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Monday, Nov. 23, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Interactive Slot Machine
Try your hand at the slots while learning the inner workings of the machine and the chances of a win.
Have a Question About Addiction?
Problem Gambling Center executive director Krista Creelman will answer questions about gambling addiction from Las Vegas Sun readers from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24. Submit a question now and we'll post the answers on Tuesday.
Local Gamblers Anonymous Meetings
See a map to find out about Gamblers Anonymous meetings in the Las Vegas Valley.
20 Questions of Addiction
Gamblers Anonymous offers these questions to anyone who may have a gambling problem.
Share Your Recovery Story
Want to let other Las Vegas Sun readers know your story of recovering from a gambling addiction? Send us your story.
Bottoming Out
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Tony McDew not only recognized that he had a gambling problem, but set out to document it with his own video camera, hoping that sharing his experience could help others. When the jackpot hits, "It feels like you're getting high." And when it doesn't? "You want to crucify yourself."
About this series
In the three decades since the psychiatric community recognized compulsive gambling as a mental disorder, it has evolved from a small area of study to a global research effort involving dozens of medical doctors and other specialists who have generated hundreds of studies and hosted as many conferences.
Yet it remains a largely secret affliction, in part because it carries a stigma even here in the birthplace of modern gambling. As a result, sufferers don’t want to discuss the problem or seek help.
Fewer than 10 gambling treatment programs run by state-certified counselors exist in Nevada. The number of nonprofit treatment clinics that waive costs for those who can’t pay — a common predicament for gambling addicts — can be counted on one hand. Fewer than 400 people underwent treatment for gambling problems in state-funded counseling programs in the two-year period ending Sept. 30. Though many more seek out self-help groups such as Gamblers Anonymous, it’s believed to be a fraction of the more than 90,000 Nevadans with gambling problems.
Starting with this story, the Las Vegas Sun explores problem gambling three ways — through the experiences of an addict, by examining what happens inside the brain of an addict, and by considering the role of slot machine designs in feeding gambling addictions.
The stories
- Part 1: Tony McDew not only recognized that he had a gambling problem, but set out to document it with his video camera, hoping that sharing his experience could help others. When the jackpot hits, “It feels like you’re getting high.” And when it doesn’t? “You want to crucify yourself.”
- Part 2: The mere sight of a slot machine can trigger a chemical response in the gambling addict’s brain in the same way the thought of cocaine stimulates a drug addict. Some researchers are exploring the use of drugs to treat addicts. Robert Hunter offers old-fashioned group and one-on-one therapy.
- Part 3: When designer Si Redd realized the overwhelming attraction of his video poker machine, he advised addicts to get help — and leave Nevada if necessary. Today the role of the machine in feeding addiction is debated. At some casinos in Canada, gamblers can tell slot machines to limit their play.
Related Stories
Sun Archives
- LV companies in denial about problem gambling (11-20-2009)
- New courts will stress treatment of gamblers (6-1-2009)
- Criminals could get help for gambling, not prison time (4-18-2009)
- LV attorney who stole $398,345 for gambling habit suspended (2-19-2009)
- Gambling addict’s misery detailed (10-2-2002)
Experts who study gambling addiction remain a long way from knowing why people develop gambling problems. But researchers now know what happens inside the brains of gambling addicts that fuels the addiction, and how best to help them.
A growing collection of research has found that the most afflicted have the kinds of biological brain disorders that are found among drug and alcohol abusers.
Advances in understanding gambling addiction are the result of functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, which allows the brains of gambling addicts, non-addicted gamblers and nongamblers to be scanned and compared.
Before the relatively recent use of MRI machines, scientists could only view people’s behavior, dissect the brains of the deceased or study brain chemistry by drawing fluid from the body. Functional magnetic resonance imaging allows real-time study of the brain by measuring changes in blood flow as well as oxygen levels in the blood.
Scanning participants’ brains as they were shown various gambling-related images or while they gambled with real money revealed a remarkable symptom within the brain:
Dopamine, a chemical that regulates human behavior, including weighing relative rewards and anticipation of those rewards, flooded a part of gambling addicts’ midbrains called the nucleus accumbens. The chemical rush created overstimulated feelings of interest and excitement for the addicts — a reaction that did not occur among non-addicts.
Still unknown — the elusive mystery — is why gambling stimulates dopamine in some people.
Nonetheless, the scans provided the first biological evidence of what treatment providers had long known from working with the hardest cases: For addicts, gambling becomes all-important — eclipsing commitments to family and work. Like scoring drugs and getting high for the drug addict, gambling seems critical for survival.
Economist Don Ross at the University of Alabama and the University of Cape Town, who has studied how society’s reward systems influence human behavior, calls this phenomenon a “hijacking” of the brain’s reward system to create intense cravings and an obsessive focus on gambling.
The brain pulls off this mutiny by figuring out that, if it can identify and connect with an addictive target — say, a slot machine — it can produce its own jackpot — a flood of rewarding dopamine. Triggering that dopamine overflow can overwhelm brain circuits that normally moderate risky behavior, said Ross, a senior economist for the National Responsible Gambling Program, a public-private partnership in South Africa that funds problem gambling research, education and treatment.
These people, Ross says, seek out gambling not for pleasure — which would be a normal reaction to an entertaining pastime — but for the dopamine rush, which in turn creates a vicious circle where the person focuses more intensely on gambling at the expense of everything else.
In Ross’ studies, the dopamine rush among addicted research subjects occurred before any gambling and in response to cues indicating that gambling was about to occur, such as an image of a slot machine or the person’s favorite casino. That result appears to coincide with stories of gambling addicts who — much like the alcoholic who obsesses about wanting to have a drink — are preoccupied with anticipation for gambling.
Blaming her own brain
Carol O’Hare has not had a brain scan, but before she quit gambling, she called herself an addict.
By day, she sold computers, explaining the merits of Random Access Memory and performance speed to moms and dads. After 5 p.m. O’Hare would park herself in front of a video poker machine, medicating herself with the rhythms of choosing and discarding poker hands.
“My logical brain knew I couldn’t outsmart the machine,” O’Hare said. “But my logical brain fell off the track when the first quarter hit the slot. My illogical, addicted brain was driving the bus.”
Suspecting a cocaine addiction, her employer fired her, she said.
“I was like the Valium addict who wanted to make life go away,” she said. “Looking outside ourselves for relief is normal. But repeated attempts to avoid reality could be the beginning of a mental health problem.”
O’Hare would go on to become executive director of the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling, which operates a crisis hotline, in 1996.
Like many people who have wrestled with addiction, O’Hare doesn’t blame the object of her obsession. Rather, she blames her addled brain for the problem.
“If the substance created the addiction, then everyone would become an alcoholic. When I (gamble), triggers go off in my brain differently than for other people. I don’t understand why it happens to me. There could be a genetic component. But the determining factor is me, not the machine.”
Indeed, Ross says even the limited amount of MRI research involving small groups of gamblers indicates that pathological gamblers have a chemical addiction to gambling, which produces in their brains the same kind of “hyperactive dopamine response” found in people who abuse hard drugs.
“For the really chronic cases who must absolutely not gamble, we’ve cracked the code,” he said. “I’ve never seen a study where the problem gambler didn’t look like the cocaine addict. It’s really quite striking.”
Medication may help
Supporting these results is the groundbreaking discovery a few years ago that gambling addicts benefit from medication used for years to treat drug addicts and alcoholics.
One of the most promising is naltrexone, which blocks the release of dopamine and reduces the addict’s cravings.
Psychiatrists Dr. Jon Grant, who codirects the Impulse Control Disorders clinic at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, and Dr. Marc Potenza, who directs the Yale Problem Gambling Clinic at Yale University, are among a small group of researchers pioneering the use of drugs, combined with therapy, to treat gambling addicts.
The use of drugs to combat addiction is so new, Grant said, that no studies have yet compared the relative benefits of drugs and therapy.
“We often don’t know what will help people the most when they walk in the door,” he said. “And people have personal views about things that I think should be respected when they seek help. Some people don’t want pills and others don’t want to talk to a therapist.”
Grant, with a group of research experts from other institutions, is delving into other creative treatment methods besides medication. He co-wrote a recently published National Institutes of Health-funded study that tested a technique called “motivational interviewing” that leads addicts through imagined scenarios ending with the person not gambling.
One scenario might involve a gambler imagining himself driving by a casino without going in. In another, the gambler might go to the casino while repeating mantras that desensitize him to the experience, such as the likely result that he will not win money. Gamblers who participated in six one-hour sessions with a psychiatrist and then listened to tapes at home reinforcing these thoughts gambled less and had fewer cravings than people who simply attended Gamblers Anonymous meetings, the study found.
Much still a mystery
Many problem-gambling experts believe some people are somehow predisposed to addiction but disagree on how much of the problem is genetic versus environmental — which could involve a person’s upbringing, social influences or immediate surroundings, such as the proximity of gambling.
“It’s the $64,000 question: How does someone go from casual to pathological gambling?” said Howard Shaffer, associate professor of psychology in the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and director of its Division on Addictions.
According to some treatment providers, many compulsive gamblers appear to have poor coping skills. Problem gamblers in treatment commonly tell of turning to gambling as an escape from personal problems, family conflict or psychological trauma, such as the loss of a loved one — while others apparently led happy and productive lives before gambling them down the drain.
Any number of studies have found that compulsive gamblers frequently have other baggage, including abuse of drugs and alcohol, and mood disorders including depression, panic attacks and phobias, without being able to determine cause and effect.
A 2005 study co-authored by Nancy Petry, a psychiatry professor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and one of the first recipients of federal funding to study problem gambling, found that problem gamblers were eight times as likely to have a personality disorder as the general population, including obsessive-compulsive disorder and anti-social personality disorder.
Such correlations could have implications for treatment, as people who gamble compulsively because they are depressed could benefit from antidepressants, while treating people for underlying problems such as bipolar disorder could help alleviate gambling binges that were caused by these problems, experts say.
Recent research on the brain and effective treatment methods has far-reaching social and political implications for the field of problem gambling, the casino industry and society at large.
Knowing that addicts are mentally ill rather than simply foolish, spendthrift or morally bankrupt could lead to major changes in the criminal justice system, said Bill Eadington, an economist and director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada, Reno.
“If indeed gambling is a disease that could lead to criminal behavior, like drug-related crimes, then putting people in jail might be the wrong approach,” Eadington said.
(Nevada passed a law this year, supported by the casino industry along with problem-gambling advocates, allowing state judges to send criminals with gambling problems into treatment instead of jail.)
Further research on the brain could help separate the addicts who can’t stop gambling from a much larger group of people who binge on gambling from time to time but whose lives aren’t destroyed by their obsession with it, Eadington said. Treatment programs could be mandatory for addicts, while the greater population of binge gamblers might benefit from problem-gambling awareness campaigns and gambling information that’s more targeted to them, he said.
“Addicts should be isolated and protected from the product like diabetics must be kept from sugar. If you’re diabetic we’re not going to give you a half-gallon of ice cream and encourage you to eat it. But in Las Vegas we might be doing that with problem gamblers.”
There’s much about gambling addiction that isn’t known, as many gamblers aren’t helped by the best treatment methods, many others relapse, and brain scan studies don’t tell the whole story about why addicts behave the way they do, said Dr. Potenza, who has conducted some of the few, small-scale brain scan studies available.
And yet the biggest hurdle of all — acknowledgment and an ethical obligation to help the afflicted — has been crossed, at least by people following this still-young field.
A sense of desperation
These newly uncovered theories involving dopamine seem like old news to Robert Hunter, director of the Problem Gambling Center, a nonprofit outpatient clinic dedicated to treating gambling addicts.
There are no pills at Hunter’s clinic — only old-fashioned group and one-on-one therapy.
During a group-therapy session last month, three patients said they had thought about suicide. One man had his arm in a sling after a botched suicide attempt involving a faked rock climbing accident. Another woman introduced herself to the group of 15 or so people with a flood of tears.
“I can’t take this anymore,” she said. “I need help.”
Some attended with urging from friends and family members.
Some said they had gambled a few days ago; others hadn’t made a bet in years but were sticking around to maintain a support network.
Some acknowledged a problem that feels bigger than themselves — too large, perhaps, for any one person to grasp.
“When you say you’re addicted to drugs people say, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry’ and they’re sympathetic. When you say you blew $80,000 gambling, people say, ‘What, are you an idiot?’ ” a man said. “They don’t understand.”
This is an interesting story. I'm gad that finally the medical field is finally trying to understand this disease. I can say with confidence that gambling for me was the ULTIMATE escape from a bad marriage, unhappy work environment, and problematic personal issues of an unknown nature. Perhaps this research will be beneficial to the community at large who have no idea they even have this disease. It's not until you feel that first rush of a jackpot, or the utter despair of an empty bank account that you know you have it or not. Meanwhile to all of the tortured souls at this very moment wrapped around a slot machine, chain smoking, and praying to god not to take your last dollar.. be well.. try to get some sleep and nourishment, and get into 12 step when you wake up..
rejecto100 : Think you may be just a tad bit paranoid there partner?
They can just sell a new antidepressant with side effects of sleep driving, dog worship and death...
To me this is the same as a "sex addict". It's just a lack of self control.....plain and simple.
I broke up with my last 2 girlfriends here because they gambled too much. Payday loans, bank loans, personal loans, desperate for payday. Which brings up an interesting question: It seems, upon cursory overviews, that females are disproportionately drawn to slot machines. It is common to see a guy sitting at a machine, she pounding away, he's just watching. If you count the male/female ratio at a small casino, females always outnumber males. Sure, as you age, the number of females increases, but this does not explain the much larger difference in gender. Yet you go to the Race Book or Santa Anita, women are a distinct, miniscule minority. Why?
My theory:
It would seem that whatever chemical rush a person receives from slots is quickly duplicated over and over at different times. While at the track, you have a 2 minute rush during the race, and then 15-30 minutes to wait for the next rush, even with simulcasting. So this might be a gender difference.
Another difference is that there are a lot more male drunks than female drunks. Why? Some of my girlfriends might have one free drink an hour, if that, happy as a clam as long as they are pounding the buttons. Me? I've been threatened with expulsion from my local casino because I play too slow, more happy with the beer than the gambling. Obviously, I'm a guy. Research sure has a long way to go to figure out the "why's" and "who's" of gambling and booze.
Noindex -- amen.
I have zero sympathy for these "addicted" -- it's simply bad habits, just another "out" supported by therapists/psychologists attempting to remain relevant. All they have to do is stop gambling. It's literally that simple.
"Within ten days thou wilt seem a god to those to whom thou art now a beast and an ape, if thou wilt return to thy principles and the worship of reason." -- Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman Emperor, 167 C.E.
rejco100 -- it's always REALLY about the money, no? Good posts.
Interesting assertions here. At one time the Social Security administrations position was that alcoholism was a character defect. It is always difficult to know causes - they are probably multiple. The solutions likely need to be varied! God bless all of you - even if you are nuts! Hey, me too!
rejco100 -- may I suggest to you the following website: www.livingwithschizophrenia.com. I hope this helps you and your condition. May the Flying Spaghetti Monster bless you.
rejco100 -- Here are just a few secular recovery programs. Remember, recovery is always always a choice and 76% of Americans consider themselves Christians.
LifeRing Secular Recovery
http://www.unhooked.com
SMART Recovery
http://www.smartrecovery.org/
SOS - Secular Organization for Sobriety
http://www.secularsobriety.org
Women for Sobriety:
http://womenforsobriety.org/
Rejecto : Having attended many 12 step meetings, I am offended by your pointless and fanatical ranting against a volunteer program which has helped millions of desperate people on the brink of self destruction. Whether or not you believe it's a cult, this program has turned otherwise useless walking dead people into productive contributing members of society. Most people have addictions to escape painful things which occured to them growing up, or just throughout the course of their lives, of which they participate in that addiction to numb themselves out from the pain. The twelve step program teaches them to deal with pain and suffering without resorting to substances or gambling. Pain is always a constant in life, misery however, is optional. So why don't you cool it with your ranting and contribute something useful like other options for these suffering folks.
Medication for gambling! HA. Just another reason for these peoples to keep gambling. Now they can say its a disease!!!!!!!
I've got to agree with Noindex & KillerB. I can fully understand the dopamine rush that accompanies gambling. If I bet $50 on a horse to win the Kentucky Derby-as those horses round the stretch-my juices are gonna be flowing. But when people say my illogical addicted brain takes over & controls my actions when I enter a Casino-I don't buy that for one second. The only person who controls your actions is YOURSELF. Bottom line. The choice to participate in gambling is ones own choice. You make a choice to do it-or you make a choice to not do it. It's really simply a lack of self conrol. Carol O'hare mentions that she sold computers by day. How can someone working in the computer business NOT realize that a computer chip driven video poker machine-in the long run-is going to make more money then it pays out. It's as simple as that. There's no way around it. To waste time deluding yourself that you can overcome the house edge in any of these games is simply idiotic. Gambling is strictly for entertainment-nothing more.
I am calling out for help as a person who is affected by a gambler. It is making my life difficult and I am not sure what to do to help! I am afraid a life hangs in the balance based on my decisions. What programs are out there to help family members to cope with an addict when they won't get help themselves!?
circleofillumination - Despite what was stated earlier, The Nevada Council on Problem Gambling is a place to get resources and information on gambling issues. People that are struggling with gambling or people that have love ones struggling with gambling can take advantage of what the council can provide. They present you with various options (not "funnel" you into GA) and ultimately you choose the best path you feel you can take. You can visit their website for more info: www.nevadacouncil.org
Circle - There is help available for family members too. Gam-Anon is a support group for people who are affected by a loved one's gambling. Members of this group have experienced the difficulty and pain that everyone feels when they are trying to cope with a gambling problem in their family. In Las Vegas call 655-8184 to contact the local groups. Additional information about Gam-Anon is available at www.Gam-Anon.org.
Circleofillumination : The first thing to do is call the Problem Gambling Hotline. That voice on the other end of the phone will give you some quick preliminary steps to take. Mainly make sure you have funds separate from that family member's access. The most important thing you can do is keep money OUT of their hands, and put the funds in a safe place for which to keep your lights and heat and rent paid. Make your loved one agree to taking the first steps to address his or her problem, or else you will have to get away from that person and the chaos they are causing you and the rest of your family members. Tough love is the only thing that will work for you in this situation.
12 step programs literally saved my life. That being said there are various reasons why they are not for everyone. If you or a loved are in pain and suffering from addiction of any sort I urge you search for the option or combination of options that are right for you. Remember that there are many of us out there with cooccuring disorders and we must treat them simultaneously if we want true relief from the insidiousness. There is hope out there and please remember if one thing does not work for you keep looking until you find the one that does. I wish you all the best.
Great articles.
Keep up the good work.
Brave souls to take on the negative aspects of the Las Vegas Cash Cows.
Theoretically, gambling parlors are suppose to broker action between winners and losers at a commission -- the reality is gambling parlors only permit patrons' they considered valued assets i.e. losers to participate -- preying upon gambling degenerates widely known as "suckers" IS the gambling parlor's business and why many consider such business operations to be unethical and socially harmful.
The real problem resides within a society that condones gambling parlor's refusal to broker action between the winners and losers resulting in a predatory practice of theft upon society instead of broking entertainment action between its participants.
The very nature of gambling creates winners AND losers but when winning patrons are refused participation why play?
The next time you enter a gambling parlor stop and take a look around -- note to yourself that all participants' are considered losers by the mere fact they're being allowed to participate.
Now where do the winners prohibited from participation turn to for assistance?
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I work in psychiatry. I see people, mostly men, come in to our facility day in and day out telling us they are suicidal because "someone jumped me and took all my money." When the truth is they took their paycheck and gambled it away at the casino, and now they can't feed their kids or pay the mortgage.
The first step is for people to stop lying to their doctors and therapists about losing their money at the casino. We can't treat you if we know you are lying to us. We will give you three days of a bed and meals and send you out the door.
Second step is mental health facilities need to stop feeding the compulsion by giving addicted gamblers a bed and a meal. The only way someone will quit their destructive habit is if they have no alternative. It is stated over and over again that if you continue to give these people comfort and solace, they will continue to know if they lose everything, they have somewhere to go. Its ridiculous that in a town that has gambling as its main source of income, that they don't take a stand on those that come here with $20, spend it on a penny machine, drink $50 worth of booze, then pay for them to stay in a $500 bed a night hospital for several days. On top of it all, they don't want treatment, they want a few days of free living until they can pawn something or get another payday loan. Give me a break!!!!
Our facility has gone so far as to give them free greyhound bus tickets to go home to where they came to be with family, only for them to show up 2 or 3 days later telling us they were "rolled" and lost their bus ticket and of course, "I'm going to kill myself."
If Nevada taxpayers only knew how much of their tax money went to this ridiculous, vicious, cycle, you would all demand that the mental health facilities in this town take a stand and refuse admission to those people who continue to abuse an already overloaded system. Then tax the casinos to pay for a state of the art gambling addiction specialty hospital to treat the illness properly!
There, I said it!!!!!
rejco100 is addicted to posting pointless, cranky, inane comments.
For all of you who think gambling is not an addiction but rather as a personal failure of self control, I suggest you rent the movie "GOING FOR BROKE' with Delta Burke. This movie really hits home.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371693/
For someone that can help....
Does anybody know the winning numbers in last Saturday's California Lotto drawing ?
AKsilvereagle : Your humor here is noted, but not really appropriate for such a serious issue as this, however since this is an open forum of discussion I respond to you by saying that State lottos are sanctioned robbery. You would do better to give your dollar to a food bank where it would do a whole lot more good than giving it to the state lottery commission who just wastes it on advertising.
Gamblers Anonymous is the way to go for compulsive gamblers. This is a family with complete understanding of the disese. The unconditional love that you find there is unbelievable. You are taught a new way of living through the 12 steps of recovery.There is also an intensive outpatient program in
Las Vegas called Comprensive Therapies. They have a wonderful program for compulsive gamblers,directed by Lynn Stilley.The education of the disease and the tools you are given to live life on life's terms are absolutely wonderful.
recovery : So true. The support system is so there, and the absolute commitment to sobriety and quality of life is unconditional!
I compulsively gambled for more than 7 years straight. I never drank or did drugs - except for the very occasional glass of red wine. I played slot machines. I went to gamble the first time because I was a little bored and wanted a get away. I got hooked the next day. I have borrowed, stolen, begged and done without so that I could keep the game going. I was insane. Things turned around after I realized that I no longer wanted to disgrace myself, my name, my deceased parents. I was so ashamed of my actions, I could barely function ... It took a lot of discussions with a lot of people to realize that I needed something bigger to live for, to show my purpose. (I always knew what it was). I went for "it" with the same energy I went after gambling and in short time, my life turned around. There is a lot of obsessing about gambling, but I counter it by remembering that what I have achieved in the last number of years could not have been possible if I continued to gamble. As a side note, if I continued to gamble as I was, I would not be living right now. I am certain of that beyond a shadow of doubt.
With these hard economic times for our city, the LVCA should try really hard in establishing a convention for all these addicts. The revenue generated would be intense!! I say have one 2 times a year!! GET A ROLL!!!!
rwal2222, thank you for saying that.. admire your ethics. I worked in a social service setting back East and saw the same cyclical abuse of services (in a different aspect). If a client were to be committed after racking up a certain amount of visits to a facility such as yours, rather than just a 72 hour watch, would that be a deterrant?
I think its funny that about 75% of people in casinos gambling have no business being there. they cant afford alot of things but they always have money for beer cigs and gambling..
All I know is the Gaming industry is full of it when they say they dont want addicts... the machines when you play always show you when you almost hit so you keeep playing ....if they didnt want me trapped maybe i could find an exit or a clock.....many drug addicts fall to gambleing becuase it does affect the same area of the brain.....
32 year old Las Vegas Native... I have witnessed the horrible effects of those I love who have the addict gene in regards to Problem Gambling... My entire life I've watched as these "addicts" have done horrible things to continue to feed their addiction to gamble... These are not "normal" social gamblers... Unlike you and I who can play $20.00 and lose and walk away laughing and enjoyed our 5 minutes of entertainment, the Problem Gambler will chase that $20.00 with another and another... until their homes, cars, and all savings is exhausted... To "reject" the understanding that these people are "different" than the social gambler is ubsurd... GA, NA, AA... are all long term continuous fellowships for those with the addiction "disease." Immediate outpatient programs can increase "Recovery" as well... The Problem Gambling Center in Las Vegas has an extremely beneficial program for those who find themselves unable to stop... Under the direction of Dr. Hunter and his team of Problem Gambling experts and Addictionologists, people lost and hurting from prlem Gambling can get the immediate help they need so desperately and immediately... I know many friends and family members who have completed the Problem Gambling Center of Las Vegas "program" and have had great success in maintaining their "Recovery" with aftercare at the Center and also GA meetings as needed throughout the week... More than just the Problem Gambling stopping due to the "program," my friends and family come out with a "New love of Life and Purpose." It's really quite beautiful to see the change... like a new butterfly spreading their wings for the first time... It's Undeniable... There is help and hope for those who want it... Good job Problem Gambling Center of Las Vegas, Dr. Hunter, Krista Creelman, Linda, Howie, and staff... Your expertise is grately appreciated and your love of helping people has been witnessed and now "Praised!"
Why would you live it Sin City if you have addiction to gambling.Move to another state that has no gambling.
Wolf85023, to answer your question; because nobody wants to live in Utah. Legalized gambling is everywhere.
Been there. I suffer from this pathological illness. Dr. Hunter and his team are a great first step for treatment, but only lasts 6 weeks - then you're out there on your own. There is follow up on Saturdays and GA. GA is a strong support unit, but Hunter's team stresses getting connected with others, and how can you do that with anonymous people??? You all share the same pain and problems, but you won't be sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner together. People in our daily lives don't understand this problem and it's like living 2 diffeenent lives -- Your work/family life and your GA life. Many of of us who suffer have other problems that contribute to our addiction - depression, anxiety, abuse, lonlieness, low self-esteem neglect etc. etc. Hunter, GA and a good psychiatrist after initial treatment is needed to work on these other issues and prescribe medication.
BUT no one can make the addict stop except the addict. Acceptance is the key... And a very difficult realization to come to.
You young folks should be careful, you have your future to think of. I am old have the cancer, so I gamble like no tomorrow, and also sniff the heroin its the only relief I can get, but thats for us old timers, never did any of this when I was young, good luck to you folks with the problem, happy thanksgiving to all.
i had an wife and family ----------she chose video poker over me. now i have an ex-wife and no family....
i know the pain that this illness causes.. b/c she was from a wealthy family and made good earnings ---she never hit rock bottom - at least not before i HAD TO VACATE her life....
i still wonder - "what if"?
i am not against gambling, just the mental illness, and i believe it is just that..
i sympathize w/ others who suffer.....
it is still hard for me to phathom how she chose gambling over "it all" ----but again, it is an "illness"...
and to top it off, she went to cocaine & tequila for party favors. bad combo..
would not get help -- even after 2 interventions...
UUUUuuuuuuuuuuugggggggggggggh....
cuts240 : My wife left me for the same reasons, but of course she was a gold digger and fully enjoyed the benifits of numerous trips to Super Pawn to buy jewelry with my winnings. You did the right thing to get that chaos out of your life. I'm sure my ex is much happier now with her new husband who doesn't gamble, and probably is spending his life savings to keep her happy with material things, but that ain't my problem anymore! I have gotten a hold of my addiction through acceptance, awareness and sometimes working the 12 steps, but for the most part I am not as reckless with gambling as I used to be. I'ts kinda like being a quarterback for a football team who has had one to many concussions, you tend to respect the damage that you have done to yourself over the years, and proceed with caution..
rejco: It's a pity I have to keep taking you to task in public because of your misinformed and misguided notions of 12-step programs. Once again, let me clarify that yes, it is entirely possible for an individual to abdicate personal responsibility and blame an addiction, etc. And once again, no 12-step program ever allows this kind of attitude in its approach. No 12-step program ever says, "gosh, you get a 100% out-of-jail free card." Just the opposite. 12-step programs insist upon personal inventory and accountability, AND they insist on actions to back that up (such as making legitimate amends to all harmed parties). Just because someone once court-ordered you into a 12-step program is hardly a reason for the rest of us to dismiss them out of hand with such a shaky understanding as yours.
Get clear on this, all of you bloggers (and those of you who wish to avoid responsibility and say "I'm an addict! I'm not responsible") - 12 step programs ONLY say that you are incapable of controlling the addiction. But you ARE capable of being responsible for the solutions, and you are obligated to do so. ANY person can abuse a spiritual program, and I'm sure as many people who belong to "legitimate, non-cult" religions do just that. Quit throwing out the baby with the bath water.
Rejecto craves attention the same way an addicted gambler craves action. Don't respond to his inanities and he'll soon get bored and disappear.
GA will work for most addicted gamblers, even those who tried it and left. Try again. Just the fact that you're helping others in the same boat while healing yourself might be just enough to keep you coming back.
Nobody understands an addicted gambler like another addicted gambler.
Give it a shot. You might even find a new best friend.
I've been through the out patient program and it was life saving. I learned a lot but one thing stood out the most and has helped me; once you begin to gamble, the desease takes over and you are not in control. So, remember, don't gamble and that way you are in control. But once you begin there's nothing you can do to stop until the money is all gone or you get lucky and win enough to satisfy yourself during that one outing. Resist gambling one day at a time is the only answer. One more thing; if you could control your gambling, after you start, then it would not be called an addiction.