|
|
|
PATHOLOGICAL GAMBLING As the clinical director of Keystone Treatment Center, I treat over two hundred pathological gamblers a year. I am a nationally certified gambling counselor, and I have written a gambling workbook, The Gambling Addiction Patient Workbook by Sage Publications. This book helps gamblers learn the tools necessary to establish and maintain a program of recovery. People who need gambling treatment come into treatment financially and emotionally depleted. Most of them put every penny into their addiction. Gamblers are not bad people. Most of them have never been in trouble before. Gambling treatment is needed to bring the gambling under control. It is difficult for some people to understand problem gambling, but pathological gamblers do not have the choice to gamble, they are addicted. When pathological gamblers gamble, they are in a chemical psychoactive high. The moment the gambling is over, they slip into a chemical psychoactive low, an irritable depression they cannot tolerate. In time, their pleasure hormones become used up, and problem gamblers must gamble to feel normal. Pathological gamblers are not gambling for the money, they are gambling to feel normal. This is difficult for some individuals to understand because gambling, like drinking, seems like a decision of will. But pathological gambling is a brain disease that is chemically and genetically driven, just as addictive as crack cocaine in certain individuals. Gambling is big business in America earning the gaming industry billions of dollars in net revenue annually. Americans spend more money each year on legal gambling than they do on movie tickets, recorded music, theme parks, spectator sports, and video games combined (Christiansen, 2000). Gambling is very attractive, particularly to people who need money. The Illinois Lottery did a study to see who gambles, and found people who made less than ten thousand dollars a year gamble six times more often than those who earn over fifty thousand dollars a year. People know they can win millions by risking a dollar. A recent program on the Discovery Channel stated that gambling is so attractive, that when the powerball is high, ninety percent of eligible adults buy a ticket. There is no other commodity where the percentages are this high. The real odds of winning a state lottery are approximately fourteen million to one, the same odds as being hit by lightening seven times while waiting in the lottery line. Seventy years ago it was illegal to gamble anywhere in the United States. Our parents grew up thinking that gambling was morally wrong, but our children are growing up thinking that gambling is as easy as going to McDonald's. Today, all but three states permit gaming, and it's getting bigger all the time. For the first time in history, gambling is available close to home. People can walk to and from work and gamble. State governments actually encourage their citizens to gamble because it seems like an easy way to collect tax free money. Most people who gamble enjoy gambling as a game; it's exciting and fun. But some citizens are caught up in an addiction as powerful as drug addiction. According to the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual oriental Disorders, Fourth Edition, pathological gambling is a persistent and recurrent maladaptive gambling behavior as indicated by five or more of the following criteria:
National Council on Problem Gambling 10 Questions About Gambling Behavior 1.
Have you often gambled longer than you had planned? If you or someone you know answers "Yes" to any of these questions, consider seeking assistance from a professional regarding this gambling behavior. If you or someone you know has an alcohol, drug or gambling problem, call 1-800-992-1921 for a free assessment. Click here to search for books on addiction:
Thanks for visiting the site!
|
|
|
