Dr. Rachel Volberg: How Research Can Help to Change the Game in Massachusetts

by Dr. Rachel Volberg, Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst

As the 2014 Massachusetts Conference on Gambling Problems – Celebrating 30 Years: The Game has Changed approaches, we are thrilled to be able to dedicate our blog to give you weekly highlights leading up to April 10 & 11. Highlights will include information about speakers, as well as an occasional sneak peak, written by the speakers themselves, about their upcoming presentations.

This week, we are happy to introduce Dr. Rachel Volberg, Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Dr. Volberg has been involved in epidemiological research on gambling and problem gambling since 1985 and has directed or consulted on numerous gambling studies throughout the world.  In 1988, Dr. Volberg was the first investigator to receive funding from the (U.S.) National Institutes of Health to study the prevalence of problem gambling in the general population.  Dr. Volberg is currently a Co-Principal Investigator on the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s Social and Economic Impacts of Gambling in Massachusetts (SEIGMA) study.  In addition to her work in Massachusetts, Dr. Volberg is working on projects in Canada to assess the impact of the introduction of online gambling and to identify best practices in population assessments of problem gambling.  She is also a member of research teams in Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden conducting large-scale longitudinal cohort studies to identify predictors of transitions into and out of gambling and problem gambling.

Dr. Volberg has published extensively, presented at national and international conferences and testified before legislative committees at state, provincial and national levels.  She has served as an advisor to governments and private sector organizations on issues relating to gambling legalization, the epidemiology of problem and pathological gambling and public policy approaches to developing and refining services for problem gamblers and their families.  Dr. Volberg sits on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Gambling Studies and is a Regional Associate Editor for International Gambling Studies.  She is a longtime member of the American Sociological Association and the (U.S.) National Council on Problem Gambling. 

Dr. Volberg takes time to share some insight into her presentation with us:

Anyone who has recently spent time in Massachusetts is likely aware that casinos are coming to the Commonwealth. This change has come with no small amount of controversy. Indeed, the Expanded Gaming Act of 2011, which legalized gambling in the state, has vocal supporters and opponents from across the state and beyond. However, what you may have missed in all of the media attention is the first of its kind research agenda mandated by the legislation.

You see, the Expanded Gaming Act requires the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) to “develop an annual research agenda in order to understand the social and economic effects of expanding gaming in the commonwealth” and “annually make scientifically-based recommendations which reflect the results of this research” to the Massachusetts legislature. To that end, the Social and Economic Impacts of Gambling in Massachusetts (SEIGMA) project, which I lead as a Principal Investigator, was launched in April 2013. (Read more about the SEIGMA research agenda.)

As a researcher, I greatly respect this groundbreaking legislation and the precedent it sets for making rational, evidence-based policy decisions. Over the past year, my team and I have been hard at work fulfilling its various mandates. We are attempting to do what no jurisdiction in the United States has done before, which is to conduct a baseline population assessment before new gaming venues are introduced to the state. Over time, the findings from this unprecedented work will be extremely valuable to the Commonwealth. In addition to informing how monies from the Public Health Trust Fund and Community Mitigation Fund are expended, the findings will be used to improve problem gambling services and advance the overall quality, effectiveness, and efficacy of prevention and treatment of gambling disorders. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the social and economic impacts of casino gambling in this state will provide all Massachusetts stakeholders with a neutral database for strategic analysis and decision-making.

At this year’s Massachusetts Conference on Gambling Problems, you will have a chance to learn about the SEIGMA study design and our progress to date. I sincerely hope you will join me at the session titled Innovative Research Happening in Massachusetts, which will take place on Thursday, April 10^th at 1:00p.m. There, you can learn more about how researchers truly are changing the game in the Commonwealth.

For more information contact Alicia Barron, Intervention and Treatment Support Manager.

If you are interested in attending our informative 2-day conference, please check out: 2014 Massachusetts Conference on Gambling Problems – Celebrating 30 Years: The Game has Changed.

 

THE COUNCIL WELCOMES MEAGHAN LYVER

By Meaghan Lyver, Communications Intern, Massachussetts Council on Compulsive Gambling














Hi! My name is Meaghan Lyver and I am the Council’s newest Communications Intern. I am currently a senior at Salem State University, where I am set to graduate in May 2014, with a B.A. in Communications and a concentration in Public Relations. I will also graduate with a Business Administration Minor.

I am thrilled to be joining this team and I can’t wait to work with the dedicated staff. I found the posting for this internship online, and after reading the blog posts from the former interns, I decided to apply for this opening. The last intern had nothing but wonderful things to say about the Council, so I knew it would be a great place to intern. So far, it has been.

I was born and raised in Charlton, Mass. After living at school for a few years, I decided to move back home for my senior year to save money and to focus on my last year of schooling. Aside from classes and my internship at the Council, I also work as a waitress at the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store in Sturbridge, Mass. I began waitressing part-time at Cracker Barrel in 2010, and four years later, I still work there part time on the weekends, and full-time during the summer. I love interacting with the customers.

I grew up playing hockey and basketball, and I am an avid New England sports fan. I do my best to never miss a Bruins or Patriots game. In my free time I love to shop, my weakness is a new handbag. You can never have too many! I also love the beach, especially in Ocean Park, Maine. It is one of the most relaxing places to be. I love to travel and I take advantage of it whenever I can. So far I have been lucky enough to travel to China, Hong-Kong, France, Italy, Ireland, Puerto Rico, and Canada. I have also traveled all over the U.S. I plan to travel as much of the world as I possibly can over the next few years.

Lastly, I would just like to thank the Council for welcoming me on board and giving me the chance to be their intern. I look forward to the next few months of working here.

The Wolf of Wall Street

By Sasha C. Russell, Communications Speacialist, Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling

 

A couple weeks ago, my husband and I decided to go see The Wolf of Wall Street. My interest was sparked by the trailer and the reviews from family, friends and critics describing the movie as a “must see.” Please know that, although this is not a review of the movie, there may be some spoilers throughout.

Maybe it wouldn’t have had the same effect on someone who didn’t work in the problem gambling field, but this movie left me thinking about people experiencing problems with gambling, and their families. It also made me think of co-morbid addictions, and wondering more about day trading. Day trading is a type of stock exchange that consists of “the buying and selling of securities on the same day, often online, on the basis of small, short-term price fluctuations.”

You may wonder how day trading, often known as an investment, is gambling. According to Gamblers Anonymous, gambling is any betting or wagering on an event where the outcome is unknown or uncertain, where the stakes are high enough to cause significant concern or illicit an emotional response. Anytime you invest in the stock market, you are taking a chance. I imagine that day trading can be appealing to people at risk for problem gambling because results happen day-to-day, rather than long-term like in your 401k, or other similar investment plans.

Back to the movie. What I found most frustrating about the movie was that it’s a true story. It’s essentially a story about a man, named Jordan Belfort, who starts a day trading company, and takes advantage of people (starts with the poor and moves up to the rich), all the while making tons of money, and knowing full-well that he is potentially ruining the lives of others while making his own better.

He recognized that it was easy to teach people to “sell” and take advantage of others. In his book, with the same title as the movie, Belfort explains,

“And what secret formula had Stratton discovered that allowed all these obscenely young kids to make such obscene amounts of money? For the most part, it was based on two simple truths: first, that a majority of the richest one percent of Americans are closet degenerate gamblers, who can’t withstand the temptation to keep rolling the dice again and again, even if they know the dice are loaded against them; and, second, that contrary to previous assumptions, young men and women who possess the collective social graces of a herd of sex-crazed water buffalo and have an intelligence quotient in the range of Forrest Gump on three hits of acid, can be taught to sound like Wall Street wizards, as long as you write every last word down for them and then keep drilling it into their heads again and again—every day, twice a day—for a year straight.”

In the movie, Leonardo DiCaprio makes a similar statement while portraying Belfort, as well as referring to himself as a “degenerate gambler,” drug addict, and sex addict – essentially summing it up to being just another guy on Wall Street. However, when I look at those traits, I don’t see high-class business men, instead I see the faces of everyday people who are struggling with co-morbid addictions.

One unique thing that I have observed that separates a gambling disorder from any other disorder is the element of hope that’s attached to gambling. In the end, much of gambling is about the action – but hope is usually where it all starts. The hope that you’re going to make enough to pay off all your debt, the hope that you will be able to live comfortably, the hope that this will solve all your problems, the hope that you may never have to work again – hope is there, but hope can be easily taken advantage of.

Watching Belfort play off the element of hope saddened me. However, despite Belfort taking advantage of people who were either struggling with some level of gambling problems, or at risk of developing a problem, he obviously had his own struggles.

Recently I came across an interesting article by Peter Kenter of the Financial Post, “Addicted to Trading: When Online Investors Become Gamblers.” In the article, Michelle Nogueira, Addictions and Problem Gambling Counsellor, Homewood Community Addiction Services, explains, “Online trading fits the profile of problem gambling when it compromises, disrupts, or damages important areas of peoples’ lives. If there’s a preoccupation with online trading, a loss of control and continuation of the behavior in the face of negative consequences, then it’s crossed the line into problem gambling.”

She also noted that traders with a gambling problem present a unique challenge to treatment. “In their minds, gambling is bad, but they see their activity as investing —something positive. Heavy trading losses are seen as a part of their education.”

Other similarities between experiencing problems with gambling and experiencing problems with trading, are the loss of time and the need for excitement and action. The loss of time – whether missing school, work, or other activities – is a huge factor for people who are experiencing both of these problems. As for excitement and action, Bill L., a participant in the Council’s Wisdom Exchange Program for people affected by problem gambling, explains that even though he wanted to win, it didn’t always matter. He said, “I just wanted the action.” The same is true for people experiencing problems with trading.

In Kenter’s article, Martin Jeffery, Financial Planner, Investia Financial Services, recalled a client who quit his job to become a day trader. Jeffrey said, “I don’t recommend individual stocks to clients, but when I looked at some of his transactions I noticed that he often bought and sold the same stock on the same day, every time it fluctuated by 10 cents. I asked him why he didn’t just hold that stock and save himself the transaction fees. He told me that holding the stock wasn’t exciting enough for him.”

Unfortunately, there are not many direct resources for people who feel they are having problems with trading. This is partially due to the paradox that Noguira discusses, when talking about “investing” one doesn’t necessarily feel as though they are “gambling,” and therefore, may not know the proper channels to seek help, should their trading become a problem.

The Council recognizes online trading as a form of gambling, and should that activity become a problem for you, your loved one, or a client of yours, please do not hesitate to call our 24/7 helpline: 800.426.1234. We understand the problem. We can help.   

Book Review: Gambling Addiction: The Problem, the Pain, and the Path to Recovery

By Scott Melissa, Human Resources Director, the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling

 

 

In an effort for Council staff members to continue educating ourselves on problem gambling, each member chose a book on the topic to read and review. This week’s review comes from Council Human Resources Director, Scott Melissa.

Scott chose the book: Gambling Addiction: The Problem, the Pain, and the Path to Recovery.

Gambling Addiction is a help guide for people with experiencing problems with gambling. The author is a gambler in recovery who has relied heavily on religion / spirituality to help him. His story is intertwined throughout the book. The first anecdote from his life discusses his uncontrollable gambling, and how his wife was hospitalized for taking pills because she couldn’t watch him destroy their lives any longer (p. 13). While at the hospital, he believed he was having a heart attack and was treated, but his wife didn’t believe him. She thought he was trying to escape responsibility for his actions, and attempting to get her to stop being angry with him. This incident was his jump-start to the path of recovery.

The book goes into the five stages of gambling (winning, losing, chasing, bailout, and desperation), how to know if you’re a problem gambler, why people gamble, the effects gambling has on someone who has a problem, and how it affects not only the gambler but their families as well.

The author provides a suggested program for recovery, that the author himself found helpful (pp. 87-109). The program begins with being truthful about money: where it comes from, where it goes, etc. The second step is a belief that God wants him / her to stop gambling. Steps three to five rely heavily on the belief in God and letting that belief help you find your way home. It also provides three case studies of people who used this program to stop gambling (pp. 131-166).

John Eades has a unique perspective as a trained psychologist and addiction specialist who lost his own position and everything else to his own addiction. The story of his recovery will not only enrich the lives of all who read it, but could well lead to more recoveries.

Citation:

Eades, John M. Gambling Addiction: The Problem, the Pain, and the Path to Recovery. Ann Arbor, MI: Servant Publications, 2003.

2013 Outreach Wrap-Up

By Amanda Poggenburg, Program Specialist, The Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling

The Council works to prevent problem gambling. Some of the ways that we do this include raising awareness of the disorder, and building the capacity of the existing prevention infrastructure, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations and educational institutions, so that the groups are able to join the prevention effort.

The Council is working with preventionists and educators across the Commonwealth to help them to understand problem gambling, and to support their efforts to prevent problem gambling, by providing training, resources and technical assistance.

Many of the Council Prevention Department’s efforts focus on youth, college students, older adults, the corrections population, and cultural and linguistic under-served populations, including the Latino/Latina population, the Asian-American population and the African-American population.

2013 was a great year for the Council’s prevention outreach efforts. With attendance at events like the Tet Festival (Vietnamese Lunar New Year Festival), Oak Street Fair, and Quincy Lunar New Year Festival, we continued outreach into the Asian community.

We expanded our relationships with older adults through workshops at conferences such as the Massachusetts Association of Older Americans (MAOA) Journey of Aging Conference, the Massachusetts Aging and Mental Health Coalition Annual Conference, and Aging with Dignity. Our work did not stop there. We presented workshops on “Making the Most of Your Leisure Time” and “Healthy Aging: You and Your Money” at Senior Centers and Councils on Aging throughout the Commonwealth.

2013 also saw the introduction of Prevention Regional Collaborative meetings. These meetings were held at schools across the Commonwealth, with a particular focus on college and youth problem gambling prevention. These meetings allowed us to meet with college and high school administrators and staff to discuss problem gambling, how it already affects their students, signs to look for, risk and protective factors, as well as what to look for in the future with the possibility of casinos opening in their areas.

We hope to continue to grow our prevention efforts in 2014, and already have a great start to the year. As last year’s focus of growth was on older adult programs, this year we will focus on building more relationships with schools and existing youth programs to educate students on gambling and problem gambling. Workshops designed for youth that embrace financial literacy and probability education as a path to problem gambling prevention will presented at various locations around the State. This program utilizes our Creative Activities for Probability and Statistics Curriculum, as well as Real Life 101: Financial Tips for Graduating Students, and our Teens Know Your Limits website. It is interactive and provides students with information to help them make informed decisions, know what signs to look for if someone has a problem, and where to find help.

This year we plan to continue building relationships with other populations, such as Veterans, Latinos, and African Americans. Check out this blog by former Council Intern, Thalia Yunen, to learn more about Latino Problem Gambling, and our outreach efforts.

If you are interested in hosting one of these workshops or if you would like more information on prevention programs, please contact Amanda Poggenburg.