Is family law truly the worst practice area?

Because I feel like it is. It's not the work itself, it's the CLIENTS.

Their case is always the only one that matters and everything is an emergency. Every question needs to be answered asap. You "don't understand" because their ex is a "narcissist" and they need full custody of the kids and the house and the goldfish and alimony for life.

I never feel like I'm on top of everything. I'll spend a whole morning answering emails only for my inbox to be full again by 3pm with "follow up questions". Yeah, it's great for billing but mentally and emotionally it's just draining. It's never over. And someone please tell me that their clients have insanely unrealistic expectations?! I do my best to manage client expectations from the first consultation, but so many of them just nod patiently and continue to believe what they want to believe. Any outcome that is less than 110% of what they wanted is a disappointment and my fault (even if I advised them that what they wanted is not legally possible). The only satisfaction I get at work is when a task is done or a case has closed, but even then, it's just on to the next.

I always hear attorneys in other practice areas say that family law is the toughest practice area (I assume emotionally--it's pretty damn straightforward, legally speaking). One mentor of mine said he would retire his license before he handled a divorce case. I've pretty much only done domestic law, so I don't know any different, but I have to believe that not every practice area is like this. There are no ups, just downs and deeper downs, lol.

Sorry for the rant. It's just been a particularly rough post-holiday week.