HEALTH & LIFESTYLE
Our RELATIONSHIP with ALCOHOL
A briefing paper entitled ‘Alcohol and the Armed Forces’ has been issued by the charity Alcohol Concern. The paper looks at the evidence of drinking within the UK’s Armed
Forces, scopes the size of the problem and asks what is being done, and what more could be done, to address these alcohol-related issues. Here we give a synopsis.
Introduction
Commentators have noted that the drinking traditions of Britain’s Armed Forces, often romanticising practices such as the Royal Navy’s daily rum ration, is masking concerns that heavy drinking is too ingrained in armed forces culture; that the forces themselves are not doing enough to tackle it and that alcohol misuse problems may only come to light once a soldier, sailor or airman has re-entered civilian life.
What is alcohol misuse? Alcohol misuse is generally defined as drinking more than the recommended daily and weekly maximum amounts of 3 to 4 units per day, up to a maximum of 21 units per week, for men and 2 to 3 units per day, up to a maximum of 14 units per week, for women.
Drinking within these limits is termed sensible drinking. Drinking beyond them may be defined as hazardous, harmful, or dependent. Binge drinking is usually defined as consuming more than double the daily recommended maximum over a short period of time.
Alcohol consumption “
Alcohol is a social medium used extensively in the services, leaving dos, beer calls, after work wind-downs, with the boss, with friends, and it can sometimes be very difficult to avoid. There is also a stigma attached to non-participants. Everything is okay in moderation but add stress to the equation, marital problems, trouble at work and the situation can quickly become out of hand.” Royal Air Force Families Federation, 2012
Alcohol plays a major role in the social environment of the British Armed Forces. Whilst alcohol may provide benefits in terms of social bonding and comradeship, drinking in excess can lead to physical and mental health issues, as well as operational problems. Recent research findings in the UK have indicated that there are higher levels of alcohol consumption in the military than amongst civilians.
Research published by King’s College London in 2007 found hazardous drinking amongst 67% of men and 49% of women in the British Armed Forces, much higher than the general population after taking age and gender into account.
Alcohol Concern’s own discussions with forces charities and local alcohol services have provided further anecdotal evidence that alcohol misuse is an issue within the armed forces. These discussions also highlighted the fact that patterns of heavy drinking established whilst serving can be hard to shake off, and may worsen after people have left. This concurs with a small but growing body of evidence that alcohol misuse is an issue affecting a significant number of former services personnel.
Possible explanations
A number of explanations have been offered as to why levels of alcohol consumption are so high in Britain’s Armed Forces. Clearly,
www.raf-ff.org.uk
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