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Gambling: Recreation or preoccupation?

“I'd lost everything I owned, my marriage, my job, and my self-respect. I was $60,000 in debt. Yet all I could think about was how to get hold of a few hundred dollars so I could win back what I'd lost. My addiction to gambling was so powerful I denied the shambles my life was in. I just knew that with one more bet I could fix everything.”

Brian is one of the growing number of Americans struggling with compulsive gambling. For the majority of people, a visit to the casino or racetrack or buying an occasional lottery ticket is affordable, harmless entertainment. For some, however, gambling becomes an addiction, nearly impossible to control, even if it means sacrificing their job, relationships and most strongly-held values. Like other addictions, compulsive gambling is characterized by the inability to stop the behavior once started; a preoccupation with gambling and with obtaining money to continue gambling; and the development of tolerance, or the need to gamble with more and more money to achieve the same satisfaction.

“While some form of gambling has been part of our culture for centuries, widespread gambling addiction is a relatively new phenomenon in America,” according to Edward Rubin, Psy.D., a psychologist at Aurora Sinai Medical Center Behavioral Health Services, Aurora Health Care, who specializes in the treatment of addictive disorders. “Much of this can be attributed to the fact that people now have more opportunities to gamble than ever before.” 

In the mid-70's, only a few states permitted legal gambling. Now, people can make legal wagers of some kind in every state except two. Because of the relatively recent expansion in legalized gambling, much remains to be discovered about the prevalence of problem gambling and how to prevent and treat it. The National Gambling Impact Study Commission, established by Congress in 1996 to study the social and economic impact of gambling in the U.S., acknowledges in its 1999 report that very little research exists on problem gambling and its effective treatment. To address this knowledge gap, the Commission funded several studies on gambling behavior, concluding that an estimated 5% of the adult population are problem gamblers, with a substantially higher rate among high-school and college-age youth.

Financial Dangers

Kathryn Crumpton, a certified credit counselor with Consumer Credit Counseling Service, sees the ultimate consequences of gambling addiction when people seek relief from the overwhelming burden of debts they've incurred. “It's a problem that cuts across all categories of race, gender, age and income. Women are unfortunately now catching up with men in this area, as they have greater discretionary income and more opportunities to gamble.” The Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling reports that the average debtload of callers to their helpline has exploded from $22,630 in 1999 to over $41,000 in 2000. “It's an insidious addiction characterized by a great deal of denial,” says Crumpton. “People will come to our offices seeking immediate help in getting creditors off their back, just so they can continue to gamble. I explain that I can help them get out of debt, but I can't keep them from gambling. That's up to the individual. They may need to seek out additional help to address the behavior that got them into the situation.”

“The costs associated with compulsive gambling—crime, bankruptcy, domestic violence, lost jobs, broken families—are estimated at $307 million a year in Wisconsin alone,” says Dr. Rubin. Because of these potentially devastating consequences, some casinos, including Potawatomi Bingo Casino, have adopted strategies that promote greater responsibility around gambling. 

Technology opens new doors, new perils

More widespread access to computers is creating new opportunities to gamble and further fueling the growth in problem gambling, especially among young people. Internet gambling opens the door to a whole new audience of potential gamblers by offering easy, 24-hour-a-day access, instant gratification, and—the most important lure for many problem gamblers—anonymity. “Day trading” is another high-risk form of computer gambling that seems to particularly attract the gambling addict. Day traders buy and sell stocks over the Internet, usually with borrowed money, in the hope that their stocks will continue climbing in value for the seconds or minutes that they own them, often leading to devastating losses.

Extreme cases of problem gambling (like Brian's) are easy to identify. But like alcohol or other addictions, prevention and early detection and treatment are far more effective than picking up the pieces of a life shattered by long-term gambling addiction. “Compulsive gambling is a problem whose effects are progressive, and many people don't get help until they've reached the point of desperation—facing bankruptcy, committing a crime, or even considering suicide,” says Dr. Rubin. “That's why public awareness is so critical. If people can recognize the signs of problem gambling in themselves or a loved one, they can get help early, before they're faced with more serious and permanent consequences.” 

There have been some important advances recently in the understanding and treatment of gambling disorders. “Problem gamblers make certain mistakes in their thinking, such as their belief that “the longer I play this slot machine, the better the odds of an eventual pay-off',” says Dr. Rubin. “Through treatment, these mistaken beliefs are corrected and individuals are able to regain control over their behavior. In addition, there have been some exciting developments with the use of medications that seem to help reduce the cravings and compulsion to gamble in some people.”

To help people identify when a gambling habit might be a gambling problem, the National Council on Problem Gambling has developed a list of ten questions: 

Do You Have a Gambling Problem?

• Have you often gambled longer than you had planned?
• Have you often gambled until your last dollar was gone?
• Have thoughts of gambling caused you to lose sleep?
• Have you used your income or savings to gamble while letting bills go unpaid?
• Have you made repeated, unsuccessful attempts to stop gambling?
• Have you broken the law or considered breaking the law to finance your gambling?
• Have you borrowed money to finance your gambling?
• Have you felt depressed or suicidal because of your gambling losses?
• Have you been remorseful after gambling?
• Have you gambled to get money to meet your financial obligations?

If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, consider a more complete assessment to determine if help may be indicated. The first step is recognizing that your gambling is out of control. Your Employee Assistance Program can evaluate your situation and recommend effective solutions, whether information, educational resources, support groups, or professional assistance from a gambling addiction specialist. 

Call your EAP at (414) 257-2124 or 1-800-236-3231.