The hidden disease: Addictive gambling

Addiction and Recovery

The hidden disease: Addictive gambling

By Bob Gaydos

It is estimated that about 9 million adults
 in the U.S. have a serious gambling problem.

Mary (not her real name) discovered gambling about 40 years ago when she started going to casinos with her husband. Last January, now a widow, she self-excluded herself from the Monticello Casino and Raceway (also known as the racino), near where she lives. She can be arrested if she tries to get in. She did this because, despite her Social Security check, her pension and half of her deceased husband’s pension, “I had no more money to write a check.”

Mary is a compulsive gambler.

Her story is not unique. Seniors, especially senior women, are major players at racinos. “It’s a social outlet,” she says. And a convenient way to gamble. Of course, her gambling addiction didn’t just materialize overnight after 40 years. There was bingo in addition to the casinos. And lots of lottery tickets. It finally became obvious. When her husband was alive, she explained, “He controlled the money.” Lonely, and without any restrictions, her gambling progressed.
“What really killed me,” she says, “is that I lost more than I won and still had to pay income tax.”

Joyce, who doesn’t mind using her real name, has been addicted to drugs for 35 years. “I didn’t realize I had a gambling problem,” she says. “I kept buying Lottery scratch-offs, hoping to get enough money to get more drugs. I stopped using drugs January 15. I realized in talking to Carol that I had a gambling problem, too.”

Carol Ingrassia is coordinator of the Bettor Choice program at the Catholic Charities Monticello Campus (formerly the Recovery Center). She is the only counselor with Catholic Charities, at all its campuses, currently credentialed to deal with addictive grambling.

Jeff Skaar, director of operations at the Monticello campus, says five staff members are enrolled in credentialing classes at SUNY Orange, with five more to follow, so there will be trained gambling counselors at each Catholic Charities location. The state requires credentials as an Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor (CASAC) to add a G for gambling to the title.

This effort to add trained gambling counselors to the staff is a response to the much-anticipated opening of a casino in Sullivan County. But the Bettor Choice program, which Mary and Joyce utilize, has been around for 10 years. In that time, the state has added more Lottery games (the number one problem with problem gamblers), Quickdraw has become a staple in bars and diners and sports gambling has become increasingly popular. OTB has had its heyday.

With all that enticement to gamble, one might think there would already be a good supply of gambling counselors, but Skaar says, “Gambling counseling didn’t take off like the state anticipated, so it cut the funding.” But it kept adding Lottery games and now has approved five new casinos. “We’re hoping,” Skaar says, “that the state will recognize its role in providing local services near local gambling sites,” That’s key, he said, because, while people will travel to casinos from everywhere, services for problem gamblers won’t be available everywhere.

The Bettor Choice program currently has 10 clients. They have weekly individual meetings and one group meeting, as well as lectures. Mary heard about the program in a talk at a local health fair, part of Catholic Charities’ public outreach to let people know what help is available. She said the program worked for a while, then she went on vacation and gambled again. That prompted her to ban herself from the Racino and reacquaint herself with Bettor Choice.

Joyce, 55, is from Newburgh. She is in residential treatment in Monticello for her drug addiction, a three-to-six-month program. “Gambling is a trigger for my drug addiction,” she says. Such co-existing addictions are not uncommon. In addition to learning the triggers for their gambling, participants learn tools to help them adjust their behavior. For example, Joyce says, “Don’t carry money. Or, walk with friends to go past stores selling lottery tickets.” These are especially key at the beginning of recovery. Mary has had to find other activities with friends and at church to fill her time.

Catholic Charities gives a gambling screening test to all persons who come to its residential treatment center. “Lots of people who come to rehab are reluctant to admit to a gambling addiction,” Ingrassia says. “There’s a hierarchy of addictions. The legal ones -- alcohol and gambling -- are at the bottom. Addicts are less likely to admit to them.”

In fact, gambling is referred to as the “hidden addiction.” It’s legal. People like it. No one wants to admit he or she can’t handle their money. Compulsive gamblers tend to look down on people with other addictions, even though the damage they cause can be catastrophic to those close to them.

“It’s an immediate rush,” Skaar says. Even when they lose, “they feel there is one thing that will save them and the one thing is money. In gambling, there’s the belief that I’m going to get even and my troubles will be gone.”

The reality is that, too often, money doesn’t save them and, instead of their problems being gone, their family and their family’s money are.

Unfortunately, the “hidden addiction” also has a not-so-easy-to-find solution. Skaar says he has met with the people who run the Racino to let them know the Bettor Choice program exists. The state has a hotline that appears on every lottery ticket (Look hard; you’ll find it) and is included in every Lottery commercial. It’s also on every machine at the Racino. Still, Skaar hopes the state will do more, notably make facilities available statewide to help problem gamblers.

“People suffer in silence,” Ingrassia says. “Their bottom is lack of money.” She adds, “There’s a very high suicide rate among problem gamblers.”

Bob Gaydos is a freelance writer and editor. rjgaydos@gmail.com

FYI

-- Definition. Those who study and classify such behavior use the terms: Problem gambling; Compulsive gambling; Pathological gambling; Gambling disorder; and Gambling addiction. It’s all a matter of degree and whom you ask.

-- The National Council on Problem Gambling estimates that 2 to 3 percent of adults in the United States (about 9 million people) have serious problems with gambling. Another 3 million meet the criteria for “pathological” or “compulsive” gambling.

-- 48 states have some form of legalized gambling; 43 states have lotteries.

-- Catholic Charities (Recovery Center): 845-794-8080.

-- Gamblers Anonymous: Ingrassia says the 12-Step group has had difficulty keeping a meeting going in Sullivan County. The only meeting in the immediate area is at Vails Gate 4 Corners (next to the Firehouse). Mondays, from 7 to 9 p.m.

-- Gamblers Anonymous info: www.newyorkga.org;

or (855) 222-5542

-- New York State Hopeline: 1-877-8-HOPENY; for help with gambling and substance abuse problems. Under the auspices of the State Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services: https://www.oasas.ny.gov/Gambling/index.cfm

-- New York Council on Problem Gambling: http://nyproblemgambling.org/.

Gamblers Anonymous 20 questions

---

1.	Did you ever lose time from work or school due to gambling?	Yes	No
2.	Has gambling ever made your home life unhappy?	Yes	No
3.	Did gambling affect your reputation?	Yes	No
4.	Have you ever felt remorse after gambling?	Yes	No
5.	Did you ever gamble to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties?	Yes	No
6.	Did gambling cause a decrease in your ambition or efficiency?	Yes	No
7.	After losing did you feel you must return as soon as possible and win back your losses?	Yes	No
8.	After a win did you have a strong urge to return and win more?	Yes	No
9.	Did you often gamble until your last dollar was gone?	Yes	No
10.	Did you ever borrow to finance your gambling?	Yes	No
11.	Have you ever sold anything to finance gambling?	Yes	No
12.	Were you reluctant to use "gambling money" for normal expenditures?	Yes	No
13.	Did gambling make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family?	Yes	No
14.	Did you ever gamble longer than you had planned?	Yes	No
15.	Have you ever gambled to escape worry, trouble, boredom, loneliness, grief or loss?	Yes	No
16.	Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance gambling?	Yes	No
17.	Did gambling cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?	Yes	No
18.	Do arguments, disappointments or frustrations create within you an urge to gamble?	Yes	No
19.	Did you ever have an urge to celebrate any good fortune by a few hours of gambling?	Yes	No
20.	Have you ever considered self-destruction or suicide as a result of your gambling?	Yes	No

According to GA, most compulsive gamblers will answer 'yes' to at least 7 of these questions.

bobgaydos.blogspot.com