Stress, Anxiety and Depression in Law Students: How What They Do Affects How They Feel

Abstract

There is growing national and international concern for the mental wellbeing of law students and law graduates. Some excellent work has been, and continues to be, done in several Australian law schools on how law schools and law teachers can promote mental health in their law students through curriculum design and teaching practices. The relationship between mental health in law students and student behaviours has, however, remained largely unexplored. To fill this void in the research, in 2013 the authors undertook an empirical study at the University of Western Australia involving over 500 law and psychology students. This article reports on the results of that study and identifi es the correlations between the levels of stress, anxiety and depression in law students and certain behaviours. By exploring the impact students’ own behaviours have on their wellbeing, this article provides guidance to law students and law schools on managing mental health.