Money to the Wind: Gambling Problems
Today he has been unemployed for months, is trying to get on disability, and has to sell junk he finds just to put gas in his car.
“Most of my money I lost gambling,” he told his friend Elaine recently to which she gasped. Not most of his money – all of it.
When one woman dated him briefly she thought he was rich the way he flashed his credit cards around all the time, paying for everything at expensive restaurants, movies; etc.
Until she saw his house and how it was falling apart at the seams.
“I should be ashamed of myself living like this,” he said and she silently agreed though she knew he was in the throes of a gambling addiction that he was in denial about.
Gone are the days when Ronnie would travel to the casinos out of town to gamble and come back a lot of times with a lot of money, excited to the core, on a natural high but not a constructive one.
Now he’s spun into a depression about money, just lost a friend recently, and told a girl an impressive lie about himself to impress her.
“He told her he owned a chain of McDonald restaurants as they drove around, spotting them,” said a mutual friend.
He’s sicker than some thought.
According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, the addiction is any behavior which causes disruptions in any major area of life: psychological, physical, social, or vocational. The Council says “you can’t smell it on their breath or see it in their eyes but one in ten primary care patients may have a gambling problem.”
At some gambling treatment centers there are certified gambling counselors who are specifically trained to treat the disease. According to the Council, anyone who gambles can develop problems if they are not aware of the risks or do not gamble responsibly. Some recovering alcoholics switch addictions once they give up alcohol and start gambling like Jerry who got addicted to scratch-off games and would go broke buying them then not have food.
The Council does not blame casinos or Lotto but says that the cause lies with the person who does not have the ability to control the gambling. But the organization does state that casinos and other organizations like them have a responsibility to address underage gambling and problem gambling issues. The frequency of a person’s gambling does not determine whether or not they have a problem nor does the amount of money lost. Although no substance is ingested the problem gambler gets the same effect from gambling as someone would who shoots up a drug or takes a drink.
It is generally accepted that people with one addiction are more at risk to develop another, according to the Council’s website, ncpgambling.org. An estimated two million adults are said to meet the criteria for problem gambling annually. Approximately 85 percent of adults have gambled once in their lives; 60 percent in the past year.
A number of states allow children under 18 to gamble and youth also participate in illegal forms of gambling such as online gambling and betting on sports.
For more information, call the confidential, 24-hour national hotline at 800-522-4700.
