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

As omens go, the eagle soars

By Bob Gaydos

Do you believe in omens?
I believe in omens.
Not the dire, gloom-and-doom omens of Greek tragedy. It’s not that I dismiss the existence of negative omens out of hand, or that I think bad things don’t happen, but rather that I choose to focus my energies on what I perceive to be good omens.
For example, while lying in the grass a few days ago, staring skyward and having a relaxed conversation with a friend on a beautiful, warm, spring afternoon, I found my attention slowly shift to a winged object flying low in the sky right towards us. As it got closer I could make out the distinctive white head. “That’s an eagle!” I exclaimed.
Indeed it was. And it kept flying with a slow, deliberate stretching of its wings right over us and on past the tree line where it was no longer visible. A youngish bald eagle, and an eagle with a purpose.
A positive omen for sure. After all, it was an eagle, not a turkey vulture.
The trick with omens, of course, is making the connection between them and real life. What did this omen mean to me beyond the fact that I would definitely buy a ticket for the New York Lottery’s Megamillions drawing?
For one thing, it got me thinking about a similar encounter I had had a couple of years ago when a coyote casually trotted in front of my car as  I was sitting reading on a quiet country road. No fanfare, no fuss. Right by me and off into a cornfield, out of sight, but not out of mind. I wrote about the coyote and the fact that it got me to thinking about some positive events that had recently occurred in my life that would normally escape notice. It change my outlook, my focus, my day.
So, too, with the eagle and I think the connection is, literally, the connection, between eagle and man, coyote and man, nature and man. We humans have a way of acting as if the planet is our personal plaything, to lord over and do as we will with all other living creatures. So we revere eagles and protect them because someone decided they were noble looking and worthy of being our national symbol, whereas coyotes are … not.
As a result of this human arrogance, we have polluted the atmosphere of the planet, added all manner of chemicals to our natural food supply, and destroyed the natural habitat of countless species of animals (and eliminated many species as a result), all in the name of progress. This arrogance has spread, perhaps unavoidably, into our relationships with each other. How far is it, after all, from treating animals with casual indifference or callous disregard to treating human beings the same way. We call it politics and it is the shame of our nation today.
The eagle tells me this is wrong. Majestic in its slow, deliberate flight, it says to me, “You may think you’re in charge, but don’t get too comfortable. We share this tiny planet and you almost drove me out of existence for no good reason.”
And we continue to do so, willy nilly melting the polar icecaps, committing genocide on species of animals, loading up our food supply with chemicals and altering the very genetic makeup of the food so that more can be grown faster in less space and less cost, to the considerable profit of chemical companies that now call themselves food companies. All of this is connected, the eagle reminds me, but most of us are too busy arguing over things that have nothing to do with the future welfare of the planet and its inhabitants.
  For me, that means my recent writing about the revived interest in slaughtering horses, the mass murder of honey bees, the resistance to labeling food that has been genetically modified has not been a trivial pursuit. It means that expressing concern over the infusion of chemicals in our food, the resistance of those in power to honestly discussing these topics and their loyalty to powerful corporations that seek to control the planet by modifying it in any way possible to suit their own needs, is not a departure from writing about the “important” stuff, i.e. politics. Instead, the eagle tells me, it means I am finally writing about the stuff that really matters.
In case you’re wondering, here’s a small sampling: the elimination of all orangutans (our closest cousins) on the planet; the poaching of elephants for their tusks; the same threat to rhinos; the labeling of horsemeat and other animal byproducts as beef; and “no-kill” animal shelters that kill. There’s more: the belief by the Nestle CEO that humans have no intrinsic “right” to water; the power of such companies as Monsanto, Nestle, Bayer and others to buy politicians to write laws that protect the companies from having to reveal what they are doing to the food they sell. And let‘s not forget efforts by those in power to silence the voices that raise alarms on these issues.
It is all connected. We are all connected. What happens in Sumatra or the Amazon matters in Manhattan and Paris. We humans should be working together to preserve and protect our home instead of bickering over personal ideologies, which won’t matter much when the ice caps melt, the other species are gone and we have no one to look at but ourselves.
That’s what the eagle, flying low and with a purpose, tells me. Focus on the important stuff. Be positive in approaching life. It’s a beautiful world; enjoy it. And keep buying lottery tickets. (I had a Megamillions number worth $2. It’s a start.)

bobgaydos.blogspot.com

Gambling: The 'Hidden Addiction'

By Bob Gaydos

They call it “the hidden addiction.” There’s no physical sign of it. Nothing is ingested. You can’t overdose on it. People with the problem can often go a long time before anyone close to them becomes aware of it. By then, it is often too late to prevent the devastating consequences.

Problem gambling leads to stealing, loan sharking, suicide, domestic abuse, homicide. It destroys families, leaving loved ones feeling shocked and bewildered, not to mention angry and betrayed. Homes, businesses, jobs, savings, relationships all disappear as the compulsive gambler drags those most important to him or her down the desperate path to getting even.

We don’t hear much about that aspect of gambling these days, what with virtually every state trying to figure out a way to balance its budget by allowing more ways for people to gamble legally. Indeed, as opportunities to gamble have increased in New York, with racinos and seemingly a new lottery game every week, and as politicians talk about allowing more full-fledged casinos, the funding for education, prevention and treatment of problem gambling in the state has been slashed to a lip-service level.

According to the New York Council on Problem Gambling, a not-for-profit independent corporation dedicated to increasing public awareness about the problem and advocating for support services, New York allots about $1 million for the effort. The state agency responsible for dealing with compulsive gambling, the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, states on its web site, “Roughly one million New Yorkers are dealing with problem gambling.” So that’s about a dollar per problem gambler, the price of a scratch-off ticket. Your odds of success are better buying the ticket.

Still, there is help available. Sullivan County, in the Catskill Mounains, is one of only 15 in New York that have a facility offering an outpatient treatment program for problem gambling. The Recovery Center in Monticello primarily treats alcohol and substance abuse issues (as do the other 14), but it also has five certified alcoholism and substance abuse counselors trained to help problem gamblers and their families.

Izetta Briggs-Bollings, CEO of the Recovery Center, also supervises its gambling treatment program. She notes that while gambling games have become ever more seductive, “to keep you coming back,” a similar effort has not been made to make casinos more accountable for protecting their customers from their worst instincts, the way bars are expected to recognize and stop customers who have had too much to drink. She’d also like to see the state devote a penny out of every dollar raised through legal gambling to the education and treatment of problem gambling.

E., who lives in Sullivan County, is among those who have sought help for her gambling compulsion at the Recovery Center. Her problem started at the racino in Monticello, she says, but “it didn’t stop.”

“There were stresses in my life,” she says, “but when I’m there, they disappear. There’s excitement going in, pain going out.” At some point, though, she decided, “I wanted to live, to look my mother in the eye again.”

Shame is one of the primary stumbling blocks to compulsive gamblers seeking help. E. says she knew she could get help at the Recovery Center. “There’s a stigma attached to it,” she says. “A lot of gamblers say they won’t go into the Recovery Center for treatment ‘with those addicts’.” Today, she’s glad she’s not one of those gamblers.

The center offers an outpatient program -- “The “Bettor” Choice Program -- with individual counseling, group counseling and family counseling. Carol Gillespie, the counselor who runs the group, says it has 10 members, about half of whom have another addiction, which is not uncommon. She says most people who come for help, prefer individual treatment over group, again, because of shame.

The center has tried, with little success, to keep a Gamblers Anonymous meeting going. Shame, again. Problem gamblers don’t want to be seen going into a center that treats addicts (who, ironically, do not have similar reservations), even though the meeting has been held in an adjoining building. Gillespie says she is willing to help anyone trying to start a Gamblers Anonymous meeting, anywhere in the area, so gamblers can receive the support others receive in 12-step programs.

“In the big picture,” says Robert DeYoung, clinical coordinator and addiction specialist, “education, treatment and prevention saves millions.” Such efforts are often targeted at young people, for obvious reasons. But DeYoung says, “I don’t think people realize how many senior citizens gamble.”

“Gambling is like an affair,” he says, “and the lover steals all the money.” And the gambler’s family often finds out too late because the gambler hides the problem by controlling the money -- taking care of bank accounts and investments, credit cards, paying the bills, taking care of the mail. Like the alcoholic hides the booze, the problem gambler hides the money, desperately seeking to “manage” a life wholly out of control.

* * *

Gambling facts and figures

• 5 percent of adults, 18 and older, have a gambling problem
• Adult males are three times as likely as adult females to have a problem
• Adolescent males are four times as likely as females to have a problem
• Most frequent problem areas for adults: lotteries, sports betting, cards
• 20 percent of adolescents are at risk for or have a gambling problem
• 22 of the state’s 62 counties have a problem gambling treatment program
• New York is the only state without dedicated funds from the gambling industry for problem gambling services

New York Council on Problem Gambling

Where to find help

• For treatment, information, or to set up a Gamblers Anonymous group: The Recovery Center: 845-794-8080, Ext. 191; the center is located at 396 Broadway, Monticello.
• For information from OASAS: 1-877-8-HOPENY, 24 hours a day, seven days a week
• For Gamblers Anonymous meetings: gamblersanonymous.org.

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