Wed, Feb 10 2010
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Published May 06, 2009 06:26 pm - Mark McDonald, a compulsive-gambling counselor at Ozark Center, 305 Virginia Ave., says all it takes is one time winning and a person could become addicted. Know when to fold ’em: Gambling addiction can produce ‘high’, according to experts By Jessica Schreindl
news@joplinglobe.com Money is won and lost each day at casinos around the country. But when does gambling become a problem? Mark McDonald, a compulsive-gambling counselor at Ozark Center, 305 Virginia Ave., says all it takes is one time winning and a person could become addicted. “Let’s say the first time you gamble you put in $20 and win $50,000. How many times do you think you would go back?” McDonald said. There are a number of casinos or gambling locations within a 30-mile radius of Joplin. McDonald says there’s been an increase in problem gambling in the area because of easy access to casinos. “It used to be the closest place people had to go to was in Kansas City on the river boats,” he said. “The availability of the casinos is going to cause its own criminal activity and damage to the community.” Still, McDonald says it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when the addiction begins. “It’s on a continuum scale,” he said. “It’s not just a black-and-white sort of thing.” Nora Bock, clinical director for the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse at the Missouri Department of Mental Health, says gambling becomes a problem when a person begins to experience “adverse consequences” as a direct result of gambling. “Because of their preoccupation with gambling, they start to let other aspects of their lives suffer, like family, friends, career, school,” Bock said. “These things are ‘replaced’ by the person’s gambling.” ‘It gets them high’ Problem gambling doesn’t discriminate. McDonald says it crosses all social and racial lines. What problem gamblers have in common is the “high” they get from gambling. McDonald says it’s similar to the high an alcoholic or drug addict gets. “The brain chemistry creates this euphoria,” McDonald said. “Lots of serotonin and dopamine are pushed as a result.” Dr. Lia Nower, director of the Center of Gambling Studies at Rutgers University, New Jersey, says many problem gamblers report dissociating while playing. 
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