Depression

Any divorce lawyer deals with a lot of depressed people. However, expertise is required because depression is the one mental illness that can readily be fatal as depressed people may commit suicide. On the other hand, most of the people in divorce who are depressed certainly don’t do this. The expertise is necessary to figure out who may hurt themselves. This isn’t easy, but in more than 40 years Arthur Lin has never lost a client to suicide—or, for that matter, an opponent to homicide.

Some people in divorce are afraid to have their depression treated because they fear the judge will thing they’re crazy. This is the wrong attitude. At least where we practice, in Northern California, it is very unlikely that a judge would hold it against a litigant that they were getting treatment. Indeed, the judges want people to get therapy and might well consider this to be a favorable factor. Depression is one of the most treatable mental conditions, and taking med’s for a short while to get through the difficult ending of a relationship would usually not be considered unfavorably at all.