Stress in the Suit: The Silent Mental Health Crisis Among African Lawyers

“I thought I was just tired. But then the chest pains started, and I couldn’t breathe properly in court. That was the day I knew something was wrong—not with the law, but with me.”

That’s how Ama, a 32-year-old litigation lawyer in Accra, recalls the day she collapsed in front of a High Court judge. It wasn’t a medical emergency, at least not the kind people expected. It was burnout—silent, suffocating, and unseen beneath her neatly pressed suit and brilliant legal arguments.

Across Africa, legal professionals are grappling with a reality that rarely makes headlines: an escalating mental health crisis in the legal profession. Long hours, unrelenting pressure, toxic perfectionism, and deep-seated cultural stigma around mental illness have turned too many courtrooms and chambers into emotional battlegrounds. And nobody seems to be talking about it—until now.

The Pressure Cooker Called Law

From junior associates in bustling Lagos law firms to magistrates in small Kenyan towns, the weight of the robe has never been heavier.

In a 2024 survey by the South African Legal Practice Council, 62% of lawyers admitted to experiencing symptoms of burnout, anxiety, or depression. Yet only 8% had sought professional help. A similar report from Kenya’s Law Society revealed that a worrying number of its members had turned to alcohol or isolation to cope with stress.

And in Ghana, informal interviews conducted by Legal Africa suggest that nearly 7 out of 10 young lawyers feel overwhelmed—yet fear opening up because they believe it could damage their careers or be seen as weakness.

“We are trained to argue, not to feel,” says Kwesi, a senior associate at a prominent Accra firm. “You can’t cry in court. You can’t show you’re tired. You can’t even say, ‘I need help.’ Because then you’re no longer ‘fit for the job.'”

Law School: Where It Starts

The crisis often begins in law school, where long nights, high competition, and societal expectations set the stage for toxic stress management. From there, it escalates into law practice, where associates sometimes work 80-hour weeks with no boundaries between life and work.

Female lawyers carry an extra burden. Many juggle court schedules with motherhood, family expectations, and a legal world still skewed against them.

“I was breastfeeding, doing late filings, managing a household—and everyone expected me to smile through it all,” says Ngozi, a young mother and legal practitioner in Abuja. “I ended up in therapy after I nearly crashed my car from exhaustion.”

Why No One Talks About It

In many African countries, mental health is still taboo. Therapy is considered something for the “mentally ill” or the “weak,” not respected professionals in robes and gowns.

Add that to a legal culture built on stoicism, and you get an environment where stress, trauma, and breakdowns are brushed under the carpet. Courts expect lawyers to “show up” no matter what—illness, grief, exhaustion. The unspoken rule? You don’t take time off unless your body gives out.

“We have normalized pain,” says a retired judge from East Africa. “Judges die in office, sometimes literally. The system only claps for you when you break silently.”

Signs of Change

But all hope is not lost. Some bar associations are beginning to notice.

• In Nigeria, the NBA recently launched a Lawyers’ Wellness Helpline and proposed adding mental health workshops to its Continuing Legal Education (CLE) program.

• The Kenya Law Society has partnered with mental health NGOs to host annual “Wellness Weeks.”

• The University of Ghana School of Law held its first-ever Mental Health Awareness Month in 2025.

• Some firms in Cape Town and Nairobi are now offering therapy stipends or well-being days.

These are small but powerful steps in breaking the silence.

What Needs to Happen

To truly shift the culture, more must be done:

• Bar associations must make lawyer well-being a priority—not just in words, but in budgets and policies.

• Firms and chambers must set boundaries, normalize breaks, and remove the shame around asking for help.

• Law schools should teach emotional resilience alongside legal theory.

• Lawyers themselves must begin to redefine what strength looks like—not as silence, but as vulnerability.

A New Kind of Advocacy

The courtroom isn’t the only place where lawyers should fight for justice. Sometimes, it starts in the mirror. The legal profession can no longer afford to bleed silently under its own weight. Healing must begin—not just for clients, but for the people sworn to defend them.

Because the most important case a lawyer may ever fight is the one for their own mind.

If you or someone you know in the legal field is struggling with mental health, please seek help. Therapy is strength. Rest is not laziness. You matter, beyond the courtroom.

 For comments, stories, or to share your experience with us anonymously, email: info@legalafrica.org

DON’T MISS THIS : Legal Africa Launches Mental Health Awareness Month for the Legal Profession