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For many, college is a time of independence, self-discovery, and trying not to think about all that student debt piling up! It can also be a time when many experiment with alcohol and drug use, given the newfound freedom and/or stress of academics. In fact, college life itself can promote alcohol and drug use. Drinking, in particular, is often seen as a ritual for college life.

We recently introduced several new videos through our Addiction Doesn’t Define Me campaign, an ongoing effort to reduce the stigma of substance use disorder. The new videos feature testimonials of people in recovery, along with informative discussions by experts in the field of addiction and recovery.

For me, those were days when the telephone was attached to the wall in the kitchen and had a cord—I had a 20-minute time limit to talk so that the phone line wouldn’t be busy in case someone tried to reach my parents. I passed folded notes to my best friends in the halls of my high school in between periods.

More than one in 10 veterans seeking care at the U.S. Veteran’s Administration meet the criteria for a substance use disorder diagnosis. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, this figure is slightly higher than the rate among the general population. Reasons for that are multifold, ranging from the stresses of training and deployment, to military lifestyle and culture.