Feeling a little stressed out lately? If so, you’re not alone. Many law students experience stress, anxiety, and a whole host of other mental health issues during their law school careers. In fact, it is a growing problem at law schools nationwide, and if these issues are not dealt with early on they can threaten the success of one’s future professional career.
At the 2007 ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco, many SBA presidents expressed concern about the lack of attention being paid to law student mental health issues. The Law Student Division responded by launching a National Mental Health Initiative aimed at increasing awareness of law student mental health issues and educating students on effective and healthy ways to cope with the stressors of law school.
This initiative will include among other things establishing a National Mental Health Day for law students (March 27), working with SBA presidents to create mental health programming for their schools, and developing and distributing a law school toolkit for implementing mental health training and prevention. (See “A New Hope” on page 32 for a full discussion of this initiative.)
An effort like this must extend beyond one year, and I am encouraged by the many SBA presidents and law schools that have taken note of this issue and are providing more mental health education and resources for their students. As vice chair for SBAs and an SBA president myself, I’m also encouraged that the Division and SBA presidents are working together to address law student mental health issues. The Division provides a wealth of benefits for SBA presidents who choose to get involved. If your SBA president is not involved, encourage him or her to participate. It will greatly benefit your school.
Like law students across the country, law schools share similar concerns such as rising tuition and lack of parking. This year, at the Division’s request, SBA presidents across the country are working together and sharing their innovative ideas and solutions for some of these common issues law schools face. The Division is collecting their ideas and solutions to the 20 most common issues. These ideas will be compiled into a booklet titled 196 Innovative Ideas for America’s Law Schools—one idea for each of the ABA-approved law schools. At the 2008 ABA Annual Meeting in New York City, every SBA President will receive a copy of the book, which will serve as a valuable resource for law schools and law students.
Although law schools and law students are unique, we are all more alike than we might think. Whether addressing common mental health issues or common problems at our law schools, when we start working together we can do great things.
Ben Gibson
Vice Chair/SBA, ABA Law Student Division
Florida State University College of Law
