Lawyers among most stressed – official

Statistics published by the Health and Safety Executive on work-related stress, depression or anxiety place ‘legal professionals’ third in a list of the top four most stressful jobs in the UK. It comes behind ‘welfare professionals’ and ‘nursing and midwifery’.

According to the statistics, 3,010 of every 100,000 workers in the legal profession have reported feeling stress, depression or anxiety in the past three years.

The main cause stated was workload, in particular the need to meet tight deadlines, too much work, pressure or responsibility, the report states.

The statistics cover a three-year period from 2014/15 to 2016/17.

Across all professions surveyed women were found to have experienced more stress. In that period the average rate for work-related stress, depression or anxiety per 100,000 workers was 1,170 for males and 1,880 for females.

In total, the number of cases in the past 12 months was 526,000 – 1,610 per 100,000 workers.