Stand Down vs Safety Plan

If you are a U.S. Veteran and would like help in either cutting back or quitting alcohol altogether, Stand Down is here to help. Stand Down was created with extensive input from Veterans and VA psychologists. It brings the tools to make a positive change in your drinking easily and privately to your smartphone. Stand Down will be your personal assistant as you go through the process of changing your drinking. It provides the structure you need to help you stop altogether or to reduce your drinking to safe levels. It will provide you with the tools and the accountability to make a positive change and stay with it. With Stand Down, there is no need to wait until your next meeting with a counselor to receive helpful strategies and feedback on your progress while on your journey to a new relationship with alcohol. Immediate help will be right there on your smartphone. Stand Down has been in development since 2018. Research has shown that it has helped people reduce their drinking by as much as 60% and that users indicated that it was very helpful in giving them helpful tools and keeping them on track. Stand Down is an empirically supported system that can help you take control of your drinking. Stand Down will help you to privately and effectively: • Become more aware of your drinking patterns and triggers. • Set an overall drinking objective (to either stop drinking OR moderate your drinking) as well as smaller intermediate goals to help you succeed in stages. • Keep yourself accountable through continual feedback on your progress. • Stay in control when you are feeling tempted to drink by providing immediately available tools. • Learn new and helpful strategies for dealing with cravings, bad moods and boredom. • Keep you on track during your personally defined “high risk times” for drinking. • Remind yourself about your reasons for making a change when you are feeling like drinking or are in a tempting situation. • Share your progress with others (family, friends or health care provider). • Help you prepare for “high risk events” in the coming week - and strategically avoid alcohol triggers. • Identify alternate (non-drinking) activities and schedule them directly into your calendar. If you choose to utilize Stand Down, it is VERY IMPORTANT that you allow the app to send you alerts and notifications. These are designed to keep you on track, particularly during times when you need help the most.

Safety Plan is here to help you make a plan for dealing with thoughts of suicide and self-harm. The app will walk you through filling out the 6 steps of a safety plan, share your safety plan with your loved ones, and use your safety plan in a moment of crisis. The app also includes audio and interactive tools to help you calm down, information for you and your loved ones about safety plans and suicide, mood tracking, and ready access to crisis support. Safety Plan is a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs app, developed by the National Center for PTSD Dissemination and Training Division and the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.