The Harm Caused by Problem Gambling
Opportunities to gamble have increased significantly over the past decade. Along with the rapid expansion of legalized gambling has come an increase in the number of gambling problems. For most people, gambling is a social or recreational activity, something that is fun and entertaining. But for others, gambling causes problems and, for some, it becomes uncontrollable and is no longer a choice.
Compulsive gambling is not a bad habit but rather a life-threatening disorder. Compulsive gambling is destructive to families, friendships and careers. Bills go unpaid. Basic needs like money for food and rent are neglected. Some gamblers become suicidal. Most will need help to change their gambling behavior.
The good news is that there is help available here in Hennepin County and throughout Minnesota. State funds are available for treatment services for compulsive gamblers and their families. If you are concerned about your own gambling or the gambling of a family member Minnesota residents who qualify can have all or part of the cost of outpatient treatment paid.
Treatment for people with gambling problems has been successful for hundreds of Minnesotans. They are involved in ongoing programs of recovery as they rebuild their lives. For many it began with a call for help by the gambler or family member.
Achieve Your Goals to Quit Gambling Quickly Through Medical Hypnoanalysis
Whatever your goals are, Medical Hypnoanalysis can help you achieve them more easily and more quickly. Many people don't realize the awesome power that their subconscious mind has over their lives. The causes of so many "bad habits" are rooted in memories or perceptions that may be forgotten by the conscious mind but retained in the subconscious. Medical Hypnoanalysis helps to access the subconscious mind and affect the desired changes more easily and more quickly.
Unfortunately, many people refuse to consider Medical Hypnoanalysis because of their fears and misconceptions. They may believe the hypnotherapist will control them, they will tell their hidden secrets, or be made to do ridiculous things. These misconceptions might be the result of watching old vampire movies or cartoons on TV. These fears and misconceptions are completely unfounded. The individual is always in control, and in fact, is more aware of what is happening while in the hypnotic state.
Although Medical Hypnoanalysis is not a panacea, there are many areas where it has proven to be tremendously helpful; these include gambling addictions, memory enhancement, improving concentration, relieving insomnia, eliminating nail biting, reducing stuttering, sales and sports achievement. However the most common reasons for visiting a hypnotherapist are loosing weight, quitting smoking, and managing stress.
Many overweight people who fail with diet programs turn to hypnosis, just as problem gamblers are now seeking out Medical Hypnoanalysis as a safe and reliable alternative. For the dieter, dieting never eliminated the subconscious need for excess food. Just as the dieter has these problems it is true of most addictions including gambling. Both are just a form of torture they go through, until they eventually give into their subconscious desires.
So they continuously went up and down the weight and gambling scale, never letting go of the desire for either the self-defeating behavior of gambling or eating of excess food. The reasons for their desire were often anchored in a memory of some past emotional event that caused them to overeat or gamble etc. for security, self-preservation or protection. The memory of the event remained sealed in their subconscious, even if it was consciously forgotten.
The Medical Hypnoanalyst locates the event, which triggered this behavior, and changes the individual's perception of that event; thus eliminating it as a problem source. Once this is accomplished, the individual can eliminate the desire for gambling and or excess food and the person begins to operate in their own best rational interest and/or the weight comes off easily, and stays off.
This same technique is effective for quitting smoking. When an individual relives the horrible experience of taking that first puff, and remembers the events that caused them to continue smoking, the habit is easily eliminated.
Phobias such as the fears of water, flying, driving and claustrophobia are easily treated with the same technique, and can frequently be overcome in many cases in just two or three sessions. "What the mind causes, the mind can cure. Wellness begins in the mind!" Every problem has a cause, and when you eliminate the cause from the computer we call the subconscious mind, the problem disappears.
Treatment for Gambling Problems Minnesota State Funds Available
There are fewer activities that have seen more growth and change in the past 10 years than gambling. Winning lottery numbers are drawn on television. Odds on sporting events, results of horse races and advertising for casinos are carried daily in our newspapers. Outdoor billboards, T.V. and radio ads communicate the easy availability of gambling. In just a few short years gambling has become part of our daily lives.
For most people, gambling is a social or recreational activity that doesn't cause problems. But for others gambling creates serious personal, family, employment, legal or financial problems. For some it becomes uncontrollable and is no longer a choice. Compulsive gambling is destructive to families, friendships and careers. Some gamblers become suicidal. Most will need help to change their gambling behavior.
Financial problems are always an issue for the gambler. Many problem gamblers say they can't afford to get treatment. There is good news, the lack of money for treatment does not have to be a problem. State funds are now available for treatment services for compulsive gamblers and their families. Minnesota residents who qualify will be able to have all or part of the cost of outpatient treatment paid if they meet the clinical diagnosis for compulsive gambling and demonstrate financial need.
Now, with State funds available, gamblers and their families can get the help they need. Help is only a phone call away.
The Gambling Crisis in Minnesota
An Interview with Bill Ronan, LICSW Minnesota State Gambling Counselor
- How many people in Minnesota gamble?
The Minnesota State Lottery in conjunction with St. Cloud State University has conducted a number of surveys on Minnesota adult gambling behavior since 1993. The most recent study was completed in 1999 and it found that 91% of adults in Minnesota gambled at some time in their lives and that 78% gambled within the last year. The study also found that 55% of adults played the lottery during the past year, 38% bet at the casinos and 26% had played pull-tabs. The average Minnesotan wagered on five kinds of gambling activities in their lifetime. This study also showed that gambling occurs among all age groups, income levels and educational backgrounds. Clearly, gambling is a part of the lives of a vast majority of Minnesotans. - What exactly is problem gambling?
Problem Gambling is gambling behavior that causes problems in any major area of a person's life: personal, family, employment, legal, financial or a combination of all of them. It is a progressive addiction. Problem gamblers spend an increasing amount of time thinking about gambling or ways to get money to gamble. They bet more frequently. They chase their losses trying to win back money that has been lost. They continue to gamble in spite of mounting, serious negative consequences. In short, a persons gambling is out of control. - Are there a lot of people who are problem gamblers?
According to the National Research Council, it is estimated that approximately 0.9 percent of the adult population in the U.S. has a gambling problem. Although the percentage does not seem high, it amounts to thousands of Minnesotans. The truly serious nature of problem gambling merits programs of public education, prevention, intervention and treatment. - How many problem gamblers there are in Minnesota?
Although there has not been a study of gambling problems conducted in Minnesota since. 1994, we can estimate that approximately 1-3% of the adult population has a problem with their gambling. It is important to remember that not only does the problem gambling affect the gambler; it also affects those around them. It can have a devastating affect on family members, loved ones, friends and concerned others. - What types of gambling cause the most problem gambling?
Most researchers and mental health professionals believe that different types of gambling cannot be said to "cause" problem gambling. Problem gamblers are attracted to different forms of gambling for different reasons. Some are attracted to the sensory stimulation of video games of chance, while others to the perception of skill in cards or sports betting. Still others are drawn to the seemingly easy money of high-risk investments. Many, if not most, problem/compulsive gamblers indulge in more than one form of gambling. However, studies of compulsive gamblers have found that the most frequently cited games of preference are slot machines, card games, and sports betting. A Minnesota study of 944 gamblers in treatment found that 37 percent listed slot machines as their preferred game and 37 percent listed cards. Lottery games, dice games and games of skill were each cited by less than 1 percent of those in the study. (Stinchfield and Winters, 1996). - Who becomes a problem gambler?
Problem gamblers can be male, female, young, middle-aged, old, wealthy, poor, white, or people of color. Problem gambling crosses all social-economic levels, cultures, races, ages and gender. - How can you tell if someone has a gambling problem?
Some signs that may indicate there is a gambling problem are: - Increasing the frequency of gambling activity.
- Increasing the amount of money gambled.
- Spending an excessive amount of time gambling at the expense of job or family time.
- Being preoccupied with gambling or with obtaining money with which to gamble.
- Gambling creates a special and intense pleasure, an aroused sense of being in "action."
- Continuing to gamble despite negative consequences such as large losses, financial problems, absence from work, or family problems caused by gambling.
- Gambling as a means to cope with loneliness, anger, stress, depression, etc.
- "Chasing" - the urgent need to keep gambling-often with larger bets-or the taking of greater risks in order to make up for a loss or series of losses.
- Borrowing money to gamble, taking out secret loans, cashing in or borrowing on life insurance policies, or maximizing credit cards.
- Bragging about wins but not talking about losses.
- Frequent mood swings, higher when winning, lower when losing.
- Gambling for longer periods of time or more money than originally planned.
- Secretive behavior such as hiding lottery tickets and betting slips, having mail, bills, etc., sent to work, a P.O. Box, or other address.
- Can problem gamblers be helped? Does treatment work?
Yes, studies have shown that treatment is effective in a great many cases. A study commissioned by the Minnesota Department of Human Services to evaluate Minnesota's state-funded problem gambling treatment programs concluded in a 1997 report that people who participate in treatment reduce their problem gambling behavior and its negative consequences, and that the state's investment in funding problem gambling treatment is having positive results. Seventy percent of those who completed treatment had a greater reduction in their gambling behavior than those who were partially treated or received no treatment. Those who completed treatment were also less likely to have legal or personal problems than those untreated. - You work with problem gamblers in your clinical practice. What goes on in treatment for problem gambling?
Treatment for problem gambling consists of many different components including an in-depth assessment, group counseling, individual therapy, educational seminars, financial counseling, family therapy and aftercare group meetings. Attendance at a Gamblers Anonymous meeting may also be a requirement during treatment. The time a person spends in treatment varies, depending on the individual treatment plan for each client. I use an eclectic approach called Medical Hypnoanalysis, which is designed to get at the causes of the problem and resolve it. It is a short-term effective cognitive-behavioral psychology that treats problems at their root level. - What makes a practitioner of Medical Hypnoanalysis different from other therapists and other psychotherapists?
The practitioner of Medical Hypnoanalysis requires a training background in the basics of psychology, developmental psychology, psychopathology, and psychotherapy as well as in hypnosis.
Medical Hypnoanalysis is dynamic, short term, and directed. It is dynamic in that the treatment approach emphasizes causes rather than symptoms, explanations rather than descriptions, and unconscious forces rather than conscious forces as being the ultimate origin of the psychopathology.
It is short term in that in most of the situations thirty or less sessions are required for the completion of treatment procedure. It is directed therapy in that the psychotherapist, upon making a diagnosis, follows a medical model of psychotherapy aimed at alleviating the symptoms by means of resolving underlying unconscious causes.
Medical Hypnoanalysis first examines the presenting symptoms of the patient by means of a case history, observing verbal and non-verbal communication, while seeking unconscious clues to the ultimate causes of the symptoms in order to make a psychodynamic diagnosis. After the patient is introduced to hypnosis, the majority of the therapeutic sessions are conducted with the patient in the hypnotized state.
Such procedure allows identification and re-interpretation, adjustment or re-evaluation and desensitization of the specific causal events. This procedure is directed at correcting the symptoms and the unwanted behavior, which causes suffering and disease. For example, addictions, depressions, phobias, obsessions, psychosomatic disorders, self-destructive and anti-social behavior and other emotional and psychological problems can be relieved.
There are a variety of methods and procedures of applying the basic hypnoanalytical method. Individual varieties are based on the specific training and treatment circumstances of the clinician. - What should a person do if they are worried about their own gambling or someone else's?
Seek help immediately. Problem gambling is a progressive disorder or addiction. Many gamblers are not able to stop gambling without professional help. For those that do seek help, many are able to stop or reduce their gambling.