Emotion and litigation: new survey assesses impact of disputes on clients’ mental health

People going through divorce or dealing with family law issues reluctant to seek help despite showing clear signs of mental health problems.

The majority of people going through divorce or dealing with family issues such as access to children are reluctant to seek help for mental health issues despite often showing clear signs of distress a new survey by Irwin Mitchell has revealed.

The survey of solicitors has revealed the vast majority of clients suffer from mental health issues in the early stages of litigation proceedings but most don’t ask for help. For World Mental Health Day (10 October) Irwin Mitchell polled its specialist national Family Law team to find out about their experiences with handling clients’ mental health during litigation. The results indicated a worrying amount of clients were showing signs of struggling with symptoms relating to depression and anxiety during divorce and children cases with many more suffering in silence.

One respondent said: ‘Some clients are really unwilling to seek mental health help during proceedings because they think it will negatively influence the outcome. The reality is the exact opposite: social workers see it as...

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