Today is National Alcohol Screening Day, a day on which almost 1,000 community-based organizations, colleges and military installations will offer free, anonymous screenings to help people determine whether or not they have a drinking problem.
The website HowDoYouScore.org is sponsored by another site called "Mental Health Screening," which, according to its site, is a non-profit organization "that provides educational screening programs for certain health conditions." Per the press release, the screenings are available in-person and online at HowDoYouScore.org and will help determine your level drunkenness, pointing out that "there are many rungs in the ladder from sobriety to alcoholism."
Oh those damn rungs.
I gave the screening a couple test drives for good measure. (I'm fine; thanks for your concern.) They have separate tests for college students, military and their families and then the rest of us. Find the "General Online Screening" link at the bottom of the page after you choose your state (geographical, not mental), click "Take Anonymous Screening" and in the box on the right (it's not really clear) select "Alcohol" and continue. You'll have answer a few background questions. So far this all takes maybe two minutes -- more for the military screening.
Then it gets to the nitty-gritty, asking questions about how often you drink, can you stop once you start, how often you black out, if you miss obligations because of drinking and so on. At the end of the screening, there's feed back and, should you desire it, a facility locator provided by the US Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration.
SMU, Brookhaven College and University of North Texas-Dallas are all participating with online screenings specific to their colleges.
