32. Compulsive gambling: the hidden disease

By Tom O'Connell

Compulsive gamblers have a number of things in common with alcoholics. Many are loners, even in the early stages of their addiction; they repeatedly try to stop gambling; and they lie to cover up. A leading expert on this subject said, "Unlike alcoholism, compulsive gambling is an invisible disease in which many gamblers are able to hide their habit from the people closest to them."

These insights were provided at the Northeast Conference on Addictions by Arnold Wexler, who served as executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey. He explained, "In an alcoholism treatment facility with 50 beds, we're now finding from 6 to 15 gambling addicts in every cycle."

How can a compulsive gambler who is in treatment for alcoholism be detected? Or a compulsive gambler in your own home? They need to see newspapers. They are always on the phone. They play cards a lot. They're extremely interested in scores of sporting events. And they often use the gambler's favorite word: "action." They also tend to be in financial trouble. Wexler said, "On the average they owe about $43,000."

According to a National Council on Compulsive Gambling survey of 196 people who sought help for their gambling addiction, 24% also had another addiction. Nine percent were alcoholics. Three percent used drugs. Six percent were smokers. Eleven percent were overeaters. And some were combinations of all of these.

Wexler pointed out that an alcoholic who was also a compulsive gambler wouldn't recover from his or her gambling compulsion through AA alone. "They have to work both programs." That is, they need Gamblers Anonymous as well as Alcoholics Anonymous.

This expert on compulsive gambling said that from five to seven percent of the general population are compulsive gamblers, and their suicide rate is 20 times the national average. Also, citing a factor that you seldom hear mentioned about gambling, he said heart attacks accompany the addiction as a physical element of the disease.

"Money is the disease," he explained, "and the high is very similar to the effect of cocaine." How many stages does the disease have? Three. "Winning, losing and desperation."

There are many ways to gamble, and Wexler said gambling addicts are not only found at roulette wheels and lining up for the local lottery or betting on sports events. Twelve percent of the calls received by the New Jersey Council on Compulsive Gambling were from stock market addicts. And this figure has undoubtedly escalated in recent times of widespread stock market speculation and day trading.

Some other interesting facts found in a survey by the National Council on Compulsive Gambling are that only 25% of compulsive gamblers had finished college, and there was a fairly even distribution of white collar and blue collar workers. The average age for placing the first bet was 13. And the average age when seeking help was 40.

Eighty-five percent of the recovering compulsive gamblers surveyed had gambled on horses, 79% on sporting events, 74% on cards, 42% in casinos, 30% on numbers games, 5% on bingo, and 3% on dogs. Seventy-five percent had committed a felony due to gambling, 35% stole to get money, 18% embezzled money, and 22% had used bad checks.

Also, as is often the case with alcoholics, it was learned from recovering compulsive gamblers that they also had family-of-origin problems and deep-seated emotional difficulties.

Question: Is compulsive gambling a serious problem that needs to be dealt with?

Answer: You bet!

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