National Guard At Risk Of Alcohol Abuse

Serving in the military can be extremely hard on people, mentally and physically, due to nature of the job. Post traumatic stress affects countless soldiers in every branch of the military and it is often the case that drugs and alcohol become veterans’ coping mechanism. A new study has found that National Guard soldiers who do not have a history of alcohol abuse have a huge potential of developing alcohol-related problems while they are deployed and afterwards.

963 soldiers in the Ohio Army National Guard who said they had not abused alcohol prior to their active duty took part in the study conducted by researchers at Columbia University. The study found 113 soldiers, or 11.7 percent, reported an alcohol abuse disorder first occurring while they were deployed or afterwards. Among these soldiers, 31 percent also reported depression, 20 percent reported PTSD, and 13 percent reported both, the researchers write in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

Among soldiers who developed alcohol abuse problems:

• 97 percent were male
• 74 percent were younger than 35 years old
• 45 percent were single

“A novel finding of our study is that developing depression or PTSD during or after deployment were strong risk factors for having alcohol problems during the same time period,” researcher Brandon Marshall, PhD said in a news release. He noted that because new cases of alcohol abuse were most common among soldiers who experienced depression and PTSD, it is possible that these soldiers self-medicate with alcohol to cope with negative feelings and the stress of deployment.

“The high prevalence of alcohol abuse during and after deployment observed here suggests that policies that promote improved access to care and confidentiality merit strong consideration,” he added.

Source:
Medicalxpress