Gambling - Addiction

By Jerry Price - Aug 21, 2006 - comment

“Addiction rates double within 50 miles of a casino. Probable pathological gambling in Nevada in 2000 measured 3.5 percent. Other states ranged from 2.1 percent in North Dakota in 2000 to 4.9 percent in Mississippi in 1996. A casino within 10 miles of a home yields a 90 percent increased risk of its occupants becoming pathological or problem gamblers. Neighborhood disadvantage increases that risk another 69 percent. Slots and other gambling machines push susceptible players to the pathological level in an average of 1.08 years, vs. 3.58 years with more ‘conventional’ forms of table and racetrack gambling.”

Getting Started with Basic Gambling Facts (National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling) [Accessed March 2, 2006]

“A study of addicted gamblers revealed, ‘Between 20 percent and 30 percent of the respondents made actual suicide attempts. No other addictive population has had as high a prevalence for attempts.’ Nevada has been the highest in the nation for suicides for 10 of the last 12 years.”

Getting Started with Basic Gambling Facts (National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling) [Accessed March 2, 2006]

Compulsive gambling and substance abuse share several characteristics:

  • “Preoccupation with the activity
  • Its use to escape pain or uncomfortable feelings
  • Intense cravings
  • Need to increase the amount (of money spent gambling) over time to achieve the desired effect
  • Inability to stop despite negative consequences”

Problem Gambling and Substance Abuse (Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling) [Accessed March 2, 2006]

The South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) indicate the following signs which usually accompany problem gambling:

  • “The person gambles more than they intended.
  • Other people are suggesting that the person might have a gambling problem.
  • The person is feeling guilty about the way he or she gambles.
  • The person wants to stop betting money and feels like they can’t.
  • The person gambling is hiding betting slips, lottery tickets, gambling money or other signs of betting.
  • There are arguments over how the person gambling is handling money.
  • The person gambling is borrowing money and not repaying it.
  • The person gambling is losing time from work or school due to betting money or gambling.”

Signs of Problem Gambling (Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling) [Accessed March 2, 2006]

Further Learning

Learn more about: Family, Addictions, Gambling

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