New feminist fight: Gambling addiction

New feminist fight: Gambling addiction


From multi-million dollar state-run lottery programs to glitzy Indian casinos to online slots that can be played in the privacy of one's own home, gambling has become an entrenched part of American life.

It isn't an interest of mine, frankly, so I haven't paid much attention. But when the new book "She Bets Her Life" came in the mail, and the accompanying press release noted that there are an estimated 6 to 8 million gambling addicts in the United States today, I had to sit down - first to recover from the shock of that number, and then to take a look at the book.

Author Mary Sojourner is a pioneer in women's mental health counseling.


Now based in Bend, Oregon, she is a commentator on National Public Radio and the author of four books as well as many essays and short stories that have appeared in regional and national publications.

But most germane to this discussion is the fact that Sojourner is, as she describes herself, "a hard-core slot machine gambling addict."

Sojourner gambled for well over a decade. As the years piled on she began to understand that her compulsion was way out of control, but every time she tried to quit she experienced debilitating physical symptoms.

Once Sojourner realized she was contending with very real withdrawal symptoms, she scoured the internet looking for resources on how to cope.

Finding very little, the writer in her took over - she immersed herself in researching the problem.

The result is "She Bets Her Life" - part memoir, part handbook, part psychology text.

The book begins by drawing readers into the experiences of a circle of women who meet weekly to support one another in their efforts to stay away from gambling. The women are a diverse group in terms of age, ethnicity, and educational background, but they share a compulsion that has a higher rate of recidivism than any other addiction.

Sojourner believes that women and men become addicted to gambling for different reasons. Males tend to get hooked on the thrill and the risk, while women crave the chance to retreat into a zone of their own. (Virginia Woolf does Vegas!)

So while this book has helpful information for all compulsive gamblers - and the people who care about them - it is crafted specifically for women.

Sojourner investigates the brain chemistry of an addict - fascinating stuff - and takes a hard look at issues concerning denial and enabling. She writes with candor and tough humor about withdrawal, recovery, slip-ups and healing.

She talks about what the family and friends of a compulsive gambler can do - and about what only the gambler can do for herself.

Sojourner knows firsthand that the road to recovery is precarious. But with a suicide rate higher for compulsive gamblers than for any other kind of addict, she was motivated to show that there is a better way out, and that throughout the journey there is help to be found.



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She Bets Her Life - Mary Sojourner

Seal Press - 288 pp - $17.95

BARBARA LLOYD MCMICHAEL writes a weekly column focusing on the books, authors and publishers of the Pacific Northwest. Contact her at bkmonger@nwlink.com