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For my fellow desi 🐠(M and F both) struggling to get in shape:
Consider looking up this guy for your personal training needs:
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I have lost 8 pounds already in 5 weeks, and gaining muscle steadily- almost no changes to my very desi food centric-diet. Check him out, you will not be disappointed as long as you stick to his plan for you!
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Can we leave CG a month after joining?
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Wondering if legal tech is legit or all hype
I recently graduated from law school and have started my clerkship in the superior court of NJ. Once done with my clerkship, I’m hoping to work in employment law (defense). I’ve seen online that Jackson Lewis is hiring at their Berkeley Heights, NJ location. Can anyone give me any insight on what it’s like to work at JL? culture? First year associate salary? Typical work day? Jackson Lewis P.C.
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I wish I had an answer for you. This field causes depression/anxiety in otherwise neurotypical folks, so suffice to say it is not particularly friendly to those struggling. Especially biglaw.
With that said, I have lifelong struggles with depression and anxiety and have managed to cope with biglaw over several years. At the end of the day, I have come to terms with the fact that escaping a work environment wouldn’t solve my underlying problems, and that I need to work on them separately. But for some, that simply isn’t the case, so I can’t offer that up as advice in good conscience.
It may be worth exploring with your therapist whether the work environment actually is the root cause of things. If so, just leave the law. It’s not worth killing yourself over. Hope you are doing OK and feel free to DM me if helpful.
Thanks, all, for the kind words and advice. Hope a couple matters settle and I can get some sleep :)
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You need to work out your medication/treatment. It’s the only way. Medication, therapy, and ample rest when not working. Try to incorporate exercise in too but I know that’s a hard thing to do when struggling to function as it is. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this while trying to manage this profession.
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Agreed with C1. The right dose of an SSRI makes a big difference. The sooner you can adjust it the better.
Another private practice law clerk here. Just want to say thank you for your post. Helps to know that I'm not the only one in my position feeling like this. I hope my post helps you in the same way.
My advice would more or less be a repeat of what others have said (therapy, managing your work environment, etc.), but please feel free to DM me if you ever want to talk. 🙂
adderrall
I’ve found the work of Dr. David Burns, a psychiatrist and Stanford medical professor, to be very helpful — life-changing, even. Check out his books, as well as his weekly “Feeling Good” podcast.
If meds are your thing, I will warn you that Dr. Burns isn’t a fan of antidepressants (he considers them placebos) or benzodiazepines. But you’ll probably find something of value in his work, and there’s nothing in his approach that’s fundamentally incompatible with medication.
I wish I had an answer for you other than "I don't handle it" or "not very well." I actually just put in my two weeks notice at my firm because I came to the conclusion that the billable hour model is incompatible with my anxiety and depression. I'm going into government work.
I'm sure I'll run into busy stints in government too. But at least I'll have the ability to take a mental health day or even just shower and calm myself when I need to without stressing about wasting billable time.
I try to accept that done is better than perfect in those phases. The depression spiral gets so much worse when you’re depressed about “failing” because you’re depressed. But I totally understand & wish I had more answers.
On another note, I learned I actually have type II bipolar disorder instead of my original diagnosis of depression. Getting on the right medication made a world of difference for me. Only found out by getting a second opinion from a different psych after my course of depression treatment wasn’t working.