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Lawyer Well-Being & Mental Health: Massachusetts LAP Blog

The Sound of Silence

For some the sound of silence is a welcome, albeit rare, experience that offers a respite from the usual chaos of daily life. With personal technology and screens interrupting at a moment’s notice, it can be a real challenge to experience a decent amount of silence each day (unless you substitute it with a little Simon and Garfunkel playing in the background, of course). Yet for others, silence is not welcome at all. In fact, it is during the silence when some people feel the most uncomfortable.

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Echoes of Past Intruding into Law School

Aside from the usual stresses of law school, for some students the residue of past trauma can emerge.  Here is a link to our recent Q&A column about that dilemma, as published in the December 2015 issue of MBA Lawyers Journal.…

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New Year’s Resolutions – Start small

Every year I make the same resolution. My resolution is to not make any resolutions this year. And every year, I break my resolution simply by making it. This is my way of taking away the guilt or pressure of making lofty goals that will most likely be broken sometime in the near future. This is our human nature: we get excited about change, start to make a change, realize that change actually takes hard work, get discouraged by that requirement, start failing in our efforts, and then stop making progress entirely. This is why so many people buy gym memberships at the start of the year and then stop using them entirely in March. This is also why gyms do not expand their space due to the influx of new members at the beginning of the year. They know that the numbers will decrease rapidly.

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Holiday Success = Managing Expectations

(Originally posted on 12/23/14)

When you ask people what the holiday season means to them, you will probably get as many answers as the people you asked. For some, the holiday season brings up memories (some good, some bad, some ugly, some they hope one day to repress) of years past that they either wish or fear could be repeated each year. It can be difficult to know what to expect and how to prepare. I find it easy to feel overwhelmed and distracted by the bombardment of messages about the holidays (you should feel happy, you should spend time with family, you should throw parties, you should buy lots of stuff, you should make resolutions, you should or shouldn’t eat lots of sweets, you should compete with your neighbor for the most electricity used to light the exterior of your dwelling, etc.). By this time in the season, I’m tempted to start dreaming of life on a deserted island.

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Tips on Making the Season Brighter – Seasonal Affective Disorder

(Originally posted on 12/9/14)

The change in the season means many different things to different people. When the season changes from autumn to winter (at least in regions where there is distinct variation between seasons), some people are excited about the holidays, winter fashion, and outdoor winter activities (think of your friendly neighborhood skiers, snowboarders, Santa impersonators). For others, the change in season is met with dread (lower amounts of energy, mood fluctuations, pessimism). While many people are negatively impacted by the colder seasons, there is a percentage of individuals who are affected to a significant degree, those who meet the criteria for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). SAD occurs when the change of season produces depressed mood, low energy, irritability, change in sleep patterns, change in appetite, diminished concentration, and low motivation.

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