Wars, wildfires, plane crashes – another day, another distressing headline. Some people limit their news consumption – or ignore it altogether – to conserve their emotional and mental well-being.

Lawyers, however, cannot simply tune out the news. They must keep up with current events, court rulings, and legal changes to represent clients and manage cases competently.

So how do you find a balance between staying up to date as a lawyer and protecting your mental health?

Here are five strategies to use when you feel the walls of distressing world events and personal demands closing in. They will help you find the space to preserve joy while not turning a blind eye to what’s happening in the world.

Step 1: Regulate Your Nervous System

You can experience the physical effects of stress whether you experience a traumatic event firsthand or read about it as you prepare to represent a client.

Do you feel anxious or upset when you read the latest headline or the grim details of a client’s experience? If so, you have activated your fight-flight-or-freeze response. When this happens, you can regulate your nervous system to return to a calm, resting state by using various coping skills including meditation, stretching, exercise, and deep breathing.¹

One of my favorite ways to calm the nervous system is square (or box) breathing. Simple and discreet, you can employ square breathing while driving, shopping, or sitting at your desk at work.

Square breathing is an evidence-based technique backed by scientific studies. The Navy SEALs use this technique to reduce stress and stay calm.² It works by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system, which counteracts the effects of the sympathetic nervous system – responsible for the fight-flight-or-freeze response. This intentional control of breath reduces heart rate, lowers cortisol levels, and promotes relaxation.³

Here’s how you do square or box breathing:

• breathe in for a count of 4;
• hold for a count of 4;
• breathe out to a count of 4;
• rest for a count of 4; and
• repeat.

Do this for a few minutes, or until you return to a state of calm.

Use square breathing throughout the day proactively to regulate your nervous system – you don’t have to wait until you are actively distressed.

Step 2: Practice Gratitude to Combat Black-and-white Thinking

Black-and-white thinking is when you only see things as fully “good” or “bad.” No gray area exists. We have a natural human tendency to focus on the negative. When we experience or witness something negative, we are prone to think that the world is “bad” as a whole.

Black-and-white thinking can be beneficial to lawyers. You must consider all the negative outcomes to be prepared for anything. However, outside the courtroom or office, a focus on negative thinking can be harmful to your mental health.

Practicing gratitude helps counteract this negative thinking by forcing you to recognize the good intentionally. It fosters a more balanced perspective by shifting your focus to the positive aspects of a situation, allowing space for nuance instead of only extremes. We must be intentional about this, as it may not come naturally.

In addition to reducing black-and-white thinking, practicing gratitude also promotes overall well-being. The conclusion of a meta-analysis that included 64 randomized clinical trials found that acts of gratitude can be a supportive intervention in the treatment of anxiety and depression, as it increases positive feelings and emotions.⁴

To practice gratitude: set aside time each day to reflect on the good things in your life, no matter how small. You can journal, meditate, or simply appreciate what you have.

Step 3: Nurture Your Relationships

Building and maintaining personal relationships and a strong social life provides a crucial balance to the stressful and demanding nature of the legal profession.

Secure, reciprocal, and supportive relationships are key to your mental health – they impart a sense of purpose and belonging, promote well-being, and improve the quality of life. Research shows that physical touch reduces anxiety and depression, and lowers cortisol levels.⁵ Physical interactions, such as embracing a friend or holding hands with a significant other, enrich one’s life.

Judges and lawyers often report feeling isolated, with little to no social contact outside the confines of work. Those in the legal profession who feel isolated need to prioritize building a robust support system and creating healthy and supportive relationships.

Ideas to nurture your relationships so you feel less isolated: The next time frightening headlines or life circumstances overwhelm you, reach out to your circle of support. Call a friend, grab lunch with your mom, embrace your significant other, or cuddle with your cat (yes, furry friends count, too). Reach out even when you’re not the one who needs support: proactively checking in on people fosters a reciprocal and supportive relationship.

Do not underestimate the importance of community and connection.

Step 4: Acknowledge Your Feelings

Lawyers commonly use work to avoid negative emotions. You might believe that if you stay busy enough and work through nights and weekends, you won’t have time to address uncomfortable feelings creeping up.

Acknowledging emotions is a crucial part of maintaining mental health. Unexpressed emotions stay in the body: aches and pains, tight muscles, anxiety, and ​depression are just some of the effects you may experience. Evidence indicates that emotional suppression increases your risk of dying early.⁶

While we have the freedom to express our emotions in either healthy or toxic ways, ignoring them often leads to stagnation and a backlog of unresolved emotional issues. Acknowledging emotions involves recognizing and accepting them without judgment, allowing space for personal growth and healing.

How to acknowledge your feelings:

• Start by labeling your feelings. Say to yourself, “I am angry” or “I’m feeling anxious.” This simple act can help you gain clarity and perspective.

• Next, practice self-compassion. Be kind to yourself and understand that it's okay to feel the way you do. Imagine if a close friend expressed the same emotions to you. Would you tell them to get over it and move on? Would you tell them they are wrong for feeling that way? If you think it is unacceptable to treat a friend that way, then it is equally unacceptable to treat yourself that way. Extend the same compassion and understanding to yourself as you do to others.

• Additional activities to help you with this include journaling, talking with a friend, and therapy.

Remember, emotions are not inherently good or bad – they merely signify that something needs attention. By acknowledging and accepting them, you can process them healthily and move forward with greater clarity and resilience.

Step 5: Focus On What You Can Control and Take Action

Joan Baez, a renowned activist and singer, is famous for the phrase "action is the antidote to despair."⁷ She articulated that no matter how small the action, doing something can help you overcome feelings of powerlessness. Taking action imparts agency, which in turn, mitigates feelings of hopelessness.

You may despair over things you cannot control, such as aspects of a case you are working on or tragedies you see on the news. However, in every scenario in which you can’t control the outcome, a list of smaller things exists that you do have control over. Focus on how you can make a difference, instead of worrying about all the ways you can’t. Investing all your energy into worrying about things outside your control only keeps you in a state of helpless passivity.⁸

Practice this the next time you feel helpless about a situation: Take out a piece of paper and make three columns. In one column, write down what you have absolutely no control over. In the middle column, write down things you can influence. Think about things you can have an impact on by your own choices and actions but can’t directly control the outcomes. In the final column, reflect on what you have direct control over, such as behaviors and responses. Focus your energy on the lists of things you can control and influence.

Here's Where to Find More Strategies

While these strategies can be helpful for some people, others may need additional support. It is important to note that these strategies do not replace the valuable work done in therapy – they ultimately work best as a supplement to a complete, well-rounded mental health care plan.

Reach out to WisLAP for additional mental health support or resources – we're here for you. WisLAP can provide more of these strategies to improve your well-being and connect you with licensed mental health professionals in your area.

• Call WisLAP: (800) 543-2625

• Email WisLAP:callwislap@wisbar.org

• Schedule a consultation online on the WisLAP page on Wisbar.org.

​ This article was originally published in the The Lawyer's Journey blog of the State Bar of Wisconsin Lawyers Assistance Program (WisLAP). WisLAP offers confidential support, consultations, and education related to mental health and wellness for lawyers.

Endnotes

¹ Kiki Fehling, "5 Tips for Coping with Distressing World Events,” Psychology Today, Dec. 5, 2024.

² Karthik Kumar, "Why Do Navy SEALs Use Box Breathing?" MedicineNet.

³ Scott Berry, "Box Breathing: A Simple Stress Management Tool," The Brains Journal.com, Jan. 9, 2025.

⁴ Geyze Diniz, et al., "The Effects of Gratitude Interventions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, 2023.

⁵ "The Mutual Connection Between Healthy Relationships and Mental Health," Mass General Brigham McLean, 2025.

⁶ ​Benjamin Chapman, et al., "Emotion Suppression and Mortality Risk Over a 12-Year Follow-up," Journal of Psychosomatic Research, October 2013.

⁷ "'Action is the Antidote to Despair'​: Joan Baez backs UN push for SDGs," UN News, July 5, 2023.

⁸ Heather Braime, "Focus on What You Can Control, Leave What You Can't," Becoming Who You Are.net, April 17, 2017.