Bets off: Gambling addiction requires professional help
Jennifer Ditlevson Haglund
Problem gambling is more common and dangerous than people might think. According to a Gambler’s Anonymous member and hotline volunteer from the Kansas City area, more people need to be aware that gambling addiction is a disease. For the GA member, gambling was a form of self-medication to deal with stress from work and from home.
While a night of gambling can be recreational for some, it opens the door to a big problem for others.
On the Missouri hotline for Gamblers Anonymous, a volunteer said his gambling problem started nearly 20 years ago. Because GA provides anonymity for its members, the volunteer insisted on withholding his name, but he said he wanted to share some of his experience to give back to the community as a part of the 12-step program.
“It wasn’t a problem when I started,” he said. “We gambled as a family. At home we played cards. I watched family members later on go to the casinos. It became entertainment.”
The volunteer said it crossed the line for him when he started using gambling as a way to escape thinking about personal problems. For 15 years, the man gambled compulsively. He said that finally he got to a point where he knew he needed help.
“I would begin to feel that I had less and less control over my life. More and more of my life was being used for gambling,” the volunteer said. “It was almost imperceptible how that came over me. There was a tipping point where it was compulsive. That’s when I could not deal with everyday life without resorting to it.”
According to Keith Spare, a problem gambling counselor and chair of the Missouri Council on Gambling Concerns, it’s unusual for people to understand that alcohol and drugs fall in the same category of addiction as compulsive gambling.
“Compulsive gambling is the same sensors of the brain malfunctioning when you engage in a behavior that is destructive,” Spare said.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services conducted a study about gambling in the state. Data collected from 2013 revealed that the prevalence of people gambling for money had decreased 4 percent from 2010, from 40.4 percent to 36.4 percent of those surveyed. The decrease, however, didn’t translate to fewer cases of gaming problems.
In 2013, a higher percentage of people responded that money they spent on gambling led to financial problems, and that time spent on gambling led to problems in family, work, or personal life in the past 12 months.
Spare said he didn’t see a direct correlation between legalized gambling and increased cases of gambling addiction.
“People used to be just as addicted before gambling was legal. It was throwing dice in the back alley,” Spare said.
Spare said that friends and families of people affected by problem gaming should remember that gambling isn’t about making money because compulsive gamblers need to keep playing more than they need to win.
Gambling addiction can even be life threatening.
“You can mess with people sexually, you can do all kinds of things, but if you mess with their money, they’ll want to kill you,” Spare said.
Problem gambling doesn’t always lead to violence, but it can lead to dangerous situations of self-neglect.
“Rather than buy food or medicine, they’ll gamble,” Spare said.
To help gambling addicts, Spare said, it’s important to cut off their resources.
“The risk there is that when a gambler can’t gamble, they will do things they wouldn’t normally do to get money.”
For example, problem gamers may ask extended family members for cash or sell important items to get money to stay in action.
The volunteer who shared his story said his family and friends took over his finances and told him he needed to go to counseling and attend Gamblers Anonymous meetings. For him, increased accountability showed him how to think beyond his worries.
“If the 12 steps are going to work, and you’re not just going to be a dry gambler, you’ve got to embrace something that’s going to show you a better way of life.”
Spare counseled people with gaming addictions in Missouri for 15 years. He said some of his clients turned to gambling because they were looking for a way to connect with others. He recounted the story of a woman who was looking for friends after her children left house.
“The casinos treated her like a queen,” Spare said.
Problem gaming isn’t reserved to slot machines or casinos. Online games and underground card games attract gamers as well. Spare said that he didn’t find any type of gambling more dangerous than another. However, he said that online games could be somewhat riskier due to the privacy gamers have on the Internet.
Just like friends and family of a person with a drinking problem should keep alcohol locked up or out of sight, those wanting to help a problem gamer should abstain from playing poker at home — even if it’s just for pennies or toothpicks.
