Alcohol education for UK soldiers ‘ineffective’

Alcohol education for the UK’s armed forces has been branded as “ineffective” by a leading military psychiatrist.

Alcohol education for UK’s armed forces “ineffective”, according to top military psychiatrist

Professor Neil Greenberg of the Royal College of Psychiatrists told the BBC that the government’s current strategy for educating troops on the dangers of alcohol abuse, which include health fairs and awareness campaigns, does not combat excessive drinking within the forces.

Professor Greenberg commented: “For many years the military have relied heavily on alcohol education, so for instance soldiers would have to have a brief every year that tells them drinking is bad for them.

“The problem is we know that alcohol education doesn’t really work at all, and the evidence from the civilian population is that it’s a terribly ineffective way of stopping people from drinking.”

In addition, he considered military life may encourage excessive drinking due to a culture of social practices involving alcohol.

Professor Greenberg added: “If it is that the military culture encourages people who weren’t heavy drinkers before to start drinking heavily, then really something needs to be done at a very early stage to encourage people to drink in moderate and socially acceptable ways.”

The Ministry of Defence last year launched a review of its policy, and admitted there is “no quick fix” to reduce alcohol abuse within the forces.

A spokesman said: “We have rigorous processes in place to discipline personnel who make poor choices regarding alcohol consumption, and treatment mechanisms in place for those with genuine alcohol problems.

“We are going further, and launched an alcohol working group to review policy and data to identify what more we can do to tackle alcohol misuse in the armed forces.”