Michael Robichaud (1L)
Last year, the Law Students’ Society of Ontario (LSSO) conducted a survey that asked students from across the province what impact they thought debt was having on their mental health. The results were perhaps not surprising—those with larger amounts of debt were more inclined to report that financial stress was impacting their psychological well being—but speak to a recent feeling that unpaid student loans can affect more than your credit score.
The LSSO survey results come in the wake of campaigns by the Canadian Federation of Students’ Nova Scotia and the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) to put post-secondary mental health issues on Ottawa’s radar. One of the main psychological stressors identified by both organizations: crushing student debt.
With many campus mental health services struggling to keep pace with rising demand for student counselling, and tuition rates going up across the board from Halifax to Victoria, it’s no wonder student organizations are starting to take notice. But how real is the link they posit between the amount of debt we shoulder to pay for school and the way we actually feel at the end of the day? Well, according to a heap of new research, pretty damn real.
Recent studies out of the UK have shown that high debt correlates with a host of negative outcomes like depression, neurosis, alcohol dependency, suicide, and psychotic disorders. The causal directions aren’t always obvious, and underlying variables abound (for instance, students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to report depression or stress disorders, as well as to have to borrow more money to pay for school) but if the LSSO survey results tell us anything it’s that for many Ontario Law students, the connection is clear.
And it doesn’t stop at mental health. A 2013 study by researchers at Northwestern University suggests that debt can be a contributing factor to high blood pressure and low self-reported general health scores amongst younger respondents. While more research is needed into the mechanism by which debt and health interact, the numbers as they stand look pretty ominous.
Doron Gold—a therapist specializing in the legal profession—provided some insight into the complicated relationship between debt and well being for law students.
“Not only is [debt] impactful due to the sheer size that one must carry due to law school, but the ability to pay it back coexists with a student’s concern about how their career will unfold.”
“If your ability to secure employment is in question, your ability to repay loans is compromised and you’re left with the stress of both a debt load and a career beginning on what feels like the wrong foot. It attacks one’s sense financial and professional security. The stress can be overwhelming and often is for students.”
Mr. Gold points to an important facet of the debt/well being dichotomy for students staking their finances on professional degrees: the perception that good grades equals a high paying job, equals the ability to pay off loans.
“I’ve had students anxiety-riven because they’re afraid that if they don’t do well on exams, they won’t get the marks they need to secure the high paying job they need to pay their debts. In other words, they are going to law school to help pay for law school. “
This might sound depressingly familiar to those struggling to make the grade with creditors circling overhead like carrion birds, and Mr. Gold urges indebted, heavily stressed students to reach out to a counsellor.
“The story one tells oneself in one’s own head is usually a distorted, pessimistic one. Getting another person’s perspective is very therapeutic. They should seek out counselling, including through the MAP (Member Assistance Program), or a peer volunteer.”
At the national level, there are also a number of practical suggestions being forwarded by the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. In their recent policy paper, the organization advocates that Canada’s next government allow graduates dealing with mental health problems more time to pay back their debts without penalty.
While it’s uncertain whether any of the major parties will incorporate CASA’s proposals into their 2015 election platforms, students suffering from debt stress in the here and now should know that they don’t have to do so in silence.
“The key for those struggling with these issues is to talk to someone,” says Mr. Gold, “Isolation and myopia are the enemies of well being.”
Conquering them can be as easy as sending an email.
The Member Assistance Program offers free personal and financial counselling to law students and legal professionals: http://myassistplan.com.
Counselling & Psychological Services (CAPS) provides U of T students with short-term individual counselling, assault counselling, psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioural therapy, workshops, and psychiatric medication services: http://www.caps.utoronto.ca/main.htm
