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20 Judges J. 5 (1981)
Stress: What It Does to Judges and How It Can Be Lessened

handle is hein.journals/judgej20 and id is 185 raw text is: STRESS
What it does to judges, and
how it can be lessened
This is not an article on judicial miscon-
duct, or about medical or psychiatric
disability. Instead, it is about how much
stress normal, hard-working judges en-
dure and how they may reduce it even
though their workload keeps inching up.
Stress is a nonspecific response to out-
side demands. It is the state of being on
duty. Even as we sleep we are respond-
ing to various demands of the body, the
environment, and the mind (dreams).
Thus, stress is a normal accompaniment
of life. As demands increase, the body
and the mind reorganize continually to
cope with them. Eventually, under
chronic conditions of overload, the effi-
ciency of that coping process becomes
marginal, and the quality of work and
personal life is threatened.
While stress is ever-present, it must be
kept within tolerable limits. However,
the toll upon us may not be readily
observable. It is a mistake to simply
equate stress with tension or anxiety.
They are merely indicators of stress.
Often, we are unaware of other stress-
related symptoms, which take their toll
by altering our perceptual and intellec-
tual vigilance, our body chemistry, hor-
monal balance, energy reserves, and
individual susceptibility to illness.
Judges usually pay little attention to
the demands posed by their career, stage
By Isaiah M. Zimmerman

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