GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Roughly 333,000 Wisconsinites struggle with a gambling problem.
That’s according to the Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling’s Executive Director Rose Blozinski, who says her organization is aiming to raise awareness for the issue during March’s National Problem Gambling Awareness Month.
Blozinski says a gambling problem is similar to drug and alcohol addictions in terms of seratone and dopamine levels in the brain, despite it not involving the ingestion of any substances.
She says untreated addictions can lead to some serious matters such as financial issues due to an inability to pay bills, criminal activity to fund the habit, and even suicide if the person feels overcome by the struggle.
Blozinski has seen gambling addictions force people to file bankruptcy multiple times and also lose jobs through both stealing from an employer and an inability to concentrate on anything but betting.
She says 65% of compulsive gamblers have been known to commit crimes.
In 2016, Blozinski says over 13,000 people called the Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling’s hotline, with a large number of those calls coming in February and March, which she describes as the peak sports betting period due to events like the NFL Super Bowl and NCAA March Madness men’s basketball tournament.
When a person calls the hotline, Blozinski says the operator first tries to determine the caller’s current condition.
If there is an immediate crisis, the operator attempts to talk the person through the issue and works to convince them that they are not alone in dealing with struggle.
Medical attention is sought if the operator believes the caller may be contemplating suicide.
If it does not seem to be a time-sensative crisis, the operator connects the caller with various resources in the community, such as trained professionals and group therapy meetings.
Blozinski says there are various signs people can look for to determine if a loved one might have a gambling addiction.
She says when a person starts regularly talking about gambling or possessing sheets with betting lines or other gambling paraphernalia out of the blue, it is a sign that an addiction could be developing.
Other signs include a person trying to hide a P.O. Box address that has been established or insisting on always having to be the one to answer a home phone, as those are ways they might be communicating with bookies.
According to Blozinski, gambling addictions can often occur in unison with things like drug and alcohol problems.
Anyone in need of help is encouraged to contact the Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling by calling 1-800-GAMBLE5 or by texting 920-888-HELP.
People can also register for the organization’s annual conference, which will be held March 23-24 at the Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake. Registration costs $150 and must be made by March 16. Blozinski says a limited amount of scholarships are still available to help those struggling to pay the conference fee.
