KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- When a person joins the military, they are provided with a plethora of tools, resources and helping agencies to utilize when life begins to feel overwhelming. Unfortunately, even when equipped with all of these sources of support, asking for help can sometimes be one of the hardest things a person can do.
For Senior Airman Tania Crawford, 353rd Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron electronic warfare journeyman, not seeking help early in her struggles led her down a dark road.
After arriving at her first duty station, Crawford began experiencing feelings of homesickness and turned to alcohol as an avenue of escape.
“Last year around the early summer months I started drinking a little bit heavier,” explained Crawford. “I drank about every other day and on the weekends I would have six or seven drinks. I was drinking to help push the pain away.”
As summer gave way to fall, more emotional turmoil came into Crawford’s life.
“Last September an Airman in our squadron passed away, so that made my drinking problem a lot harder to cope with,” Crawford said. “At that point I knew I was hitting rock bottom, but I didn’t seek out help — I just kept bearing it.”
On November 27, 2020, Crawford was forced to face her problems head on after making an irreversible decision.
After consuming two drinks and waiting for four hours to pass, Crawford decided to drive herself to get something to eat, she explained.
“I got in my car, drove to gate three and [security forces members] were doing sobriety checks,” Crawford recounted. “I blew into the breathalyzer and it kept beeping so they had me get out [of my car] and took me back to the security forces building. I took another sobriety test and that’s when I blew a .06.”
In Okinawa, driving with a blood alcohol content of .03% will result in an automatic DUI offense.
Following her DUI, Crawford was directed by her commander to go through the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment Program, where she learned healthier ways to cope with her emotions.
“Going through the ADAPT program helped me learn more about myself,” Crawford said. “I learned that I struggled with anxiety and some of the things that trigger it. I also learned how to cope with it better instead of going straight to the bottle.”
The ADAPT clinic provides weekly group therapy sessions and individual counseling in which the frequency is determined by the patient’s needs, explained Senior Airman Stephanie Augst, 18th Operational Readiness Medical Squadron Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment technician.
Crawford now practices journaling and weight lifting to help keep her anxiety at bay instead of using alcohol as a coping mechanism.
Today, Crawford shares her story so that others don’t make the same mistakes she did.
“Don’t be afraid to ask for help,” Crawford emphasized. “I was afraid to go to people and tell them what I was going through. Don’t wait until the last minute to ask for help because if you keep everything balled up, it’s eventually going to explode.”