COUNCIL REACHES OUT TO VETERANS

  



Council Intervention and Support Director, Victor Ortiz pictured with Jessica Lemenager, Case Manager, SSVF at Veterans, Inc. in Worcester  

by Margot Cahoon, Communications Director

 

The Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling selected to highlight veterans as one population especially at-risk for developing a problem with gambling during the 10^th annual “National Problem Gambling Awareness Week” March 4-10, 2012. The purpose of the grass roots campaign is to inform the public about the disorder, as well as resources available for help.

According to a study presented at the American Psychiatric Association’s 59^th Institute on Psychiatric Services, “Pathological gambling is more prevalent among military veterans than in the US general population and may be associated with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).”

A New York Times article stated, “The armed forces are heavily populated by people who may be especially vulnerable to gambling addiction: athletic, risk-taking young people who are experiencing severe stress and anxiety.” In fact, about 2.2 percent of military personnel have indicators of probable pathological gambling, compared with about .77 to 1.6 percent in the general population.

During Problem Gambling Awareness Weeks staff members and volunteers from the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling reached out to veterans across the state to offer information and answer questions about the disorder at facilities including: Suffolk Downs, East Boston; Veteran’s Transitional House, New Bedford; Veterans Inc, Worcester; VA Boston Healthcare System, Jamaica Plain; VA New England Healthcare System, Bedford; and Vietnam Vets Association, Hyannis. 

Council Administrative Manager, Karen Sicher who visited the Veteran’s Transitional House in New Bedford along with Council Board of Directors Treasurer, Ed Talbot stated, “The visit went well.  Many of the residents shared their experiences with drugs and alcohol and commented that gambling addiction was very similar.” 

Marlene Warner, Executive Director of the Council, who visited VA New England Healthcare System in Bedford agreed. She said, “The outpatient program that treats gambling clients had two very informative tables set up right next to mine in honor of Problem Gambling Awareness Week.  They had research posters, and lots of handouts. The part that I found most interesting was how many clients wanted to tell me about their gambling disorders.  So many of them said they are dually diagnosed (or with multiple diagnoses) and found gambling by far the hardest thing to stop doing.”

Council staff members and volunteers all felt positive about their visits and the opportunity to reach out to veterans. In terms of future programming, the Council plans to build partnerships with more of the military service organizations in the Commonwealth and provide information, training and technical assistance as needed. 

Council Prevention Specialist, Amanda Poggenburg pictured with long-time

Suffolk Downs Employee, Sonny

Council Executive Director, Marlene Warner, pictured at the VA New

England Healthcare System in Bedford

Council Fiscal Director Tom Luongo and Dwayne Turmell from the

Veteran's Outreach Center in Hyannis



What’s so Maddening about March Madness?

by Jim Wuelfing, Director of Prevention and Recovery, Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling

By the time you read this, the Sweet Sixteen will be begin playing one another to winnow down to the Elite Eight, then down to the Final Four and finally, in early April, to the National Championship.  For those of you who may not know what I am talking about, let me explain…

It all started in 1939 when the National Association of Basketball Coaches created a single elimination tournament to decide the national champion of college basketball teams. Although there have been some changes along the way, presently a field of 68 teams, 31 receiving an automatic bid because they won their conference championship and 37 are selected to receive an at-large bid by a selection committee, are divided into four regions. One game in each region gets the field down to 64 and these comprise the ubiquitous bracket that millions of Americans fill out trying to predict the eventual winner.

The tournament has grown in popularity over the years.  The NCAA credits Bob Walsh of the Seattle Organizing Committee of starting the March Madness celebration in 1984.  The tournament is also referred to as the “Big Dance.” Earlier on, it competed with the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) for prestige.  In fact for the first 20 or more years of the NCAA tournament, some teams would turn down an invitation preferring to play in the NIT.  This is not true anymore as the NCAA tournament is clearly the most sought after bid as it crowns the national champion.  The popularity of the tournament has also been fueled by television exposure and the amount of betting that occurs each year. A few games of the tournament were first televised in 1969. This year, all of the games are televised and for under four bucks you can buy an app for your smart phone that will stream all of the games to you.

There are many ways you can bet on the March Madness. The first is the simple bracket pool, which has hundreds of variations as to how many points you get for picking a correct winner and possibly additional points if you pick an upset.  You can also bet on individual games or you can simply bet on the eventual winner.  While there are other ways to bet on the games, these are the most common.

How much is bet on March Madness?  The estimates I researched vary from 6-12 billion in the United States each year.  How does that compare with other sports events?  CNBC.com reports that annually 80-100 billion is wagered on NFL football, 60-70 billion on college football, 50 billion on college basketball, 35-40 billion on the NBA, 30-40 billion on MLB, 6-10 billion on the Super Bowl, 6-12 billion on March Madness, and 1-3 billion on hockey, golf, NASCAR and other sports.  That comes to a whopping $296,000,000,000!

Is it legal?  Probably not. It is estimated that less than 3% of that total is wagered legally. Should one participate?  I am not here to advocate breaking the law or to preach to anyone that does decide to gamble. I just want to let people know that there are ways to reduce the risks associated with gambling. Risk reduction considerations would be to bet only with discretionary income, not to bet with borrowed money, have a predetermined amount set for losses and not to exceed that limit and to make sure that one enjoys the events without negative consequence to you and your families and friends.  Personally, I have not bet any money on the games, but I have filled out a bracket. Go UNC!