As one of the nation\u2019s foremost experts on addictive gambling, Larry Ashley of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas is acutely aware of the vulnerability of combat vets to pathological gambling. So the problems faced by Gordie Greco (see my previous blog, \u201cVets Gambling, Part II) were no surprise.<\/p>\n
\u201cGambling kills time and gives the vet an adrenaline rush,\u201d says Ashley, director of the Problem Gambling Treatment Program at UNLV. \u201cPlus, when they gamble, they get alcohol for free.\u201d<\/p>\n
Problems associated with vets gambling have become so severe that Keith S. Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, recently asked VA Secretary Eric Shinsecki to study the severity of this problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is highly co-occurring with other serious conditions and complicates the treatment of these disorders,\u201d Whyte wrote. \u201cIn addition, gambling addiction has disastrous consequences for the veteran and his or her family.\u201d He noted that 1 percent to 3 percent of the American public experience gambling problems in any given year, but studies of veterans utilizing VA treatment services found 10 percent were pathological or problems gamblers.<\/p>\n
Video gambling machines are the most insidious forms there are, agrees Ashley. \u201cThey have a soothing, calming influence,\u201d he told me recently. \u201cVets sit there, hypnotized by the gaming machines and let time fly by.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oddly, the machines have contradictory effects on vets gambling. \u201cThese young studs come back from combat all wired up,\u201d Ashley says. \u201cThis gives them an escape from anxiety, but it also gives them an escape from boredom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many vets picked up their gambling problems while in the service.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Army is making hundreds of millions of dollars in gambling revenues in their service clubs around the world, and they don\u2019t provide treatment for the problem gamblers they helped create,\u201d Ashley charged at a recent conference, \u201cFrom Their Point of View,\u201d at UNLV.<\/p>\n
Gambling is banned from service clubs in the United States, but slot machines and video poker machines that provide a payout are permitted overseas, with at least 93 percent of machine play being returned to patrons as winnings.<\/p>\n
Net gaming revenue of approximately $85 million was reported in fiscal 2012, according to DoD spokesperson Leslie Hull-Ryde. That\u2019s down from about $184 million in 2007, according to Stars & Stripes. \u201cGaming machines provide a controlled alternative to unmonitored host-nation gambling venues and offer a higher payment percentage, making it more entertainment-oriented than that found at typical casinos\u201d Hull-Ryde says.\u00a0 \u201cIn addition, controls established over the program stress its recreational nature and ensure revenue obtained from the program goes to benefit military community members.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the anger, guilt and shame that most vets bring home from the battlefield provide a fertile field in which to grow gambling problems. \u201cGambling can be a way of inflicting pain on others, but it can also be a way of inflicting harm on yourself,\u201d says Ashley. \u201cAnd one of the big problems with pathological gambling is that there is no natural reason to stop it. If you\u2019re on alcohol or drugs, sooner or later you\u2019re going to pass out or die. But if you\u2019re gambling, there\u2019s nothing to make you stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Treatment needs to incorporate the same soothing effects of the video gaming machines with the high adrenaline of betting, but it needs to do it in a more benign fashion. Extreme sports like whitewater rafting or mountain climbing could fill those needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cGambling is a permanent change in the brain so treatment has to be a re-programming of the brain,\u201d says Ashley. \u201cThe adrenaline rush in itself isn\u2019t bad \u2013 it\u2019s what you have to do to get it. So we need individual treatment plans to substitute for that gambling rush. I\u2019ve known women who\u2019ve taken up prostitution to get support for their habit and men who turn to robbing banks. That sounds just like a drug addiction to me. Gambling re-wires your brain, and we have to find ways to re-program it.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As one of the nation\u2019s foremost experts on addictive gambling, Larry Ashley of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas is acutely aware of the vulnerability of combat vets to pathological gambling. So the problems faced by Gordie Greco (see my previous blog, \u201cVets Gambling, Part II) were no surprise. \u201cGambling kills time and gives the vet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericnewhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericnewhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericnewhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericnewhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericnewhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ericnewhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericnewhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericnewhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericnewhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}