April is Alcohol Awareness Month:
What is your drinking IQ?
From Military Health System

Do you feel guilty after drinking too much?

Do you fail to do what is expected of you because of drinking?

Do friends suggest your drinking might be a problem?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, alcohol may be negatively impacting your life.

It might be time to check things out.

To help you better understand your relationship with alcohol, this April, in observance of Alcohol Awareness Month, Military Pathways is encouraging service members and their families to assess their drinking IQ by taking a brief, anonymous questionnaire either online at www.DrinkingIQ.org, over the phone at 877-877-3547, or at military installations worldwide.

“The alcohol screenings give service members an opportunity to see if their drinking could be posing a problem to their health or safety,” said Bill Smith, the Alcohol Abuse Prevention specialist at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, 29 Palms, Calif. “We have been participating in the program since 2008 and I would say half of the people who come through our center for treatment come as a result of this screening program.”

Since the Drinking IQ campaign launched, more than 17,000 people have taken an alcohol screening online through the Military Pathways program. Of those who scored positive for symptoms of an alcohol use disorder and answered the question, “Do you plan to seek further evaluation?,” more than 25 percent answered, “Yes.”

“The goal of this program is to get service members and family members to think about how, when and why they drink. Not everyone who scores positive on the assessment requires treatment, but research shows that screening and brief intervention can be key in getting people to cut back on their alcohol use,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Hans Ritschard, BSC, PhD, director of Psychological Health Strategic Operations in the Department of Defense Office of Force Health Protection and Readiness.

In addition to the phone and online screenings, military installations will be holding in-person education and awareness events. Educational materials and promotional items that include posters and sports water bottles with the Drinking IQ website printed on them, as well as screening forms are available throughout the year.

For more information, visit the website www.MilitaryPathways.org.

Military Pathways gives military service personnel and their families the opportunity to learn more about mental health and alcohol use through anonymous self-assessments offered online, via telephone, and through events held at installations.

The program is designed to help individuals identify symptoms and access assistance before a problem becomes serious. The self-assessments address alcohol use, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, generalized anxiety disorder and bipolar disorder.

After completing a self-assessment, individuals receive referral information for Tricare, Military OneSource and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The program is run by the nonprofit Screening for Mental Health® and is fully funded by Force Health Protection and Readiness, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Health Affairs. To learn more, visit www.MilitaryPathways.org.