U.S. Army Soldiers With Alcohol Problems

High stress jobs have always been a contributing factor to the amount of alcohol consumed by employees. The military has always struggled with how to handle alcoholism both at home and in war zones. In 2009, over 9,000 soldiers got treatment for alcohol abuse, this treatment consisted of regular trips to a counselor; the number of soldiers needing assistance with their alcohol problems is up from 6,000 in 2003. Multiple tours in Iraqi combat zones have had a direct effect on the number of U.S. Army soldiers with alcohol problems; combat stress has caused the number of diagnosed alcohol problems to double since 2003.

The military offers soldiers the opportunity to seek help for their addictions, similar to Alcoholics Anonymous. Soldiers who seek help will not have that information put into their permanent records which will keep their career intact. This is a pretty amazing thing, no longer will alcoholism be a cause for promotion denial; having notes of alcoholism in one's record use to keep soldiers from ever advancing career wise. Lots of soldiers discover they have an alcohol problem in the worst of environments; swift action to help these individuals is extremely necessary.

In the 1990's the Army banned the use of alcohol in combat zones; which resulted in fewer alcohol related disciplinary problems with soldiers overall. Unfortunately, those military units that were charged with going back into combat a second or third time found the stress too much to handle, alcohol was an easy solution. Drugs, for the most part, are easy to detect making them an unlikely choice amongst soldiers for stress relief. When soldiers get back from combat, they end up hitting the booze twice as hard as they did before being deployed.

It is great that the military offers some support for those struggling with alcohol. However, it does appear that they would rather sweep alcoholics under the rug than have their records and the military's record smeared. Just seeing a counselor once a week will hardly have any long term effect towards recovery.

Telltale Symptoms of Alcohol Addiction

How do you tell if you or someone you know is abusing alcohol? In many cases an alcoholic knows that there is something wrong without being told that they are an alcoholic. There are many alcoholics that are high functioning, they have jobs, families, and are able to appear like nothing is wrong. It can be hard at times to see patterns of unmanageability in one's life which can allow the disease of addiction to go on unchecked. In most cases, it is only a matter of time before one's disease catches up with them; hopefully they can realize they have a problem before the trail of damage becomes too long. The National Institute of Health has designed questions to identify symptoms of alcohol abuse and dependence; the NIH created a questionnaire that may help a person determine whether of not he/she has a problem. According to the NIH, if you answer yes to one question it could mean that someone is abusing alcohol, answering yes to three or more could suggest alcohol dependence or alcoholism.

The Questionnaire created by the National Institute of Health is short and easy to take. We encourage anyone who is unsure about themselves or someone they know to answer these questions. It could potentially help determine whether or not help is needed. The quicker a problem is identified, the sooner a life could be potentially saved. The questions below are telltale symptoms of alcohol addiction.

In the past year, have you:

Had times when you ended up drinking more than you intended?

More than once wanted to cut down or stop drinking, but couldn't?

More than once gotten into situations while or after drinking that increased your chances of getting hurt -- such as driving or having unsafe sex?

Had to drink much more than you once did to get the effect you want or found that your usual number of drinks had much less effect than before?

Continued to drink even though it was making you feel depressed or anxious or adding to another health problem, or after having had a memory blackout?

Spent a lot of time drinking or getting over the aftereffects of drinking?

Continued to drink even though it was causing trouble with your family or friends?

Found that drinking -- or being sick from drinking -- often interfered with taking care of your home or family, or caused job troubles or school problems?

Given up or cut back on activities that were important or interesting to you in order to drink?

More than once gotten arrested or had other legal problems because of your drinking?

Found that when the effects of alcohol were wearing off, you had withdrawal symptoms, such as trouble sleeping, shakiness, restlessness, nausea, sweating, a racing heart or a seizure?

(Source: National Institutes of Health. Questions are based on symptoms for alcohol use disorders in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition.)

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, then you should discuss this with your doctor.