By Adrian Zupp 

When most people think of problems with alcohol, they think of heavy drinking – the folks who drink daily and have more than “a drink or two.” Conversely, heading to a bar or club on Saturday nights and really “tying on one” tends to be branded as recreation – cutting loose at the end of the week. But there’s a name for this kind of alcohol consumption: binge drinking. And it can be extremely harmful, even deadly.

The clinical definition of binge drinking is having four or more drinks on one occasion, if you’re a woman, or five or more drinks at one time, if you’re a man. And it’s more widespread than most people would suspect. A report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that almost a quarter (23.1%) of persons aged 12 or older participated in binge drinking at least once in the 30 days prior to a 2010 survey. This translates to about 58.6 million people.

Bingers may vomit, pass out, stagger around, get into accidents, and behave inappropriately or even violently. They may very well forget how much they’ve drunk (and completely underestimate) or even forget large blocks of time due to their alcohol consumption.

Exacerbating this problem is that binge drinking is often taken less than seriously: It might be seen as good old-fashioned foolhardiness, a rite of passage, or “serious” partying. It can be regarded as the ultimate peer group activity, or something earned at the end of a tough week. But the reality is that whether the binging is a one-time thing or a regular event, it comes at a cost.

If you think you may be a binge drinker, it would be wise to give some serious thought to your alcohol use. Taking a free, anonymous, online screening is an excellent start. With more information, you can make better decisions about your drinking, and your health.

Adrian Zupp is the marketing and communications writer at Screening for Mental Health.

As part of its efforts to encourage service members, veterans and military families coping with invisible wounds to reach out for available care and support, the Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE) for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury’s Real Warriors Campaign provides practical tools, tips and resources for members of the military community. This April, the campaign is highlighting tools and resources available specifically for military families.

The Real Warriors Campaign website, www.realwarriors.net, features articles, tools and information to help service members, veterans and family members coping with invisible wounds, as well as the common challenges of military life. The materials available on the site include a redesigned version of the “Seven Tools to Reinforce Military Family Resilience Brochure” (www.scribd.com/full/58553035?access_key=key-23pc6bfymrnp5752oyn5), which features new graphics and quotes to promote military family resilience throughout all phases of deployment. This brochure and other campaign materials can be viewed, downloaded and requested directly from the Real Warriors Campaign online shopping cart (realwarriors.net/materials). The campaign website currently includes more than 100 articles targeted toward military families, active duty service members, members of the National Guard and reserve, veterans and health professionals. Frequently reviewed military family articles that focus on the unique challenges faced by military families include:

• Part1: Preparing Children for Deployment

(www.realwarriors.net/family/children/deployment)

• Military Family Life Consultants Ease Warrior Transition (www.realwarriors.net/family/change/MFLC)
• Strengthen Your Family with Marital Counseling (www.realwarriors.net/family/care/maritalcounseling)

 The website also features campaign PSAs (www.realwarriors.net/multimedia/psas) and profiles of Real Warriors and their families (www.realwarriors.net/multimedia/profiles/family_show) sharing their experiences of reintegration after a loved one returns home, including how they helped their children cope with this process.

The Real Warriors Campaign makes reaching out easy. The website includes a live chat feature (http://www.realwarriors.net/livechat) that any service member, veteran, family member or health professional can use to connect confidentially with a trained health resource consultant at the DCoE Outreach Center 24/7. The DCoE Outreach Center can also be accessed toll-free 24/7 by calling 866-966-1020 or emailing resources@dcoeoutreach.org. Military families can also connect through the campaign’s message boards (www.realwarriors.net/forum) designated for families (realwarriors.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=12&sid=f7864820b97d1787913a877224de0cee).

 By Adrian Zupp

Pregnancy and drinking just don’t mix. That’s the overriding message coming from the medical community. In fact, the consequences for an unborn child of coming into contact with alcohol while in the womb can be devastating. Defects can be both physical and mental. Moreover, up to 40,000 babies are born with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) each year in the U.S.

Organ damage, stunted growth, behavioral problems, intellectual disabilities, facial defects, and other maladies ranging in severity from mild to severe can result from drinking during pregnancy. It can also increase the risk of premature birth and miscarriage, and there are some suggestions it may lead to stillbirths.

So how much is too much? While there is some debate about the effects of light drinking during pregnancy, the general consensus is that total abstinence is the safest bet. Obviously, the heavier or more frequent the drinking, or indulgence in binge drinking, increase the risk – and risk of greater severity – of the above consequences exponentially.

Women who think they may be pregnant, or are trying to get pregnant, should avoid alcohol. And their significant others can help the process along by joining them in their abstinence. And whatever your situation, if you drink it’s wise move to take a free, anonymous online screening so that you have a better sense of whether your alcohol use is at a safe and sensible level.

Adrian Zupp is the marketing and communications writer at Screening for Mental Health.

By Liz Grow, MA, LPC

Those in and out of the military community know and acknowledge that having a deployed parent is difficult. Yes, deployment can be difficult, but so can homecoming – even for kids. But while adults are aware that when a family member comes home it’s not all wine and roses, kids can sometimes be caught off guard. Isn’t everything supposed to be perfect now that mom or dad is home? Not necessarily.

However, if parents follow these four steps, they can create a smoother transition back into being cohesive family.

1. Continue those deployment rituals. You probably created rituals while your spouse was away. Depending on the deployment, you scheduled regular phone calls or video chats, wrote and received special letters and emails, and sent care packages. When the deployed parent returns, those rituals disappear. Sure, kids are overjoyed to have their mom or dad back, but those rituals were also regularly scheduled moments of open loving expression. Their abrupt end can be tough for kids.

Now that you’re not sending a care package each month to your deployed family member, why not put one together for the troops through Operation Gratitude? You can continue the letter writing, too. But, instead of sending letters in the mail, children can hide their letters in mom or dad’s uniform pocket.  

2. Give your child time to adjust. Becoming a single parent is difficult in any situation, and the stateside spouse undoubtedly dreams of the day he or she has their parenting partner back to share the load. But consider how difficult it is for your child to adjust back to a two-parent household. Children can have trouble adjusting to having the “sheriff” back in town if the primary disciplinarian was the deployed parent, or to sharing the parent they previously had all to themselves. Make sure to give your kids time to ease back into your pre-deployment parenting roles.

3. Don’t take children’s emotional distance too personally. Some military children worry about the next time mom or dad will go away. As a result, they may inadvertently try to prepare themselves for the separation by keeping the deployed parent at arm’s length upon their return. This is perfectly normal and parents should try not to take it too personally.

Encourage your child to open up about their worries and fears. Talk to your child about what they missed about mom or dad while they were away. Ask them about what they did to make themselves feel better during that time. Praise them for their courage and good behavior during the deployment. This will validate their feelings, and turn what was a negative situation for them into a positive opportunity for growth.

4. Keep that support system strong. You rely on many people to help share the burden of single-parenthood when your spouse gets deployed. And when he or she comes back, it’s natural to come together and want to focus all of your time and energy on family bonding.  However, all of those people who circled the wagons when your spouse left have likely earned an important place in your child’s life. Making an effort to maintain regular contact with your deployment support system after your spouse comes home will preserve the stable environment you built when he or she was away. You will also be teaching your kids that good things can happen in times of adversity and last even after the hard times pass.   

The tight-knit military community does a fantastic job of providing support to its own, ensuring that the whole family is cared for while one member is away serving the country.  Military children understand that it’s part of the job, and although they miss their parent, there is also a great opportunity for them to feel a deep sense of pride that accompanies their family’s sacrifice. By considering your child’s feelings and unique needs before, during and after deployment, you can turn a family challenge into a family triumph, and become a stronger unit as a result.

Liz Grow, MA, LPC is the Director of Counseling Partnerships for Fidelis, a technology company committed to solving the military to civilian career transition challenge. As a former psychotherapist and Army brat, Liz is committed to serving those men and women of the military who want to find as much success in the civilian workplace as they have in the military.

by Paul Fitzpatrick

Blowing off steam, relaxing with a drink, partying the stress of a long work week on a Saturday night appears to many as a rite of passage for young men and women, especially those in the military.  “That Guy” is not the fellow who has a few beers and mellows out after a long week.  That Guy is the one who becomes rude, obnoxious, a nuisance to those around him and potentially a risk to himself and others.   And women can be That Guy, too.

We’ve all seen That Guy making a spectacle of himself.  Sometimes we laugh at him, but it’s not so funny when he wrecks your evening by acting out, or getting you kicked out of the bar, or starting a fight you have to finish, or ruining your hook-up, or getting arrested, or bleeding in your car, or smashing your TV, or puking on your shoes, or … well, you get the point.

Society sends mixed signals to That Guy. He’s just letting off steam after a hard day or week, right? Sometimes his friends and strangers encourage his behavior. Maybe, in the moment, he feels like he’s funny or popular.  Sometimes he’s the life of the party.

But when we see him in action, or see the consequences he faces, he’s a reminder to all of us: “Don’t let me be That Guy.” The day after, when everyone’s talking about his antics, we’re so glad we weren’t That Guy. If we become That Guy on occasion, we regret it. If we’re That Guy all the time, we need help. But the truth is: No one wants to be That Guy.

We’ve seen some That Guy behavior in the military. But we’ve also seen it from frat boys, businessmen, the girl next door, and even relatives. Poor judgment knows no bounds. The trick is to avoid it, and learning from others’ mistakes can really help.

What are some reasons not to be That Guy?  Here are a few to consider:

– Because teeth look better in your mouth

– Because puking through your nose hurts

– Because STD does not stand for “So Totally Drunk”

– Because insurance doesn’t cover stupidity

– Because “I don’t remember” is not an excuse that holds up in court

The beauty of “Don’t Be That Guy” is that it’s open-ended advice – it covers a million possibilities.  It’s also not judgmental.  It isn’t saying don’t drink, or don’t have a few beers with your buddies, or don’t go out and let loose a little.  It simply means don’t overdo it, don’t lose control, don’t be an idiot. 

In fact, we’ve turned That Guy into a multi-media campaign that uses online and offline communication with the goal of reducing excessive drinking among young servicemen. The campaign encourages young enlisted to reject excessive drinking because it detracts from the things they care about: family, friends, dating, sex, money, and reputation. The campaign uses humor to deliver a serious message and provides viral tools so everyone can help eradicate That Guy. Designed for E1-E4 active duty junior enlisted, ages 18 to 24 in all branches of service, the campaign targets the occasional binge drinker to raise awareness, change attitudes, change behavior and reduce binge drinking rates.

Focus group findings showed the audience likes interactive interventions that focus on short-term and social consequences, and they favor peer-to-peer messages rather than those  top down from the chain of command. The campaign was tested in four pilot installations and has been rolled out to more than 800 installations around the world.

The campaign uses a stealth approach to reach the junior enlisted with playing cards, coasters, cartoons, key chains, etc., where they live, work, and play. A variety of posters and TV and radio PSAs are available to installations for posting and downloading. There’s a Mobile Site and a new mobile app coming soon to help spot and stop That Guy. See more at www.thatguy.com.

Paul Fitzpatrick is the program manager for That Guy.

By Adrian Zupp

Video Doctor is Military Pathway’s’ latest self-screening tool. Free, anonymous, and easy to use, this doctor is always in: 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

After taking one of the question-and-answer screenings at MilitaryMentalHealth.org – which includes one for alcohol – the Video Doctor pops up on the screen. (There’s also a graphic on this page you can click on to access the Doctor.)

The beauty of this online tool is that it’s interactive and, thanks to its advanced software, offers suggestions based on the user’s responses. As with the Q&A screenings, Video Doctor is not intended to be diagnostic, but rather a guide to further action.

Take a look for yourself! The best way to get all the benefits that the alcohol video docot has to offer is to take an anonymous screening. Otherwise, you can see a short segment of one of the videos above.

Adrian Zupp is the marketing and communications writer at Screening for Mental Health.

By Liz Grow, MA, LPC

It’s no secret that many adults use a drink to unwind after a long workday. For many, a glass of wine or a beer is a ritual that signals a transition out of the stress in the workplace and into to a more casual and comfortable mindset. Troops are no different, but often, their stressors are related to their physical safety and extend well beyond the 9-to-5.

A recent study conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), showed that 27% of Army soldiers screened 3 to 4 months after returning from deployment to Iraq met the criteria for alcohol abuse.

One explanation for the high percentage of alcohol abuse is that soldiers are self-medicating with alcohol because they’re suffering from readjustment issues beyond their control. Self-medicating is used to escape or alleviate distressing symptoms brought on by post-traumatic stress.  Rather than dealing head-on with post-deployment readjustment issues, many troops turn to alcohol to numb their feelings of vulnerability and anxiety, and to “feel normal” again, even if only for a brief time.

One doesn’t need a study to know that self-medicating with alcohol is a serious issue within the military community. With the recent troop withdrawals, the health community fears that the problem will only grow. Among people with diagnosed PTSD, approximately 40% have also been addicted to alcohol. PTSD sufferers use alcohol to quell the most common symptoms of PTSD such as hypervigilance, insomnia, and anxiety.

It’s crucial that soldiers have alternate methods of stress-reduction and use them on a regular basis. Becoming dependent upon alcohol can lead to risk-taking behaviors, loss of relationships, financial distress, and even job loss. Alcohol use will only compound the problems of a soldier suffering from post-traumatic or combat operational stress, and will most certainly delay a healthy recovery.

Exercise, meditation, and taking on a hobby are all great ways to reduce levels of stress. If you feel that your readjustment issues are bigger than stress management, it’s important that you consult with your physician about other ways in which you can keep your readjustment issues in check and work toward feeling normal again.

If you think that you may be using alcohol to manage post-deployment stress and to avoid facing the readjustment issues that you’re experiencing, reach out for help. You’re not alone, and trying to deal with your issues alone will only prolong the suffering. Solicit the help of your support system and reach out to one of the many communities that can help you work through your readjustment issues in a healthy way. You can find ample resources on Military Pathways, or through your local VA.

Liz Grow, MA, LPC is the Director of Counseling Partnerships for Fidelis, a technology company committed to solving the military to civilian career transition challenge. As a former psychotherapist and Army brat, Liz is committed to serving those men and women of the military who want to find as much success in the civilian workplace as they have in the military. 

By Adrian Zupp

Problems with alcohol can affect anyone. There is no “type” – it could be a businessperson, a Sunday school teacher, a bus driver, a doctor and, yes, a member of the military.

Betty Currier is an example of alcohol’s lack of discrimination. Sober since 1976, the 73-year-old felt she needed a way to “fit in,” and unfortunately she chose a bad solution. “For a long time I felt like a square peg in a round hole,” said Betty, who was 16 when she took her first drink with a group of teens outside a dance. “I didn’t seem to fit even into my own skin.”

It was gin, that first time, and she hated the taste. But the confidence she felt wooed her to the bottle and an alcoholic was born. But even as her problem progressed, Betty was what she calls a “high-functioning alcoholic.” “I was a member of the community, I was active in my church, I was active in public service – so I had this image, but when I would get home, and behind the doors of my house, I was drinking to manage all the issues of life that were just plain overwhelming to me.”

“Rock bottom” came when her daughter almost died from a cocktail of alcohol and pills. The incident shocked Betty immeasurably, but it still took the intervention of others to get her on the road to recovery, when she was tricked into going to a group therapy meeting she had thought was for her daughter.

Today Betty is sober and wiser.

“My insides match my outsides now,” she said. “You’ve probably heard that expression. It came from my program of recovery. The biggest thing I had to deal with was the guilt and shame of what my alcoholism had done to me. And I find this is so typical of women.”

If alcohol can steal a normal life away from a pillar of the community like Betty Currier, it can do it to anyone. Getting a handle on a problem with alcohol early is key. Take our free, anonymous online screening for alcohol and see what you can learn.

Adrian Zupp is the marketing and communications writer at Screening for Mental Health.

By Adrian Zupp

Now in its 14th year, National Alcohol Screening Day® (NASD) has grown to involve almost a thousand organizations, including military installations, community-based organizations, and colleges.

Founded in 1999 by Massachusetts-based nonprofit Screening For Mental Health, Inc., the centerpiece of NASD is the free, anonymous screenings available at www.DrinkingIQ.org. The screening for alcohol, which was developed by the World Health Organization, only takes a few minutes to complete.

One of the key points made today is that there are many rungs on the ladder from sobriety to alcoholism, and that many alcohol-related problems often go unrecognized by the individual and unseen by those around them. And yet the consequences can be devastating.

NASD, which is always held on the Thursday of the first full week in April, has grown steadily over the years helping thousands of members of the military and their families.

If you or someone you know may have a problem with alcohol, the first step to getting a handle on it is a screening at www.DrinkingIQ.org. The same site also offers screenings for depression, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While the screenings don’t constitute a formal diagnosis, they do give individuals a good indication of whether they should seek further help.

Be sure to spread the word about NASD!

Adrian Zupp is the marekting and communications writer for Screening for Mental Health.