SUBSTANCE ABUSE
The Most Important information
You Must Learn
In Order to Prevent Substance Abuse from Ruining
Your Veterans Life
Learn How Substance Abuse is Linked to Veterans
“Learn How to Cope With the Stresses of the Military without Having to Resort To Drugs”
Did you know...?
As we honor the efforts and sacrifices of our soldiers on distant battlefields, Americans should keep in mind the enduring debt we owe to our country’s military veterans. While news accounts remind us daily of the dangers soldiers confront in combat, we do not often see a threat they frequently face when they return home: substance abuse. Just as no soldier fights alone, no soldier with a substance abuse problem suffers alone. Surveys by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) between 2004 and 2006 found that 7.1 percent of veterans met the criteria for a past year substance abuse disorder. Substance abuse does not just wreak havoc on individuals’ health; it also contributes to violence, abuse, and other crises in family relationships, including family disintegration.
As with other military conflicts, operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have required U.S. soldiers to shoulder burdens that can be overwhelming. Officials in the military and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are concerned that among personnel deployed to these fronts, the difficulties of deployment and combat may be contributing to a rise in problems related to substance abuse. Soldiers who have seen combat face particular risk. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, substance abuse rates appear to be strongly related to combat exposure.
Alcohol and Drug Addition
Alcohol and drug misuse can lead to serious health, relationship, employment, and legal problems. Problematic alcohol or drug use can also lead to dependence. Symptoms of dependence include tolerance, which is the ability to drink or use greater quantities over time, compulsive behavior, which is the inability to stop drinking or using in spite of negative life consequences, and withdrawal, which includes feeling sick and distressed when attempting to quit drinking or using drugs. Problems with drinking or drug use may occur in response to stress, or in combination with posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, or other medical conditions. Fortunately, there are ways to help Veterans recover from alcohol or drug misuse and dependence, including mutual help groups and effective treatment. The VHA has many resources to help Veterans and their loved ones answer questions, find support, get treatment, and recover. Some of these resources include:
· Screening - You may be wondering if you have symptoms of alcohol/drug abuse or dependence. One way of determining that is to take a brief confidential and anonymous screen provide by the VHA. You can go to
https://www.myhealth.va.gov/mhv-portal-web/anonymous.portal?_nfpb=true &_pageLabel=mentalHealth&contentPage=mh_screening_tools/ALCOHOL_SCREENING.HTML for a private screening. Only you will see the results of the brief screen. None of the results are stored or sent to anyone. You can choose to print a copy of the results for your own records or to give to your physician or a mental health professional. If you do have a substance abuse problem, it would be a good idea to print out a copy and bring it to your doctor. You doctor will be able to discuss the results with you and then direct you to the appreciate facility to receive help. Do not wait until you hit rock bottom, if you think you have a problem seek help immediately because it only gets worse.
· The Drinker’s Check-Up – located at http://www.veterandrinkerscheckup.org/, It is another anonymous self-guided online tool that allows you to develop a better understanding of your drinking, including any risk that it might pose to your health.
What are the symptoms?
· Tolerance - A person will need increasingly larger amounts of alcohol or drugs to get high.
· Craving - A person will feel a strong need, desire, or urge to use alcohol or drugs, will use alcohol or a drug despite negative consequences, and will feel anxious and irritable if he or she cannot use them. Craving is a primary symptom of addiction.
· Loss of control - A person often will drink more alcohol or take more drugs than he takes or she meant to, or uses alcohol or drugs at a time or place he or she had not planned. A person also may try to reduce or stop drinking or using drugs many times, but may fail.
· Physical dependence or withdrawal symptoms - In some cases when alcohol or drug use is stopped, a person may experience withdrawal symptoms from a physical need for the substance. Withdrawal symptoms differ depending on the drug, but they may include nausea, sweating, shakiness, and extreme anxiety. The person may try to relieve these symptoms by taking either more of the same or a similar substance.
How Can You Get Help?
Many different kinds of professionals provide treatment for substance use disorders. In most treatment programs, the main caregivers are specially trained individuals certified or licensed as substance abuse treatment counselors. About half these counselors are people who are in recovery themselves. Many programs have staff from several different ethnic or cultural groups. Most treatment programs assign patients to a treatment team of professionals. Depending on the type of treatment, teams can be made up of social workers, counselors, doctors, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, or other professionals.
Who Can Help You?
You fought for the American way of life. Now improve your quality of life by getting the help you need.
Federal Government Resources
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA’s) Substance Abuse
Treatment Facility Locator www.findtreatment.samhsa.gov/facilitylocatordoc.htm
- SAMHSA’s National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI)
SAMHSA’s NCADI offers thousands of publications (most of them are free) and runs a 24-hour helpline (English and Spanish) for SAMHSA. Helpline operators can answer questions about substance use disorders, suggest written resources, and make treatment referrals using the national Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator.
11420 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852
Helpline: 800-729-6686
Local number: 301-770-5800
TDD: 800-487-4889
www.ncadi.samhsa.gov
- SAMHSA’s National Mental Health Information Center
800-789-2647
TDD: 866-889-2647
www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov
- SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT)
www.csat.samhsa.gov
- SAMHSA’s Center for Substance
Abuse Prevention (CSAP)
www.csap.samhsa.gov
- Adult Children of Alcoholics
World Service Organization, Inc.
P.O. Box 3216
Torrance, CA 90510
310-534-1815
www.adultchildren.org
- Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc.
(Al-Anon and Alateen)
1600 Corporate Landing
Parkway
Virginia Beach, VA 23454-5617
888-4AL-ANON (meeting information line)
www.al-anon.alateen.org
Spanish Web site:
www.al-anon.org/alaspan.html
P.O. Box 459
Grand Central Station
New York, NY 10163
212-870-3400
www.aa.org
World Services (CAWSO)
3740 Overland Avenue, Suite C
Los Angeles, CA 90034
310-559-5833
www.ca.org
- Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA®)
P.O. Box 33577
Phoenix, AZ 85037-3577
602-277-7991
www.codependents.org
- Dual Recovery Anonymous (DRA)
Central Service Office
P.O. Box 8107
Prairie Village, KS 66208
877-883-2332
www.draonline.org
