The Dr. Robert Hunter International Problem Gambling Center is spearheading a new effort to help gambling addicts across Southern Nevada. According to executive director Stephanie Goodman, it starts Tuesday in Carson City.
“I work with ACTG, which is the Governor’s Council on problem gambling. And what we’ve done is, we’ve asked the Senate and Assembly finance chairs to see if they have $1.8 million,” said Goodman. “We’ve basically put together a media plan so that we can do an awareness campaign for individuals to know that gambling, A, is a real addiction, and B, you can get help that’s state-funded, and it’s free.”
Goodman says it’s a way to help more people become aware of a 6-week program that works for those with gambling problems. “We’ve got the people to give you counseling,” said Goodman. “We just really need people to come in and acknowledge that they have a problem.”
“There’s an estimated 6% of the Nevada population that we think has a problem with gambling – that has an addiction. A legitimate addiction,” Goodman said. “Only 1% of that population is getting help. And then, when you look at industry workers, only 0.1% of industry workers are actually getting help, so this is a huge problem for our state.”
Goodman says she’s thrilled the industry is engaged in a dialogue, “but yes, there’s more that we can do. And I think this awareness campaign is a great step to get people to know that hey, this is a real addiction.”
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This effort to finance a new public awareness campaign on gambling addiction and treatment comes as WalletHub released its 2023 list of “Most Gambling Addicted States,” and to no great surprise, Nevada is at the top of the list. A big reason, according to Goodman, is availability.
“Clearly, here in Nevada, you can go to the grocery store, there’s an opportunity to gamble. You’re getting gas, there’s an opportunity to gamble,” Goodman said. “So there’s a lot of opportunity here to gamble, and I think we’ve done a great job of getting the industry to start talking about the fact that there’s responsible gaming for individuals who are able to set limits, and then there’s problem gambling, and those are the people that have an addiction that lives in the same part of the brain as alcohol and drugs.”
For Liz Evans, a certified intern at the International Problem Gambling Center, those types of addictions emerged together. “I started abusing alcohol, and then it turned into substances which then turned into problem gambling, so I struggled with all three addictions at once, which led me to homelessness,” Evans said. “I lost my family. I lost my career. I lost everything.”
Evans says her journey away from addiction began in drug court, and she used her experience as motivation to help others out of that spiral.
“I never want anyone to feel the way that I felt when I was out there,” said Evans. “Problem gambling – it has as high a suicide rate of any addiction. So that’s one in five people that are struggling with it will contemplate or complete suicide. And so I don’t want anyone to ever feel that way again. If there’s something that I can do to help with that, I’m willing, so when I heard that they need counselors, that’s what needs to be part of the treatment for problem gambling, Sign me up.”
For more information on resources and treatment offered by the International Problem Gambling Center, visit their website, gamblingproblems.org. It includes a questionnaire to assess an individual’s situation. The center can also be reached on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at (702) 363-0290.