CCMH offers therapy for gambling addiction

"CCMH offers therapy for gambling addiction"

By April Bamburg | The Chronicle
Wednesday, March 28, 2007


Gambling throughout the state has increased 400 percent since the state made gambling legal in 1985, according to state statistics. while Gambling Awareness Prevention Week (sic) has passed, Columbia Community Mental Health offers treatment for gambling addiction year-round, to citizens who feel they have a gambling problem, and to families of problem gamblers, While problem gambling affects a relatively low number, statewide just three percent, for that three percent, it can be extremely damaging.

According to Carol Chism, Gambling Prevention Coordinator for Clatsop and Columbia Counties, the average person with a gambling problem is Caucasian, middle-aged, and female. "More women [choose] video poker as their favorite than men do," Chism said.

Meet Lacey Ghannon, a local woman who has overcome her gambling addiction with the help of the CCMH program.

She was 21 when she started gambling, "playing for fun in the casinos," Ghannom said. Her gambling escalated during a troubled time at home, she said, and she started gambling more and more.

"I took out a loan on my car, three payday loans, I was borrowing money from my friends to gamble," she said.
Realizing she had a problem, Ghannom called the state's problem gambling hot line and began treatment, individual counseling, about eight months ago.

Since beginning treatment eight months ago, Ghannom said that she has quit gambling. "I told everyone I knew that I was not gambling." Telling friends and family that she had quit gambling helped Ghannom to stay away from what tempted her.

After nearly eight months of treatment, Ghannom has not gambled and will graduate in June with the ability to work as a medical assistant.

Many people don't think of gambling as an addiction, Chism said. According to statistics from the Oregon Lottery, between July 2004 and June 2005, Columbia County residents spent $430 on the Lottery, the fourth highest figure in the state. The statistics provided by the state do not include home poker games and kids buying scratch-its, (which) instead rely on self-reporting and surveys.

When a person is referred to CCMH for gambling addiction treatment, things move quickly. "We get referrals from the state hot line and set an appointment, usually within 48 hours," Chism said.

The first step in treatment is an assessment of what the client needs, and next comes regular appointments, which come at least once a week when people are first referred, Chism said. "Seventy-five percent [of those treated] recover from gambling addiction," Chism said. "Video [gambling] seems to be the hook for many adults and kids."

Statewide, gambling affects approximately three percent of the population. "What we're doing is identifying high risk populations," Chism said. "When people don't have a lot of activities to distract themselves, they gamble more. There are more gambling establishments in Columbia County [proportionally] than there are in larger counties."

Most problem gamblers start gambling compulsively after a big win, Chism said. "They pay a little and get a lot. The person who makes a big win can get hooked. It sneaks up on them, and they find they're spending more than they intended."

They spend their whole paycheck and then the desperation and the lies start. Problem gamblers start borrowing from their friends, and take out payday loans.

One client told Chism, "I've done drugs before. If I spent as much on drugs as I've lost gambling, I'd be dead. I would have overdosed."

Columbia Community Mental Health offers a variety of services to treat gambling addiction, from individual, group, or family counseling, to the offer of a respite bed for someone who needs a place to stay to get away from temptation. Chism said that these services are offered free of charge to clients in need."

For more information or to get help with problem gambling, call the state's help line, 1-877-2-STOP-NOW.