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According to Don Hulen, executive director for Arizona's
Council on Compulsive Gambling, seniors take to the casinos
weekdays until about 4 p.m., spending their time on luck games
like slot machines. "Not too many become addicted later
in life to blackjack, horse or dog racing, or roulette or
most card games," he says.
In his experience, a majority of late onset compulsive gamblers
carry a predisposition toward blocking out pain in their lives.
And retirement years, with their downsizing, empty nest syndrome,
health challenges and widowed status, offer sufficient stress.
Women in particular gamble to escape boredom, abusive relationships
or unresolved grief. "As they gamble, the endorphins
and dopamine in the body increases, they get pleasure and
don't think about their other problems," Hulen explains.
Consider it self-medication.
"We're talking about individuals
who have worked hard all their lives, supported their family, educated their children,
contributed to the community and saved for their future," says Fowler, "only
to find themselves engaging in what they thought was a social activity that got
out of control. But seniors assume somehow their age should insulate them. Like
youth, they see themselves as invincible." The financial ramifications
present the saddest picture. Retirees with gambling debts face three options:
get a job and work the rest of their days, live with relatives or go on the social
system. As an intervention strategy, counselors can offer little encouragement
beyond the emotional satisfaction of regaining control. "If they've
exhausted everything they had to live on, they won't get their money back in their
remaining years," Fowler says flatly. Suicide risks definitely are elevated
for this segment. The problem is compounded because children are often
reluctant to interfere, even when they think mom or dad might have a problem. "Adult
children are very reluctant because it looks like they're trying to protect their
inheritance," Fowler says. "It's about money, you see. It takes on an
entirely different perspective than if one were intervening because the parent
is abusing alcohol." What's the Matter?
But
do a few sad stories amount to a social crisis? "{Some say} we've got to
stop the seniors. I don't think so," says Hulen, himself a recovering compulsive
gambler at age 66. "We can suggest and provide other social opportunities,
but gambling is legal. I still have most of my faculties, and I don't need anybody
to tell me what I can and can't do."And I don't think the percentage of
seniors who lose everything is any higher than other age groups. The difference
is they don't have the opportunity to recoup," he adds. Florida's statistics
support his stance. Its latest survey claims that weekly gambling rates among
seniors there are similar to the rates in the 18 and over crowd. The report also
states the majority of older adults who gamble don't experience negative consequences.
Heck, some gaming doesn't even require money, claims Brad Daugherty, dean of the
online Empire Poker School. "It's supposed to be a fun thing. Nobody
wants anybody to go over their means," he says. "It's a pastime. If
they want to play for nothing, they can choose that option." Those who actually
study poker and apply discipline to their play can win, he says. Indeed, Tom Allen
currently is up $2,000 in his account, thanks to strict guidelines he's imposed
to date. He requires having on hand at least 1000 times his maximum bet,
so when he sits down to his 50-cent games, he has a bank account of $500 at his
back. To "earn" his way to the $2 hands, he insists on having $2,000
bankrolled. "How do I define compulsive? I don't know. It's like the
word 'workaholic,'" says Allen. "Someone says so-and-so is a workaholic,
but that person is having a good time doing what they want to do. So it depends
on whether you're looking out or looking in. "If I were losing money,
then I guess it would be a problem. And I'm not good at losing, so I'm sure that's
not going to happen," he repeats.
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