Depression is often a very isolating experience—even when the depressed person has a supportive and loving group of people to rely on.

In my own life, I often found relief in reading books about depression, spirituality or health and trying to relate the wisdom in those books to my own life as a lawyer.

When I searched on-line for materials to read that would support me in my attempt to cope with depression and my law practice, what I found was sometimes helpful, but in the end, not sufficient.
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Attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous Meetings May Reduce Depression Symptoms
From Science Daily, a team of researchers has found that study participants who attended AA meetings more frequently had fewer symptoms of depression--along with less drinking--than did those with less AA participation
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Psychodynamic Therapy Brings Lasting Benefits
From Science Daily, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association, Psychodynamic psychotherapy is effective for a wide range of mental health symptoms, including depression, anxiety, panic and stress-related physical ailments.
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Treating Depression By Stimulating The Brain's Pleasure Center
This article from Science Daily takes a look at Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), a form of targeted electrical stimulation in the brain via implanted electrodes, is now undergoing careful testing to determine whether it could play a role in the treatment of patients who have not sufficiently improved during more traditional forms of treatment.
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See More Depression In The News

Callings And Shoutings
There is a scene in an old Woody Allen movie called, Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex in which a couple are about to make love for the first time when the man is suddenly struck with impotence. The camera takes us inside his head where two burly security guards come bursting through the doors of Command Central in the brain dragging a half-crazed priest who is shouting biblical injunctions and damnations about premarital sex. They tell their commanding officer that they found him hiding out in the subconscious.

The point is it is hard to perform when you have voices shouting mutinies inside your head, cross-examining the fundamental values and premises of what you’ve built—your career, your sense of mission, your clarity about whether you want to grow your practice, maintain it, scale it back or quit it altogether. Voices that undermine your resolve, undo your best-laid plans and make sure that the only law you end up practicing with any efficiency is Murphy’s law.
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What Comes Through The Door
Sometimes work is the only thing I can do, and I can’t seem to stop doing it. There’s something hamsterlike about me at those times: working, working, working but, at the same time, seeming not to accomplish much of anything. But not today; I seem to have used up all my consciousness, along with all the tissue in the house. I can't seem to lift even one thought. Frustrating—I mean, it would be frustrating, but frustration takes energy, and I can't seem to sustain a head of it for very long.

I used to imagine that the cognitive part of my brain stood alone—what difference should my threadbare feelings make in how I think? But no again. A sad-to-indifferent brain can’t think right. Mine is either too fast or too slow. I must be missing a gear.
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Law Practice
Do you have difficulty finding balance in your life? Do you neglect your own needs in the service of your work? Do your personal relationships take a backseat to obligations of the job? Do friends and family complain that conversations with you feel more like cross examination?

Lawyers, as a profession, are at a high risk for depression, suicide and substance abuse. The behaviors required for success in the law can be contrary to those that contribute to mental health, a sense of well-being and satisfying interpersonal relationships.
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