just in the head
Anxiety is nothing but overthinking
This can go on, as people have different perspectives on talking about Mental health. However, all of this can be changed when law schools take an initiative of not producing best lawyers, but producing sensitive and empathetic lawyers who appreciate Mental health, instead of belittling one’s mind and treating it like it doesn’t matter.
As the complexities around us arise, it is quite prevalent that every student at least once in a life-time goes through depression, has episodes of anxiety and panic attacks. The current COVID-19 situation has made it worse for the final year students with having no placements, no internships, being away from home. The current situation has affected all the walks of life, including students in law schools, faculties.
This is the point where every law school can restart their course by introducing Mental Health as a part of the curriculum, as a part of the cell or as a part of one’s daily life because this is the exact point where everyone is vulnerable enough to understand the plight of degrading Mental Health. The only way that the legal industry can turn Mental health-friendly is when the fore-runners of law – the law schools take an effort to produce lawyers who understand the intricacies of Mental health issues.
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