Feeling stressed at the moment? There are plenty of reasons why you might be. The job of a lawyer is stressful at the best of times with billing targets, deadlines and office politics to juggle. Throw the global economic downturn and the threat of redundancy into the mix and what felt like the tremmor of nerves in the pit of your stomach may have turned into a fully fledged feeling of imploding solicitor syndrome (we made that up but you get the picture).

If you are feeling unusually troubled at the moment you are not alone. According to the Gazette , the number of case files opened by the lawyers’ support group LawCare jumped by two-thirds last year, with stress the main cause of concern. LawCare said that it opened 500 case files and received another 1,925 calls in 2008. When compared with 2007 (301 case files and 1,310 calls) it is a telling statistic.

The Gazette continues: "Of calls to LawCare’s 0800 279 6888 helpline, 72% related to stress and clinical ­depression, 9% to alcohol, 6% to bullying and 13% to ‘other’ problems, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, gambling and fears of redundancy. Women made up 60% of the callers but 75% of those with concerns about ­bullying." The issue of alcohol and other substance abuse has cropped up before but the increasing stress levels are clearly a much wider issue.

In light of the increasing problem, LawCare has launched a Wellbeing Portal , on its website which offers confidential assessments to lawyers worried about stress. So if you are feeling stressed and need a little help click here or on any of the above links to visit their site.