WEDNESDAY, March 29, 2006 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. military personnel and their families now have a free, anonymous Web-based mental health and alcohol self-assessment program. The service is available worldwide and provides immediate results, plus referrals to military mental health services.
The program -- offered through the nonprofit organization Screening for Mental Health -- is funded by the U.S. Department of Defense Office of Health Affairs and screens for a number of common problems that often go undiagnosed. It enables users to identify their individual symptoms and to seek help before the situation becomes urgent. Program users can do self-assessments for depression, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and alcohol abuse.
Questions include:
- Have you lost pleasure in the things you used to enjoy?
- Do you have trouble eating or sleeping?
- Does your mood fluctuate between overly "high" to sad and hopeless?
- Are you keyed up and anxious all the time?
- Are you having nightmares about something that happened in the past?
- Do you suffer from unexplained aches and pains?
When they've completed the self-assessment, users are provided with information about where they can go for a full mental health assessment.
More information
Here's where to find the self-assessment program.
