YOUNGSTOWN Program aims to help compulsive gamblers
Addicts often believe further gambling will fix their problems.
By JOHN SKENDALL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- It's a problem comparable in scope to heroin or cocaine addiction, but more likely to cause suicide and ruin entire families.
The problem is gambling addiction. And experts say the lack of public awareness about it is keeping many from finding help.
Although most who gamble do it for recreation and suffer no ill effect, 3 percent to 5 percent of people in the United States are pathological gamblers, said Lori Rugle, a clinical psychologist from Mentor and vice president of the Ohio Council on Problem Gambling.
Gambling addicts often lose everything that is dear to them while appearing on the outside to be happy-go-lucky, she said.
Meridian Services Inc. at 527 North Meridian Road is one of four pilot projects to offer clinical treatment for compulsive gamblers. The pilot effort began in 2001 and is funded through the Ohio Lottery Commission and the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services.
The Youngstown program at Meridian, a substance abuse and mental health counseling center, is leading the way in treatment, but pioneers in the field say public awareness about the disorder and its treatment is still in its infancy.
"People don't recognize that it's a legitimate mental disorder," Rugle said
Personal story
So far one person has completed the Meridian Services program.
Bob, a 40-year-old Mahoning Valley resident, will finish the program this summer. One of five clients in gambling treatment at Meridian, he asked that his real name not be used.
Bob's game of choice was lottery tickets. He started playing the Ohio Lottery's Pick 4, Buckeye 5 and other games as a hobby two or three years ago. He said he "hit big" a couple times, winning up to $1,000, and his obsession took off from there. He never thought of stopping. He said he just felt an overpowering need to recover lost money.
After spending thousands of dollars on lottery tickets and going deep into debt, Bob embezzled $40,000 through his independent food-distributing company over a course of two years. Since entering treatment, he has pleaded guilty to embezzlement charges and is on probation.
"I was a liar, a cheater and a thief," Bob said.
Bob entered the program at Meridian because he knew there was something wrong, although he didn't admit to himself he was addicted until six weeks into his treatment.
"I saw that I wasn't behaving the way I should be behaving," Bob said.
He noticed that his wife and family were suffering from his building anger and frustrations, but it took a long time for even them to know he had a problem.
"People were shocked," Bob said, when he told his friends and family about his addiction.
Trouble with impulses
Pathological gambling is an impulse-control disorder characterized by a persistence to gamble despite ill effects to one's family, work and finances. Addicts delude themselves into thinking the answer to their problems, including their gambling debt, is to gamble more.
For pathological gamblers, "there is always a reason to gamble," said Meridian Services counselor Tim Bailey. If you win big, you can't stop now or you'll break your streak. If you lose big you must win back those losses, he said.
Addicts gamble to escape problems, wanting to relieve feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety and depression, and they lie and steal to keep gambling, according to the diagnosis manual of the American Psychiatric Association.
Unlike alcoholics, gambling addicts see gambling as both the cause of and solution to their problems -- there is always the possibility, albeit slim, that the next big bet could catapult them back out of debt.
"No alcoholic ever believed that he or she could just make their fortune if they'd just drink more," Rugle said.
The anticipation of that next big win becomes a high that an addict can't resist, as he or she makes bigger and bigger bets and takes larger risks.
"It's not about the money," she said. "It's about that fantasy that's so seductive."
Getting back on track
Now Bob is slowly mending fences with his wife and four children and has gotten a handle on his finances. But it was a long road.
In treatment he had to learn to stop fooling himself the same way he had fooled everyone around him.
Bob, eight months into his treatment, said he takes things one day at a time. He bought his last lottery ticket Oct. 18.
Bob will continue to attend Gamblers Anonymous, a support group for recovering gamblers, and has renewed focus on his spiritual life, as recommended in treatment.
Rugle estimated about 25 people are enrolled in the four pilot programs statewide, but said many more are out there who have not sought help or are not aware help exists.
According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, about one in five pathological gamblers attempts suicide.