Wellness Resource Center offers resources for gambling addicts
The Wellness Resource Center has chosen to focus on problem gambling prevention this month in light of high rates of gambling among students during March Madness season.
Joan Masters, director of Partners in Prevention at the Wellness Resource Center, said under Missouri law, many activities students engage in such as filling out a bracket for March Madness in a pool among friends where the winner wins a cash prize is considered gambling and therefore illegal.
However, the goal of the program is not to attempt to stop students from having fun during March Madness, Masters said.
“Our goal at the Wellness Resource Center is to prevent people from engaging in problem gambling,” Masters said. “Our goal is to help students make healthy decisions and have tools to continue to make those decisions after graduation. So if someone is using credit cards and student loans to fund their gambling, that’s going to impact their life after graduation.”
Although the peer advisors at the Wellness Resource Center are not allowed to counsel those addicted to gambling, they have been trained to conduct outreach seminars on problem-gambling prevention. These presentations took place across campus during Gambling Awareness week.
“It’s not about activities, it’s about being here when students need us,” Masters said. “We have brochures and a website as well as the state hotline that we can refer students to.”
Masters said the addictive nature of gambling has been closely related to chemical process the brain undergoes in a methamphetamines addict.
“What’s dangerous about a gambling addiction is that unlike an alcoholic or a smoker, you can’t tell the difference between a problem gambler and a non-problem gambler from the outside,” Masters said. “Once you start gambling, you’re very likely to become addicted.”
4:37 p.m., April 4, 2011
Marilyn Lancelot said:
The person sitting next to you in church, the man in line at the grocery store, or one of your co-workers; any one of these could be involved with a gambling problem. Imagine your grandmother committing a crime to support her gambling addiction. I am a recovering alcoholic, gambler, and have recovered from other addictive behaviors. I published a book, Gripped by Gambling, where the readers can follow the destructive path of the compulsive gambler, a prison sentence, and then on to the recovery road. I recently published a second book, Switching Addictions, describing additional issues that confront the recovering addict. These are two books you might consider adding to your library. I also publish a free online newsletter, Women Helping Women, which has been on-line for more than ten years and is read by hundreds of women (and men) from around the world. (www.femalegamblers.info). I was interviewed and appeared on the 60 Minutes show in January 2011, which was moderated by Leslie Stahl. Sincerely, Marilyn Lancelot