Don’t gamble with your health

Everyone likes to have a good time. For many, a little excitement adds to the fun.

Everyone likes to have enough money. For many, quick wealth is a seductive dream.

Fun, excitement, and a chance to get rich quick. The appeal is obvious, which is why gambling continues to be a significant social problem in our country, and many parts of the world.

Yet, for most people, gambling is entertainment – a fun activity that can be enjoyed without harmful effects. But for some, it’s not just a game – it’s a serious problem that continues, even after the fun is gone.

Gambling And Health

Gambling has its proponents and its critics. But while politicians, educators, economists, and religious leaders debate the pros and cons, doctors are generally mute. In fact, however, gambling can affect health. According to the American Psychiatric Association, compulsive gambling is an addictive illness with many similarities to drug and alcohol addiction. Just as some people can be addicted to alcohol or drugs, it is possible for a person to become obsessed with an uncontrollable urge to gamble.

In the United States, at least, it is a growing problem. In 1999, the National Gambling Impact Study reported that about two million Americans are pathologic gamblers, three million are problem gamblers, and 15 million are at risk, but a current estimate places the number of pathologic gamblers at 10 million. Nationwide, one to two percent of adult men are pathologic gamblers; but in Nevada, more than six percent of men are pathologic gamblers. Women have less than half the risk of men.

Compulsive Gambling

The problem is called compulsive gambling – an emotional illness that often remains hidden until the consequences of repeated gambling begin to affect the financial and emotional security of the gambler and the family.

As the stress of these consequences increases, the compulsive gambler finds that he/she must seek relief through even more gambling. The result is a progressive financial and emotional deterioration which can destroy both the gambler and his/her family.

Compulsive gambling can affect men and women of any age, race or religion, regardless of financial or social status. It is not possible to predict who will develop a gambling problem, but once identified, the problem can be successfully treated.

Like other addictions, compulsory gambling seems to have its origins in youth. According to a recent Harvard study, up to 9.4 percent of adolescents are at risk, more than twice the 3.8 percent rate for adults. The problem usually begins innocently, then progresses relentlessly from a hobby to a compulsion. Pathologic gamblers don’t simply want to gamble – they have to gamble. Pathologic gambling bears the same relationship to recreational gambling as alcoholism does to social drinking.

Diagnostic Criteria

The American Psychiatric Association defines pathologic gambling as a disorder of impulse control that has many similarities to substance dependencies.

Criteria for the diagnosis include a preoccupation with gambling, a need to increase the amount of the bet, restlessness or irritability while attempting to cut back, using it as an escape mechanism, lying to friends to conceal the behavior, jeopardizing relationships or career opportunities, and committing illegal acts or relying on others to cover losses.

The warning signs include:

• Losing time from work or family due to gambling

• Repeated failed attempts to stop or control the gambling

• Borrowing money to gamble or pay gambling debts

• Gambling to escape worry or trouble

• Neglecting the care of one’s self or family in order to gamble

• Lying about the amount of time and money spent on gambling

• Gambling more money in an attempt to win back losses (chasing)

• Selling or pawning personal possessions to get money to gamble

• Feelings of hopelessness, depression, or suicide as a result of gambling

Recent Studies

New research on gambling may help explain why it is so addictive. Scientists from Germany found that gambling produces a physiologic rush that includes the release of stress hormones, a rapid heart rate, and a boost in mood. A study from Missouri reported that pathologic gambling and alcoholism appear to share a genetic link. Finally, an investigation headed by Harvard scientists showed that gambling lights up the same areas of the brain as sniffing cocaine.

Compulsive gambling may be a psychiatric disorder in its own right, but it also leads to other health problems. Up to half of all problem gamblers also experience substance abuse, and many become depressed. Social upheavals, including job loss and divorce, are common. In the United States, up to 90 percent of compulsive gamblers contemplate suicide at some time, and about 20 percent make at least one attempt.

Pathologic gambling is nothing new; one of its most famous victims was Fyodor Dostoyevsky, who wrote a semiautobiographical novel, The Gambler, in 1866 to pay off his debts. In a letter to his wife, he describes the syndrome: "To begin with, I lost a little, and then I really began to lose in earnest. I wanted to win back what I had lost, but then I lost even more. And then I lost everything, everything!"

Problem gambling may not be new, but it seems that the many forms of legal gaming available in our country are making it easier for many people to slide into trouble. The stakes are high; as a society, we’ll have to try to learn how to draw the line between innocent action and all-consuming self-destructive behavior.

Help Is Available

If you or someone you know is experiencing a gambling problem, help is underway. Recently, the Philippine Foundation on Compulsive Gambling, Inc. (PFCGI) has been established to assist pathological gamblers. It is a non-profit, non-government organization made up of doctors (many of them psychiatrists), formed to address the problem of compulsive gambling. It has launched a campaign to increase public awareness on the problem.

The foundation, headed by Dr. Jose Tojino, has received the support of Pagcor, through its chairman, Efraim Genuino. "Our primary interest is the welfare of our players and their families," says Genuino. "By linking up with PFCGI, we are taking a proactive role in addressing the issue of compulsive gambling. Our goal is to provide a safety net, a system of clinical checks and counseling to help compulsive gamblers recover from their illness and once recovered, never to get afflicted again," Genuino adds.

PFCGI will also host the Philippine version of Gamblers Anonymous. As a first step, Dr. Tojino announced that PFCGI will try to help compulsory gamblers, already known and identified, and provide counseling for them and their families. The foundation also plans to open a 24-hour telephone hotline to give advice to people with compulsive gambling problems.

Just remember, compulsive gambling is considered treatable with proper diagnosis and professional counseling. Listen to the advice of medical experts: Don’t gamble with your health!