FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kathryn Quirk
Screening for Mental Health®
781-591-5247 | [email protected]
How Do You Score?
You Can Have a Problem with Alcohol without Having an Alcohol Problem
Find Out at www.HowDoYouScore.org
WELLESLEY HILLS, MA – April 7, 2011 – Screening for Mental Health, Inc., a national nonprofit organization, announces the launch of a new website aimed to draw attention and awareness to the serious consequences of alcohol use disorders. www.HowDoYouScore.org serves as a portal for colleges, military installations, and community-based organizations to offer free, anonymous alcohol self-assessments. Close to a thousand sites across the country are providing the screenings during Alcohol Awareness Month in April.
It’s easy to have a problem with alcohol without having an alcohol problem. The online screenings help individuals understand the difference between use and alcohol abuse as well as learn the negative impact alcohol can have on a person’s relationships, health and school or work life.
“Anonymous screenings can be a first step to getting at-risk drinkers the help they need,” says Robert Huebner, Ph.D., Acting Director, Division of Treatment and Recovery Research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health. “Research indicates that screening and brief intervention can help resolve mild to moderate alcohol problems as well as encourage those with more serious problems to seek treatment.”
When one person chooses to abuse alcohol, all segments of society are affected. According to the American Psychiatric Foundation, alcohol problems result in increased accidents, health care costs, absenteeism, and lost productivity. The good news is that alcohol problems can be effectively and inexpensively treated.
On college campuses:
- 28.6% of males and 12% of females report consuming seven or more alcoholic drinks the last time they “partied” or socialized
- 19.2% of males and 16.1% of females reported having unprotected sex as a result of their own drinking
- Frequent binge drinkers are 21 times more likely than non-binge drinkers to miss classes, fall behind in schoolwork, get in trouble with campus police, or drive a car after drinking
In the workplace:
- Lost productivity due to alcohol-related deaths and disabilities impose a greater economic burden than health care costs.
- More than 15% of U.S. workers report being impaired by alcohol at work at least one time during the past year, and 9% of workers reported being hung-over at work.
- Among adults who currently have the disease of alcoholism, 75% have jobs.
In the military:
- The rate for heavy alcohol use among young military males is also approximately twice the rate of their civilian counterparts.
- 53.8% of all young military personnel reported at least one episode of binge drinking (five or more drinks on the same occasion) at least once in the past 30 days.
For more information on how alcohol can affect health, visit NIAAA’s Rethinking Drinking website.
Screening for Mental Health, Inc. provides programs designed to educate, reduce stigma, and screen people for mood and anxiety disorders, alcohol problems and eating disorders. For more information, visit www.MentalHealthScreening.org.
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