We think problem gambling, to use your word, is a sobering subject, to say the least. To say the most, we believe that it's the most insidious and, in fact, the deadliest psychological pathology of them all, and ruins (at best temporarily and at worst permanently) 99.9% of the lives of people who suffer from it, not to mention many of the lives that surround the people who are susceptible to this disease.
More than 140 million Americans gamble in one form or another. Upwards of 135 million of these people gamble for entertainment, recreation, excitement -- to satisfy the primal urge of financial risk-taking for fun and potential profit. For them, both winning and losing are sensations they can live with. If they walk away from the casino with house money in their pockets, they had a great time. If they've left some of their money with the house, they still had a good time. (This writer did just that last night.)
But four million to five million Americans (roughly 55% men, 45% women) are unable to simply walk away. For them, gambling becomes problematic, compulsive, addictive, a dangerous psychiatric disorder.
What makes a group of people turn to gambling -- as opposed to alcohol, drugs, sex, or even crossword puzzles -- for an escape? This is a matter of endless conjecture and speculation. A gambling disorder starts out as euphoria derived from the excitement of the action, a more satisfying sensation than any other experience. Whether it's the surging adrenaline of a crap game, the hypnotic trance of a video poker machine, or the fast pace of day trading on a securities market, as long as these gamblers are in the action, they're riding the high; stopping means coming down, and they need to gamble again to get back up. A compulsive gambler is driven to bet in the same way an alcoholic needs a drink or a junkie needs a fix.
Some experts believe pathological gambling is a learned behavior disorder, often starting in childhood. Weaned on pitching pennies against the stickball wall, playing nickel-ante poker or, these days, free online poker games, shooting dice with classmates after school and on weekends, learning to read the racing sheet, participating in football pools, playing and adding excitement to life by betting on its innumerable random events, some people forge a potentially calamitous relationship to gambling early in their lives.
Other experts attribute it to a physiological cause -- the physical high of being in action comes from the release of endorphins and similar biochemicals, which have narcotic-type effects of pain relief and euphoria.
Whatever the cause, the worst thing that can happen to someone vulnerable to this compulsion is an early win. An initial positive result can put a player on the path to ruin. The rules of the game, the house edge, the free booze, the leggy cocktail waitresses, the pumped-in aromas, the flashing lights, the clanging coins all add up to negative numbers. The player starts to lose, then loses more, then chases his losses. Once out of funds, desperation to be back in the game sets in, causing the gambler to consume all available resources: valuables, cars, houses, other people's cash. When all that's gone, 90% of pathologicals commit crimes to gamble -- embezzlement, forgery, bad checks, insurance fraud, credit-card fraud, outright theft, burglary, sometimes armed robbery, sometimes even murder.
And always, at the center of the compulsion, is the certainty that the gambler must lose. This increases the desperation, which feeds the compulsion, a vicious cycle that doesn't end until, in the terminal stages of ruin -- hounded by creditors, terrorized by loan sharks, in trouble with the law, abandoned by family and friends -- life is reduced to two choices: suicide or treatment. Attempted suicide wins out in 25% of the cases, making compulsive gambling the deadliest addictive disorder, by far.
Treatment options are limited at best. The public perception of gambling addiction is a good 20 to 30 years behind that of alcoholism. Every state with casino gambling has some sort of agency that attempts to deal with the problem and Gamblers Anonymous has its successes. Though the ranks of addicted gamblers have swelled in the last decade or so, due to the proliferation of casinos and the highly addictive nature of video poker machines, serious treatment remains hard to come by and is often a case of too little, too late.
(It’s this, the darkest part of the consciousness business, that engenders the darkest part of the casino business. The pyschology of the chronic loser might be complicated, but exploiting it is child’s play. Which makes it even harder for a problem gambler to quit.)
It’s no accident that most compulsive gamblers kick the habit by turning to some form of religion. Religion and gambling have plenty in common. In fact, gambling practices, both outward in form and inward in attitude, can be a secular emulation of religious practices. A casino, after all, is not unlike a church or temple. Both are lavishly appointed; both are far removed from ordinary activity. Both involve highly arcane social rituals, vernacular styles, material objects, and belief systems. Both invite prayers and invocations to some higher power, whether it’s chance of God. And both offer rewards, in the form of prizes and miracles, to those of strong and unquestionable faith.
Compulsive gambling is a highly complex disorder and those trying to quit often find themselves desperately missing not only the addictive high, but also the rituals and sense of purpose, hope, and belonging that, like a secular religion, gambling has given them. The premise and practices of Gamblers Anonymous are straightforward: By providing an escape from daily life, a supportive social network, a set of bonding "steps," and a belief in a higher power, GA helps fill the void left when the community and the catechism of the casino are gone.
