Few resources to help local compulsive gamblersA long line of people waits in the parking lot of the new Fire Rock Navajo Casino east of Gallup, NM Wednesday afternoon Novermber 19. Some people waited as much as six hours to attend the casino's opening. — © 2008 Gallup Independent / Cable Hoover

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

GALLUP — With the recent opening of the Fire Rock Casino, the local community will see an increase in the number of compulsive gamblers, according to Internet Web sites devoted to the subject of compulsive gambling.

Unfortunately, as documented by many news reports over the last decade, the local community’s mental health resources are already stretched thin. During a recent public forum on the new casino, addictions counselor Steven Peretti said Gallup only has one gambling support group at this time, and its primary focus is on bingo games not casino gambling.

As a result, until Gallup and the Navajo Nation develop more treatment options for compulsive gamblers and their families, information and assistance may be coming from Internet Web sites, toll-free help lines, and out-of-town support groups.

From medical Web sites like the one sponsored by the Mayo Clinic, to sites sponsored by self-help organizations like Gamblers Anonymous, to sites sponsored by state agencies, there’s a wealth of educational information on the Internet about the subject of compulsive gambling.

According to an online article published by “Psychology Today”: “A compulsive, or pathological, gambler is someone who is unable to resist his or her impulses to gamble ... The urge to gamble becomes so great that tension can only be relieved by more gambling.”

Both the “Psychology Today” article and the Mayo Clinic Web site include information on symptoms, complications, causes, treatment, and prevention of compulsive gambling. Some points raised in the online information include:

• Compulsive gambling is usually the result of progressive behavior, from occasional to habitual gambling
  
  
• Compulsive gambling is a chronic disorder that tends to get worse without treatment
  
  
• Compulsive gambling is generally indicated by the demonstration of five or more clinically defined symptoms
  
  
• Compulsive gamblers often have problems with alcohol and other substance abuse, as well as depression and anxiety
  
  
• Compulsive gamblers often contemplate suicide, and sometimes attempt it
  
  
• Compulsive gamblers tend to have financial, social, and legal problems that often lead to bankruptcy, divorce, job loss, and criminal charges
  
  
• Treatment options include individual and group psychotherapy, self-help support groups, and medications used in combination with psychotherapy
  Gamblers Anonymous is the most well-known self-help group that offers support for problem and compulsive gamblers.

Unfortunately, the Gamblers Anonymous Web site does not list any meetings in Gallup or on the Navajo Nation. Neither are there any local Gam-Anon meetings listed for family members of compulsive gamblers. According to both groups’ Web sites, the closest Gamblers Anonymous meetings in New Mexico are in Albuquerque and Farmington, and the closest Arizona meeting is in Winslow. The closest Gam-Anon meetings are in Albuquerque.

Several toll-free help lines in New Mexico and Arizona do offer referral assistance to compulsive gamblers and their family members: the New Mexico Council on Problem Gambling, the Arizona Office of Problem Gambling, and the Arizona Council on Compulsive Gambling. But like the self-help support groups, these agencies and the majority of their referral contacts are located in the states’ urban areas — at least a tank of gasoline away from Gallup and the Navajo Nation.

Information:
Psychology Today: www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/gambling.html
New Mexico Helpline: 1-800-gambler (1-800-572-1142)
Arizona Council on Compulsive Gambling Helpline: 1-800-777-7207
Arizona Office of Problem Gambling Helpline: 1-800-639-8783
Gamblers Anonymous: www.gamblersanonymous.org
Gam-Anon: www.gam-anon.org