March is Problem Gambling Awareness. Sharing Stats, Facts, & The Warning Signs. What is Problem Gambling Any way?

The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) and other sources note the following statistics. 15 percent of Americans gamble at least once per week. Approximately two to three percent of Americans meet the criteria for problem gambling. That’s around 6 million adults and about a half million teens.

Courtesy of The National Council on Problem Gambling

The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) and other sources note the following statistics.

• • 15 percent of Americans gamble at least once per week.
• • Approximately two to three percent of Americans meet the criteria for problem gambling. That’s around 6 million adults and about a half million teens.
• • Youth risk developing a gambling problem at a rate of about two to three times that of adults, and approximately 6 percent of college students in America have a gambling problem.
• • About 40 percent of people with a gambling problem started gambling before the age of 17.
• • Nevada has the highest prevalence of problem gambling in the country, at about 6.4 percent.
  
  

Effects of Problem Gambling

• • There are an array of harmful effects arising from problem gambling, including:
• • NCPG notes the annual cost associated with gambling (crime, addiction, and bankruptcy) is $17 billion.
• • Approximately 76 percent of problem gamblers are likely to have a major depressive disorder, according to the NCPG.
• • The NPCG also says children of problem gamblers are at higher risk for a number of behaviors including problem gambling, tobacco use, and drug use.
• • Oregon Problem Gambling Resource states that about 10 to 17 percent of children of problem gamblers and about 25 to 50 percent of spouses of problem gamblers have been abused.
• • Georgia State University (GSU) estimates that about 50 percent of problem gamblers commit crimes, and about 2/3 of those crimes were directly related to the gambling.
• • GSU also notes that 73 percent of people who are incarcerated are identified as problem gamblers.
• • An Australian study found that one in five suicidal patients had a gambling problem.

WHAT IS PROBLEM GAMBLING?

Gambling addiction—also known as pathological gambling, compulsive gambling or gambling disorder—is an impulse-control disorder. If you’re a compulsive gambler, you can’t control the impulse to gamble, even when it has negative consequences for you or your loved ones. You’ll gamble whether you’re up or down, broke or flush, happy or depressed, and you’ll keep gambling regardless of the consequences—even when you know that the odds are against you or you can’t afford to lose.

Of course, you can also have a gambling problem without being totally out of control. Problem gambling is any gambling behavior that disrupts your life. If you’re preoccupied with gambling, spending more and more time and money on it, chasing losses, or gambling despite serious consequences in your life, you have a gambling problem.

A gambling addiction or problem is often associated with other behavior or mood disorders. Many problem gamblers also suffer with substance abuse issues, unmanaged ADHD, stress, depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder. To overcome your gambling problems, you’ll also need to address these and any other underlying causes as well.
The first step is to separate the myths from the facts and what are the implications?

The Mayo Clinic identifies the following risk factors for developing a gambling problem.

• • Behavior or mood disorders
• • Age – the problem develops more frequently in young people
• • Family influence – whether parents and other close adults were gamblers
• • Personality characteristics such as high level of being competitive, or easily bored

Further, Problem Gambling Prevention identifies certain risk factors in teens, including:

• • Being male
• • Living in a single-parent household
• • Having a below-median household income
• • Early initiation – starting before 8th grade
• • Playing sports at school
• • Experiencing problems at home
• • Having low-self esteem and self-worth

Courtesy of http://risehelp.info/online-gambling/ The Rise Center Shares;

Online gambling casinos earned $29.3 billion in 2010, an increase of 12 percent. Morgan-Stanley projects that online gaming in the United States will be worth $9.3 billion by 2020. Currently, some states allow online gaming, including Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware.

COLLEGE STUDENTS AND ONLINE GAMBLING

The fastest growing segment of the population involved in online gambling are college students. A University of Connecticut study showed:

• • 23 percent of college students had gambled online
• • 6.3 percent did so weekly
• • In the group that gambled frequently online, 61 percent were pathological gamblers.
• • In comparison, only 5 percent of non-internet gamblers were considered to have a gambling problem.

Another report on online gambling noted that the easy accessibility and frequency of play of online gambling present a significant risk of problem gambling.

OTHER INTERNET GAMBLING STATISTICS

Other statistics about online problem gambling include:

• • A 2013 Australian survey showed 30 percent of online gamblers were at risk of problem gambling. Only 15 percent of offline gamblers risked developing a problem.
• • BBC reports a rise in problem gambling in the 18 to 35 year old demographic in 2010, 2011, and 2012.
• • Another report links smartphone gaming to an increase in problem gambling.
  
  
  
  You can RISE above gambling and other addictions! 

Some of the life’s greatest milestones are threatened by problem gambling and other addictive behaviors. Addiction affects not only the addicted person, but the entire family and can cause a tremendous amount of wreckage and problems in all areas of life for everyone in the family.

RISE believes in the power of family recovery, and is passionate about providing help for both the individual and the family members. We aim to provide compassionate quality treatment for you and your loved ones on the journey to recovery and healing. Recovery starts with you. Rise has great resouces too!

Here are just of few of the resources that can STOP GAMBLING Your Life Away!

Gamblers Anonymous www.gamblersanonymous.org

National Council on Problem Gambling www.ncpgambling.org

Arizona Council on Problem Gambling https://problemgambling.az.gov/arizona-council-compulsive-gambling

Gam-Anon  (For Family/Friends of gambler) www.gam-anon.org

National Suicide Prevention Hotline https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

Nevada Al-Anon (For Family/Friends Alcoholic) wwwnevadaal-anon.org

Al-Anon www.al-anon.org

Alcoholics Anonymous www.aa.org

Narcotics Anonymous www.na.org

Nar-Anon (Family/Friends) www.nar-anon.org

Game Quitters-Video Gaming Addictions http://gamequitters.com

Nevada Council on Problem Gambling www.nevadacouncil.org

Nevada Gamblers Helpline 1-800-522-4700

National Problem Gambling Helpline Text 800-522-4700

National Problem Gambling Helpline chat www.ncpgambling.org/ch

Vogue Recovery Center www.voguerecoverycenter.com

---

In Case Of An Emergency Always Call 911 First.

Advertisement

“Keeping Gambling Addiction & Mental Health In The Headlines By Raising Awareness”

Hello and Welcome Recovery Friends,

 

Since my last post a few days ago, I found an interesting article about treating gambling disorder. It was shared on my good friends web site over at NCPGambling.org and written and posted in the MinnPost http://www.minnpost.com in there Mental Health & Addiction section. It’s one that has some good information about treating gambling addiction.

.

.
So here is the article, and I hope all who visit will learn a little something they may not have known about gambling addiction. It’s hard enough to shatter stigma around it, so we need to inform and educate so maybe those who haven’t been touched by it, can understand and have a little more empathy for those who are afflicted by this destructive disease. It was NOT by choice to wake up one day and say, “I think I’ll blow my life apart by becoming an addicted gambler and alcohol abuser. Sometimes, there is something deeper underneath going on…
.

To treat gambling disorder, you must dig a little deeper..

 By Sarah T. Williams | 07/24/14
.

.
MikeSchiks had almost 30 years’ experience as an addiction treatment professional under his belt when, eight years ago, he joined Project Turnabout Addiction Recovery Center in Granite Falls, Minnesota, as executive director and CEO.A seasoned colleague told the enthusiastic newbie to “just shut up for a while, because you don’t know anything about gambling.”Schiks was not offended. “Teach me,” he said.

Project Turnabout had already been serving “compulsive gamblers” since 1992 — in a separate, 20-bed unit on the now 100-bed (and growing) campus. It’s one of just a few treatment centers in the country that offers specialized, long-term residential/inpatient care for gambling disorder, and the only one of its kind in Minnesota.

Schiks was in a good place to learn. And so he learned — about dopamine and its relationship to gambling disorder, about the unique characteristics and needs of those who are in treatment for gambling, and especially about the blind spots in his own perceptions. “Everybody likes to think they don’t carry judgments,” he said. “But I learned a little bit about the desperation of this population.”
.
Schiks is not the only one with a learning curve. It was just last year, in the American Psychiatric Association’s updated DSM 5, that “pathological gambling” was renamed “gambling disorder” and placed in the same category as substance-use and addictive disorders. Previously, it had been identified as an “impulse control disorder.”

The change followed a growing body of neuroscientific evidence that showed that gambling works on the brain’s reward system in much the same way as do drugs or alcohol.

There are some terrible ironies embedded in the findings: It’s not the reward (money) that generates euphoria in “problem gamblers” so much as the unpredictability of the reward. “Near misses” and even losses are more motivating than big wins. Earlier studies had presaged these findings, showing increased rates of “compulsive gambling” among those who were being treated for Parkinson’s disease with dopamine agonists.

Gambling disorder is not nearly as prevalent as substance use disorders (1 to 5 percent compared with 10 percent of the general population, respectively), but the impact on individuals and families is just as devastating. Simply put: “The crisis that brings gamblers to treatment is that they’re broke,” Schiks said during an interview at Project Turnabout. “A lot of them come in here with suitcases that are made out of paper bags.”

Schiks recalls the 24-year-old homeless man who lost everything but his computer and continued to gamble from his un-winterized cardboard box by hijacking browsers. As well, he recalls the children who learned that their elderly parents’ home was in foreclosure. And the tuition-paying parents who discovered that their child never went to college at all. Though the DSM 5 brings gambling disorder in line with substance-use disorders, labor and disability laws, insurance industry practices and treatment protocols have yet to catch up. Schiks, meanwhile, says he’s proud to be part of an organization that recognizes the need for specialized treatment (despite the fact that those who need it cannot pay). And proud to be in a state that has resources in place for “problem gambling.”

As he continues on his path toward greater understanding, here are some of the things Schiks said he’s learned along the way:

1. That stigma around gambling disorder cuts especially deep.

All addictions carry stigma, Schiks said. But most people “have an easier time buying [the idea] that someone can ingest an outside substance, and that can become an illness, an ‘allergy.’ What I learned over and over again, anecdotally and otherwise, is that these folks [who gamble] just beat themselves up. They use the stigma against themselves.”

As a result, the National Council on Problem Gambling reports that, compared with other types of addiction, rates of suicide are twice as high among those with gambling disorder. Predictably enough, this is disputed by the American Gaming Association.

2. That those with gambling disorder need to be treated separately.

On the relative rarity of treatment centers that offer specialized gambling programs, Schiks says: “Sure, you can mix gamblers in with the alcohol and drug addicts. Of course, it would probably be only a week before the gamblers would have them doing their laundry for them. Because these folks are strategists.

“A common question is: ‘Is he/she out of action yet?’

“What do I mean by that? They come in, and it’s going, going, going, going. And all of a sudden, they go whoosh. And then they’re scared. And then they find out there’s somebody else like them. Because they don’t know that there’s anybody else like them.

“Addiction thrives on secrets.”

3. That casinos are not to blame.

Don’t forget slots, bingo, lottery tickets, scratch-offs, pull-tabs, the office pool, card games and the Internet. And don’t forget that Minnesota’s casinos are major contributors to Project Turnabout (by way of direct contributions and unclaimed lottery prizes).

“Unclaimed lottery prize money makes us able to do what we do,” said Schiks, who said that no one in treatment for gambling disorder at Project Turnabout pays more than $900 out-of-pocket.

4. That treatment has many dimensions.

Is Project Turnabout’s treatment model based on the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics or Gamblers Anonymous? Schiks will not give a simple answer. Instead, he references the work of James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente, psychologists who posit stages of change: “pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, relapse.”

Schiks won’t say, “We have a Twelve Step model.” He will say, “We have a change model” — one that considers physical, cognitive, psychosocial, spiritual, emotional and many other “dimensions” of addiction and recovery. “This is a rough map — a path through the woods, not a brick sidewalk,” he said.  “People have choice, and they have to find their way. And they will. And they do.”

Here, in his own words, is Schiks’ “rough map,” based on his interpretation of the Twelve Steps of AA and GA:

Step One: An admission that I am in over my head. Personalizing that. Understanding that. I don’t care what kind of illness you have. …

You’re not even going to go to the doctor for a sore throat unless you are willing to admit that you have a sore throat. You have to admit that! And the doctor will come out and do an assessment, an evaluation, and give you information about it. And in a society that’s continually buzzing about how this [gambling] is normal, and how you’re going to have fun, it’s tricky.

Step Two: Hope. There’s hope. You’re not all alone with this. There are other people who have been here and they’re finding another life, they’re finding another pathway.

Step Three: Make a decision and commitment to this process. Of what? Of fellowship, of support, of recognizing that there’s a different way. But keep going back to the fact that the solution is that you can’t gamble anymore. You just can’t gamble. That’s part of the problem and the solution.

Step Four: Learning about yourself. What do you have to work with? Dump your baggage, identify your baggage, stop beating yourself up with your baggage. Face your baggage, but also own some of the positives of being a human being.

If you want to make any addict (gambler or alcoholic) cry … you look them in the eye and say, ‘When you put your head down on the pillow — I know it sounds schmaltzy, corny, whatever — I want you to think of four words that we know and that you need to know. And those four words are, “I am worth it.”

Pretty soon the tears are coming down their cheeks, because they don’t know that. How much of that is the addiction and how much of that is the culture? Hell, I don’t know. You need to learn that in the Fourth Step.

Step Five: You’ve got to have a reality test. You’ve got talk to somebody about this stuff so that somebody can say, you’re a little bit out balance. It’s yours; don’t get me wrong. But let’s put it in perspective. You’re not the worst of the worst; you’re not the best of the best.

Steps Six and Seven: Coping skills. We lose that with addiction. What do you do when the urge comes back? What do you do when the resentment comes — “I don’t have any money …”  You go talk to someone. You use this higher power communication — whatever that is, it’s none of our business. How do you cope? You become entirely ready to talk about whatever’s bothering you, and you go out and talk about it. They may not have an answer, but it helps.

Steps Eight and Nine: You make a list of the people you harmed. But who do you put on the top of the list? Yourself. … My God, the courage and the strength. I never met a weak addict. They suck it up and put on a happy face and pretend for years sometimes.

Step Ten: Daily taking a look at how am I doing? Doing pretty good today, not so good last night.

Step Eleven: Talking and listening, getting close to whatever your support system is. You have to talk, you have to listen. You have to pray, you have to meditate. You have to walk and take it in. You have to be tapped in.

Step Twelve: The most beautiful of all. Hey, guess what? You can help others.

Step Fourteen: Find your laughter. Keep your laughter.

5. Last but not least: That “we’re all in this together.”

Sober for 38 years from an alcohol, cocaine and methedrine addiction, Schiks knows something of the battle. His most recent experience in the field of recovery, he said, has heightened his awareness of “people’s worth and value.”

“We could have abandoned this group … because the census isn’t good enough,” he said of those in treatment for gambling. “And the board [of directors] said these are desperate people, they need something. And I was right there with them.”

As for his own continued recovery, he says:

“I get up in the morning and I sit down in a chair and I look outside and I say, ‘OK, please keep me sober today.’ And I read a little meditation. Sometimes I remember it, sometimes I don’t. And I keep my eyes open for coincidences, because I have found … so many little things, so many little ties. And I prefer to think that some of those things are meant to be.”
.
*Just an awesome Article. Thanks to MinnPost & The National Council on Problem Gambling*!
You can connect with my friends at The National Council on Problem Gambling here: http://www.ncpgambling.org as they have all types of information about Problem Gambling. Or you can call them as well at 1-202-547-9204 or for the gambling help line: 1-800-522-4700*
.
God Bless All,
Author Catherine Townsend-Lyon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0984478485

 

 

My New Award & Recovery News All~Rolled~Into~ONE!

Hello and Welcome Recovery Friends & New Visitors!

.

YES, I’M SO EXCITED ALL OVER AGAIN FOR A NEW BLOG AWARD!!

**YEAH BABY**!!
.

*I HAVE BEEN NOMINATED FOR ANOTHER SISTERHOOD AWARD*

.
http://glynisrankin.wordpress.com/2013/12/12/sisterhood-award/
I WANT TO THANK *Glynis Rankin* for this NEW “FAB” blogger award nomination!
I just adore her blog, as I am *INSPIRED* by her writing style, and she has been a Fabulous Supporter of me and my blog! NOW, lets share the LUV with my Blog SISTERS that take blogging to a whole new level!

*HERE ARE THE RULES*
.

1-Provide a link and thank the person who nominated you.

2-Answer 10 questions.

3-Provide links to these nominated blogs and kindly let the recipient know they have been nominated.

4-Include the award logo within your blog post. *THAT’S IT~SIMPLE*

*THE TEN QUESTIONS*
.
1-Favorite Color: (PURPLE )

2-Your favorite animal: (KITTY’S )

3-Your favorite non- alcoholic ( ICED TEA )

4-Your favorite pattern: ( CIRCLES )

5-Do you prefer giving or receiving presents: (GIVING )

6-Your favorite number: ( 7 )

7-Your favorite day of the month: ( SUNDAY )

8-Your favorite flower: ( SHASTA DAISY )

9-What is your passion: ( WRITER )

10-Facebook or Twitter- (TWITTER ~ #Addictionchat )

*HERE ARE MY BLOGS I NOMINATED*
.

1- http://Iwanttotakemylifeback.wordpress.com

2- http://Hastywords.wordpress.com

3- http://Cathysvoicenow.wordpress.com

4- http://Blueribbonfair.wordpress.com

5- http://Zainabjavid.wordpress.com

.

**Please go by these blogs that I have “Nominated and Deserve” this *Beautiful Award,* AS each of these blogs are “Worthy” of your time and Visit!  And again, Thanks to my  friend *GLYNIS* for the *Wonderful Honor*! 

*****************************************************************************
Now I’d like to introduce to you my Good Friends, and a great place for Facts
and education about “Compulsive Addicted Gambling:
.

*National Council On Problem Gambling* http://www.ncpgambling.org *
.
Here is a little of what they do for others with gambling problems, or how they “Advocate” to educate the public that Gambling Addiction happens, and it is a REAL Addiction, and Disease:

ABOUT NCPG =>>

The National Council on Problem Gambling is the national advocate for programs and services to assist problem gamblers and their families. The mission of the NCPG is to increase public awareness of pathological gambling, ensure the widespread availability of treatment for problem gamblers and their families, and to encourage research and programs for prevention and education.

The National Council is neither for nor against legalized gambling. Our primary concern is to help problem gamblers and their families.

The NCPG was conceived as the national representative of the problem gambling field and is organized with 3 classes of members: state affiliate, corporate and individual. The NCPG concentrates efforts on the national level, while the state affiliates work at the state and local level.

Major National Council programs include:

• Operation of the National Problem Gambling Helpline Network (800-522-4700). A single national access point to local resources.
• Administration of the National Certified Gambling Counselor (NCGC) credential.
• Holding the annual National Conference on the Prevention, Treatment, Research and Recovery of Problem Gambling. The world’s oldest and largest problem gambling-specific conference.
• Distribution of literature on problem gambling treatment, research and recovery.
• Organization of National Problem Gambling Awareness Week.
• Providing education on problem gambling issues to Federal, state, tribal and international governments and agencies.

History: The organization was founded in 1972 by Msgr. Joseph A. Dunne and Dr. Robert Custer, among others. From the outset the Council established two principles that remain in effect today: that the organization would be the advocate for problem gamblers and their families, and that it would take no position for or against legalized gambling. This stance is encompassed today in our vision and mission statements above. A history of the NCPG from 1972 to 1985 by Msgr. Dunne was published in the Journal of Gambling Studies, Vol. 1, Issue 1.

To join as a member or to support NCPG with a tax-deductible contribution, click here to view our Membership Types and Benefits.
.

What is Problem Gambling?

Problem gambling is gambling behavior which causes disruptions in any major area of life: psychological, physical, social or vocational. The term “Problem Gambling” includes, but is not limited to, the condition known as “Pathological”, or “Compulsive” Gambling, a progressive addiction characterized by increasing preoccupation with gambling, a need to bet more money more frequently, restlessness or irritability when attempting to stop, “chasing” losses, and loss of control manifested by continuation of the gambling behavior in spite of mounting, serious, negative consequences.

Please note the statistics below are generally estimates on a national basis, and in most cases are based on compilations of various state or regional studies. Therefore, these figures should be taken as broad generalizations, and not specific scientific findings. It is the purpose of the NCPG to encourage the development of more and better research on this issue and to be able to provide the public, government, industry and decision makers with this type of information. Additional information may be found in the literature and links on our Resources page. For information specific to a state, contact our State Affiliate council members. To find a National Certified Gambling Counselor (NCGC), please search our counselor database.
.
*HERE ARE SOME VOICES OF THOSE WHO WERE PROBLEM GAMBLERS*

REAL VOICES

In order to get beyond the statistics and provide a more personal and individual picture of this issue, this section features the stories of individuals who have been affected by problem gambling, including problem gamblers and their family members, friends, colleagues and employers; treatment providers; advocates; and any others.

• After 2 semesters in college, I am wondering where all my money has gone. I would tell myself time and time again to stop betting, whether it be online poker, blackjack, or sports bets. A few days later i would always be back placing more bets and telling myself that if i lose this time I would be done forever. I’d win big a couple of times, but only to increase my betting size and lose it all days later, and still bet more money. The highs were nice, but the lows were horrible. Read more>>>
• Hi I’m 12 years old and have three sisters. And well my dad is addicted to gambling. My mom and dad have been fighting ever since he started his problem which is about three years ago and now it scares me to think that they might get a divorce. Well finally after talking everything out my dad has agreed to find some help so I decided to help them find some help.Imagine that your own 11 year old daughter approaches you and says “Dad, I want to talk to you please”. You say, “Sure honey, what is it?” She then asks your other 8 year old daughter and your 4 year old son to leave her room so she can plead with you to stop gambling. Imagine that you see her tears and then you tell her that nothing causing her to cry would be worth doing again; yet you go and do it over and over again. Have you not, at that stage, lost your human side out to a formidable foe?! Read more>>>

ON GAMBLERS

G amblers always are trying new ways to make a bet

A nd then end up getting themselves deeper into debt

M oney is not there when needed to put food on the table

B ecause they throw it away as soon as they’re able

L  ook how often this tragic habit affects their health

E  ver they constantly strive to create easy wealth

R  eally, all that they accomplish is to lose their wives

S  urely, there must be a way out that will save their lives.
.

**I Want to SHARE this info because those of us in Recovery from addicted
compulsive gambling struggle this time of year, The Holidays. So please if you or someone you love may have a gambling problem, go explore my friends website at NCPG. They are there to Help**
.
God Bless Everyone!
Author, Catherine Townsend-Lyon
A Recovering Addicted Gambler 6+yrs.