Substance Abuse in the Military

Drugs and Alcohol Abuse

The United States military faces considerable difficulty related to substance abuse amongst its personnel. It is critical to denote that its substance abuse issues pertain to both active personnel on duty, as well as to veterans. Of the myriad issues that the military faces, one is the evolving nature of substance abuse in the 21st century. Whereas such abuse has traditionally focused on alcohol and illegal narcotics, there is a stronger emphasis on the abuse of prescription medication. This abuse, in addition to binge drinking, (Institute of Medicine, 2015, p. 243) has considerable ramifications for the aforementioned military personnel. Active personnel face situations in which their readiness and ability to engage in combat is impaired by over-consumption of drugs and alcohol, whereas veterans must reckon with decreased quality of life and ability to successfully reintegrate into society because of the same problems.

Consequence of War ?

One of the most critical facets of the substance abuse predicament the military is currently engaged in pertains to its timing. There has been a surge in binge drinking and over-consumption of prediction medication since the War on Terror began; individuals deployed in both Afghanistan and Iraq are culpable for both of these means of substance abuse (Institute of Medicine, 2015, p. 243). There appears to be a parallel between the intensive combat situations in both of these war theaters and the incidence of substance abuse which suggests that military personnel are attempting to cope with the former via the latter. Although there are a number of programs that have been employed (with various degrees of success) to curb such behavior, there is little research existent about the correlation between such behavior and overall military training and conduct in both martial and peaceable environments. It may not provide an environment in which two of the major themes for substance abuse recovery, "a search for self, a search to belong" (Gazda, 1998, p. i) are possible. Instead of merely focusing on the output of this situation -- in which there are high rates of military personnel abusing legal substances, including "the nonmedical use of prescription drugs" (Manchikanti et al., 2010, p. 401) -- this problem might indicate larger issues within the overall professional and social framework that exists within this organization and all of its branches.

Overarching Military Implications

There are some case studies that indicate that the current problem with substance abuse among military personnel may actually be suggestive of overarching problems with life in the military. Although each individual's decision to turn to over-consumption of alcohol or prescription drugs is his or her own to make, there are some emergent themes in the incidence of such behavior in the army. An analysis of some of the patients in the military's ASAP Triage program for confidential treatment of substance abuse issues demonstrates this fact. Firstly, this particular program is emblematic of some of the more modern approaches the military is utilizing to combat its contemporary rash of substance abuse issues. The fact that the program is confidential is indicative of this fact, as is the reality that patients can choose to enroll in it without being conscripted to it. Many of the patients in ASAP are there for drinking problems (Furuya and Slobodzien, 2015, p. 1); some of them have expressed dissatisfaction with their daily activities in the military. Patient B.E.G., for instance, who was deployed in Afghanistan and has multiple incidents with drinking including drinking to the point of losing consciousness, articulated anger problems which partly stem from his work environment and tension with his co-workers (Furuya and Slobodzien, 2015, p. 3). These emotional issues that are possibly linked to his alcohol abuse are suggestive that aspects of daily activities in the military, specifically pertaining to peer interactions, work assignments and deployments, contribute to an environment in which substance abuse functions as a means of escape.

Operations and Work Conditions

There are a number of fairly cogent pieces of evidence that suggest that operations and work conditions in the U.S. military are contributing to the substance abuse problems it is presently endured. Some of these expressly relate to veterans implicitly, while others pertain to military members in general. The Department of Defense has a policy in which it seeks to assess the mental health capabilities of those who have returned from deployment. These procedures typically involve assessments within 30 days and within six months of return (Larson et al., 2014, p. 1402). However, there are disproportionate ratios of those who have indicated that they do have issues with alcohol abuse and those who are referred to health care services to address this issue. What is critical about these findings is that although some activity duty members may return from deployments to get deployed again, many veterans are included in this data as they return from being deployed prior to getting discharged. In some instances, then, less than a percentage point of the approximately 10% of individuals that indicated they had problems with alcohol were referred to health services for it (Larson et al., 2014, p. 1402) -- which possibly implies that the Department of Defense is remiss in its referrals for substance abuse issues. Such remissness may also indicate that overall procedures and operations in the military are lacking in regards to substance abuse as well, and are not helping participants with "self-healing" (Bohart and Tallman, 1999, p. 58) without abusing intoxicants.

There are other statistics and facts about the incidence of substance abuse issues within the military that are aligned with the theorem advanced within this document. At the turn of the current decade, nearly half of active duty military members had incidences in which they engaged in binge drinking (Larson et al., 2014, p. 1402). Nonetheless, the most compelling fact about substance about and the military's general procedures of operations is that "alcohol abuse is associated with deployment duration and frequency and combat exposure" (Larson et al., 2014, p. 1402). This fact is congruent with foregoing statements in this document that the rates of substance abuse increased with the various martial encounters that are considered part of the War on Terror. Additionally, it relates the primary function of the military -- to wage war and engage in battles -- with the substance abuse problems which currently plague it.