Compulsive gambling is 'the hidden addiction'
They call it "the hidden addiction." There's no physical sign of it. Nothing is ingested. You can't overdose on it. People with the problem can often go a long time before anyone close to them becomes aware of it. By then, it is often too late to prevent the devastating consequences.
Problem gambling leads to stealing, loan sharking, suicide, domestic abuse, homicide. It destroys families, leaving loved ones feeling shocked and bewildered, not to mention angry and betrayed.
Homes, businesses, jobs, savings, relationships all disappear as the compulsive gambler drags those most important to him or her down the desperate path to getting even.
We don't hear much about that aspect of gambling these days, what with virtually every state trying to figure out a way to balance its budget by allowing more ways for people to gamble legally. Indeed, as opportunities to gamble have increased in New York, with racinos and seemingly a new lottery game every week, and as politicians talk about allowing more full-fledged casinos, the funding for education, prevention and treatment of problem gambling in the state has been slashed to a lip-service level.
• For treatment, information, or to set up a Gamblers Anonymous group: The Recovery Center - 794-8080, ext. 191; the center is at 396 Broadway, Monticello.
• For information from OASAS: 877-8-HOPENY, 24 hours a day, seven days a week
• For Gamblers Anonymous meetings: gamblersanonymous.org
Bob Gaydos
According to the New York Council on Problem Gambling, a not-for-profit independent corporation dedicated to increasing public awareness about the problem and advocating for support services, New York allots about $1 million for the effort.
The state agency responsible for dealing with compulsive gambling, the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, states on its website, "Roughly one million New Yorkers are dealing with problem gambling." So that's about a dollar per problem gambler, the price of a scratch-off ticket.
Still, there is help available. Sullivan County is one of only 15 that have a facility offering an outpatient treatment program for problem gambling. The Recovery Center in Monticello primarily treats alcohol and substance abuse issues (as do the other 14), but it also has five certified alcoholism and substance abuse counselors trained to help problem gamblers and their families.
Izetta Briggs-Bollings, CEO of the Recovery Center, also supervises its gambling treatment program. She notes that while gambling games have become ever more seductive, "to keep you coming back," a similar effort has not been made to make casinos more accountable for protecting their customers from their worst instincts, the way bars are expected to recognize and stop customers who have had too much to drink.
She'd also like to see the state devote a penny out of every dollar raised through legal gambling to the education and treatment of problem gambling.
Next week: Part 2 on "the hidden addiction"
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