Wellness and wellbeing at Monash University: the first semester law experience

Research indicates that generally law students enter university with rates of psychological wellbeing no different to the population at large. However, by the end of the first year of study in law, self-reported rates of psychological distress have increased significantly. The decline in student psychological wellbeing has been attributed to the environment of law school. This chapter presents part of the findings of a wider longitudinal study conducted within the Faculty of Law at Monash University. This wider study forms part of a trend within Australian law schools to investigate the issue of psychological distress among their students. This chapter presents the qualitative findings obtained during telephone interviews conducted with a convenience sample of 40 first-year undergraduate law students towards the end of first semester at Monash University.