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By Charlene Rubush, April 2, 2012 1:40 pm

I just found another excellent website for military members and their families. Military Pathways is there to help those who may be struggling with PTSD and many other issues. The Department of Defense has teamed up with the nonprofit organization Screening for Mental Health to launch Military Pathways.

The program is available online, over the phone, and at special events held at installations worldwide. It provides free, anonymous mental health and alcohol self-assessments for family members and service personnel in all branches including the National Guard and Reserve.

The self-assessments are a series of questions that, when linked together, help create a picture of how an individual is feeling and whether they could benefit from talking to a health professional.

The primary goals of the program are to reduce stigma, raise awareness about mental health, and connect those in need to available resources. The self-assessments address depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder, alcohol use and bipolar disorder. After an individual completes a self-assessment, s/he is provided with referral information including services provided through the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs.

When I found their site today, I was reading a true story of a high-functioning alcoholic and how she found recovery. Users of the site can tell their own stories and share them. I was very impressed by the site, and think it will be a very valuable resource for me to visit periodically and share information with my readers.

Check it out at:

http://www.militarymentalhealth.org