In the same way that food addiction is a tricky demon to battle since you can’t fully abstain from grub, gambling addiction, which has only become an official diagnosis in recent years, has its own complex set of hurdles. I was surprised to learn that after New York and California, Oklahoma has the highest rate of gambling embezzlement cases. Apparently, 3% of The Sooner State likes their slot machines (i.e. has a gambling problem). I learned this in a fascinating story in Tulsa World about an Oklahoma woman who almost killed herself because she couldn’t beat a severe, life-altering gambling problem.
The Promise of Payback
The woman interviewed in Tulsa World, who is just referred to as Melissa, couldn’t quit casinos, where she initially went a couple times a week until she eventually found herself glued to slot machines for days on end. She describes the check-out from reality she enjoyed when engrossed at the slots like this: “The rest of the world just disappears. You go in and escape the world. Escape from stress. Escape from kids, the husband, whatever. Everything just goes away and that’s how it starts.” Oh girl, do I relate (except replace gambling with drinking and remove the husband and kids).
She also fraudulently acquired credit cards. Using the credit of the healthcare company where she worked, Melissa took out a card in her own name with plans to pay them back. And we all know how the rest of that story goes. After ruining her company’s credit, she was arrested in 2008 and convicted for identity theft. Her addiction had gotten so bad at that point that despite having won over $200,000 and a sizable salary from her employer, she was unable to buy a car and had to live with her in-laws because she couldn’t afford mortgage payments.
From Disorder to Addiction
Stories like Melissa’s showcase the legitimate risk inherent with gambling as a form of check-out from reality. In fact, it used to be classified as a “compulsive disorder” but was changed to an “addictive disorder” in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 2013. The rush of dopamine to the brain when someone wins money isn’t unlike a hit of cocaine. According to the Tulsa World piece, “Levels of dopamine in a gambler’s brain are similar to a cocaine user’s, and compulsive gamblers build up a similar tolerance, needing to chase after bigger and bigger ‘hits’ to feel the same euphoria.” Interestingly, the reward system manufactured by the casinos in the form of flashing lights and cha-ching sounds just adds fuel to the fire. According to Oklahoma Watch, “More than 60 percent of the most serious gambling-related calls to the helpline in Oklahoma are related to slot machines.”
But why the Okies (that term might or might be offensive in 2016)? Gambling was legalized in the state in 2004 and since then, over 100 casinos have been built and over 60,000 gaming machines are in operation. To give you a base of comparison, in Ohio, there are five casinos. Oklahoma Watch interviewed a Tulsa lawyer who used to occasionally take trips to Las Vegas to play cards but developed a slot machine fixation when a casino was built in his hometown (and consequently had to quit practicing due to his habit of using client funds to fuel his habit). He said, “I started to go through all my money, savings, cashing in my insurance policies…I burned up my retirement, everything. It’s all gone.”
There are theories that gambling rates always spike when it’s newly legalized somewhere. But the stories of Melissa and the lawyer are pretty recent. I think when you combine the shiny newness factor and sheer number of casinos, along with the general lack of other activities in a less than exciting (although not necessarily the most impoverished) state in middle America, you might have a recipe for spending a lot of the entertainment budget and then some gambling.
Treatment is a Gamble
Casinos try to do their part to combat the problem, which is more than you can say for your average pub or doughnut shop. A representative from Cherokee Nation Businesses, who runs the giant Hard Rock Hotel & Casino outside of Tulsa, said the only sentence you need to say to notify someone you need help amidst the flashy, chiming slot machines: “I’m not having a good time anymore.” From there, you can start the paperwork to essentially self-ban yourself from the casino. There is also the option to sign up for “self-exclusion” online thought the Oklahoma Association for Problem and Compulsive Gambling. There is literature about gambling addiction in the chips cash-out section of most of the casinos, too. Sure beats the Harrah’s all-you-can-eat seafood buffet menu.
Now, whether or not someone in the full throes of addiction is going to voluntarily seek help is anyone’s guess but at least some casinos are doing everything they can to provide resources and take preventative measures. In the meantime, if you come into a lot of money, I wouldn’t take it to Oklahoma. There might be something in the water, or at least in the Hard Rock’s margarita machine.
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