Have you or someone you know ever blacked out after a night of drinking, had a drink to calm your nerves or to forget your worries, tried to cut back on your drinking but realized you couldn’t?  If so, you could be one of the nearly 14 million Americans that have an alcohol problem. 

Wayne State University and University Psychiatric Centers (UPC) are offering free, anonymous screenings for alcohol problems as part of National Alcohol Screening Day, Thursday, April 5.  The free screenings will be held at the Wayne State University main campus Student Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and at UPC-Livonia, 16836 Newburgh Road,  from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

National Alcohol Screening Day (NASD), held in April as part of Alcohol Awareness Month, is a program of the nonprofit Screening for Mental Health in collaboration with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP).  Screenings will be held across the country at approximately 2,000 screening sites, including hospitals, alcohol and addiction treatment centers, and colleges.

Participants at Wayne State University and UPC-Livonia will receive educational materials on alcohol problems, complete a written self-test, and have the opportunity to talk privately with a health professional.  An educational video, pamphlets, brochures and flyers will be available, as well as referrals to local treatment and support resources for those who need further evaluation.

NASD is aimed at the general community and all are invited to attend.  Building on the success of last year’s program, NASD 2001 is once again focusing on teaching participants how to recognize if they or a loved one is abusing alcohol and how to get the help they need.

Signs that they or a friend or loved one may have an alcohol problem:
* Drinking to calm nerves, forget worries or boost a sad mood
* Guilt about drinking
* Unsuccessful attempts to cut down/stop drinking
* Lying about or hiding drinking habits
* Causing harm to oneself or someone else as a result of drinking
* Needing to drink increasingly greater amounts in order to achieve desired effect
* Feeling irritable, resentful or unreasonable when not drinking
* Medical, social, family, or financial problems caused by drinking

Sponsors of NASD include the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, American Academy of Physician Assistants, American Council on Alcoholism, American Medical Association, American Osteopathic Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, American Society of Addiction Medicine, College Parents of America, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention, Join Together, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors, National Association for Children of Alcoholics, National Association of Psychiatric Health System, National Center for Farmworker Health, National Collegiate Athletic Association, National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, National Interfraternity Conference, National Mental Health Association, National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and the National Panhellenic Conference

The program is the result of a collaboration between the nonprofit Screening for Mental Health, Inc., the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP).  

For additional information about alcohol or the screening program, visit www.mentalhealthscreening.org.

For more information on substance abuse or to talk to a clinician or researcher regarding this subject, please call (313) 577-7917.