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COMMON CENTS
Senior Problem Gambling: Trends,Prevention, and Treatment

Produced and Distributed By:
CT DMHAS Compulsive Gambling Treatment Program
CT Council on Problem Gambling

April 2000, Volume I, Issue 2

Welcome to COMMON CENTS, a monthly newsletter. Our mission is to address the issue of senior problem gambling in Connecticut. We hope to open a dialogue with other similarly concerned Nutmeggers by eliciting and responding to your questions and comments in the areas of identification, prevention, and treatment of senior problem gambling.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Perspectives of Recovering Senior Problem Gamblers

The first few trips to the casino created a sense of daring and excitement. The accumulating losses over the ensuing eighteen months resulted in near tragedy.

- Max, recovering Connecticut senior compulsive gambler

A long-term member of the center was speaking with me and said the reason why she goes (to gamble) is that she has been alone for so many years. The only time her children come around is to borrow money. She knows the will never pay her back. She admits that she likes the excitement of a win because, in her own words, " I have nothing else in my life and it adds a little fun in my day. Besides, why should I leave it to them, it's my money."

- Beth Morrissette, Connecticut senior center director

It could be life threatening or you could lose your home. It is compulsive and you are blinded from seeing it when it is happening. It is exhausting. All this money, I lost this money I have to live on. I blew it.

- Annie, recovering Connecticut senior compulsive gambler

PERSPECTIVES OF PROFESSIONALS IN THE FIELD

Seniors participate in an activity (gambling) promoted as fun and entertainment without awareness of the serious downside facing some of them.

- Ron Karpin, Senior Outreach Coordinator, Council on Compulsive Gambling or New Jersey

There is little doubt that a portion of the senior population that gambles is especially vulnerable to developing an addiction to gambling due to one or more social and physical factors. These include isolation, extended bereavement, loneliness, deteriorating mental capacity and clouded judgment due to the side effects of a variety of medications for chronic diseases. However, the extent of these problems within the larger senior population remains a vital research question.

- Marvin Steinberg, Executive Director, Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling

DID YOU KNOW
A senior who amasses a gambling debt risks more financially than younger addicts because they often live on a fixed income and have a hard time recouping what they have lost, whether it's their savings, Social Security checks, insurance money, or cash for food and medications.

- Jeanne Sahadi, Snake-eyes Sap Seniors, CNN, 3/17/00

ABOUT THE SPONSORS
The Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling (CCPG) is a private, non-profit organization with a mission to reduce the prevalence and impact of problem and compulsive gambling on individuals, families, and society. The CCPG operates a 24-hour, toll-free, confidential problem gambling Helpline, a service that offers information and referrals to problem gamblers and those affected by them.

HELPLINE: 1-800-346-6238

The Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addictions Services Compulsive Gambling Treatment Program (CGTP) provides professional treatment for compulsive gamblers and their families at nine locations throughout the State of Connecticut.

ADVISORY PANEL
Jane Barry, Attorney at Law
Thomas Hardin, Senior Center Director
Annette P., Recovering Compulsive Gambler
Merle S., Recovering Compulsive Gambler

Please cite COMMON CENTS as the source of this quote.

There is a wisdom in the body that is older and more reliable than clocks and calendars. ~John H. Johnson