Former and current law students lament over “depressive” system of legal education

Scores of users on Twitter have shared accounts of various instances of depression they experienced and continue to suffer as they seek legal education in the country.

The users were reacting to a tweet by Dennislaw News which urged them to share personal experiences of depression and the most common causes they could identify.

The tweet which has since been seen 178,214 times on Twitter had a total engagement of 3,204 as at the time of this writing.

A user with the account name @nahaja_ wrote that “I was in and out of depressive episodes from the first week of law school until the week before the covid lockdown.”

@Kuukie_Pukie revealed that “I suffered severe insomnia twice and let’s not talk about my constant back pain from sitting for hours on end reading. There were times I wrote exams with a pillow or hot water bottle at my back.”

For users such as @Miz_ShARaUN, @Pepnblue, @shafic_osman, @x_chthonian, @Talatalian, @jenny15luvs1D, @W81890677, @ato_qwam3na, @Chelsea_Mate, the major cause of depression is/was the unfavorable work schedules, unpleasant experiences during examinations and a seeming desire by lecturers to frustrate students.

@ato_qwam3na recounted that “someone made us submit over 4 assignments only to tell us “ it doesn’t form part of your continuous assessment so I’m not going to mark them”.

Others like @Fosuwa and @wepia_a mentioned that they had had to resort to tears at various points because of the anxiety attacks, moments in which they passed out and had to spend months in therapy. For Fosuwa, crying was a form of therapy as she had to deal with the stress somehow but still work through an exhaustive schedule.

Beyond the classroom, however, @ewoe_nam was unimpressed with the behavior of law firms whom she criticized, saying “Law firms flout the Labour Act all the time in the name of “this is how private litigation is”. Many lawyers defend the rights of others under the Act but lack basic rights like paid maternity leave and even contracts of employment themselves”.

Tertiary education institutions in Ghana have been criticized in recent times for creating stressful conditions for students. This was echoed by @Cls_Matthews who minced no ways in observing that “Law faculties glorify unnecessary endurance, suffering, stress and hardship. because why would you give fresh Level 100 students yet to find their footing 40+ cases to brief before Monday”.

@mz_ahngie reiterated this point when she wrote that “One lecturer intentionally scored us 0/10 on an assignment to show us that we ain’t all that! In the very first week of law school. Imagine”.

In light of the above, it has been suggested that law schools introduce mental health and psychology courses within the curriculum to help students deal with these issues.

Clinical Psychologist and legal practitioner, Dr. Charlotte Kwakye-Nuako has expressed support for this call, adding that “health includes mental health. Additionally, as lawyers, if we do not have optimum mental health, we cannot provide any creditable service to anyone who comes to us. Any professional who is not in the right frame of mind cannot provide any services to anyone or client.”

The Ghana Bar Association has consequently been urged to introduce mental health clinics during the Annual Bar Conferences.

It remains to be seen which law faculty in the country will lead the charge in this matter, to ensure that the mental well-being of law students are appropriately catered for.