UNDERSTANDING PATHOLOGICAL GAMBLING
"GAMBLING ADDICTS"
2.1.11


Someone must meet five of 10 criteria to be diagnosed as pathological:
American Psychiatric Association

- Gambled longer than planned
- Gambled until last dollar was gone
- Lost sleep because of thoughts of gambling
- Used income or savings to gamble, leaving bills unpaid
- Made repeated, unsuccessful attempts to stop gambling
- Broke law or considered breaking law to finance gambling
- Borrowed money to finance gambling
- Felt depressed or suicidal because of gambling losses
- Been remorseful after gambling
- Gambled to get money to meet financial obligations


- 60% of those addicted to gambling will commit crimes 1.
- 20% of gamblling addicts commit or attempt suicide 2.
- 63% of gambling addicts are alcoholics 1.
- 20% of addicted gamblers have filed for bankruptcy 3.
- 50% will abuse spouses and children 4.
.- 20% of the homeless are gambling addicts 5.
- 50% of gambling addicts will divorce 6.
- The average (gambling) debt is between $63,000 and $110,000 7.
1. California Council on Problem Gambling 2. National Council on Problem Gambling 3. Prof. John Warren Kindt Bankruptcy Developments Journal, volume 19, No.1 4. National Research Council ,The Guardian 5. Atlantic City Rescue Mission and Association of Gospel Rescue Missions in Kansas 6. National Opinion Research Center survey 7. CT Department of Mental Health

"Pathological gambling is often characterized as an addiction-like disorder, with the affected person being addicted to the excitement felt while being 'in action' (gambling)."'
American Psychiatric Association

Resolution No. 430 WARNING: GAMBLING CAN BECOME COMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR HOUSE ACTION; ADOPTED AS FOLLOWS:
RESOLVED, That the American Medical Association encourage physicians to advise their patients of the compulsive behavior potential of gambling;


"Pathological gambling is one of the fastest growing mental health problems in the western world."
New England Journal of Medicine


"Pathological gambling is really a huge public health problem"
Dr. Susan McElroy, a psychiatry professor at the University of Cincinnati who studies and counsels compulsive gamblers. Canada Safety Council


"It is a life-threatening disease"
William Gorman, commissioner of New York's Office of Alcoholism & Substance Abuse Services


The American Psychological Association estimates that 2% to 4% of Americans have an active gambling problem.
Benefitnews.com, NY, 1/29/07, Problem gambling prevalent in the workplace

The National Research Council has estimated the median number of problem gamblers at about 1.5% of the population. Welte's estimate is nearly 5%.
University of Buffalo researcher John Welte International Symposium on Problem Gambling and Co-Occurring Disorders meeting www.ctnow.com/news/local/hc- Researchers See Growth In Gambling Problems, October 19, 2004

"The number of problem gamblers doubles when there's a casino within 50 miles"
National Gambling Impact Study Commission