Binge drinking and drunk driving is having a significant impact on veterans in Missouri and throughout the country. In 2016, the percentage of veterans who drove while under the influence of alcohol was 2.5 percent according to a study by the American Addiction Centers. That was a 60 percent increase from 2014, and male veterans were more likely to drive drunk than female veterans. California, Kentucky and Washington, D.C., were the three states where this was most likely to happen.
One of the reasons that veterans seem to be drinking more in recent years has to do with stress and the impact of PTSD. Officially, up to 20 percent of those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan have PTSD. However, the actual number could be as high as 30 percent. In some cases, veterans drink alcohol in an effort to self-medicate even though that is likely to make the problem worse.
