State offers help to gambling addicts
Gambling addiction is one of the hardest things to treat according to officials from The Maryland Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling, that’s because those who suffer don’t want to quit while they’re behind. In Maryland officials are concerned with more and more gambling outlets coming to the state each year, more addiction problems will come with it. However, help is available health officials say.
It can all start with an anonymous call to 1-800 Gambler according to Lori Rugle, program director at the Maryland Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling. That call she said can help someone identify they have a problem and start to get help.
Rugle said when someone calls the hotline, “Theyre given those referral sources as well as a person at the center who’s a person in recovery who can help them connect with those local resources.”
According to Rugle, last fiscal year they helped over 2,000 people identify and get treatment for their gambling addiction problems. This year Rugle said they’re focused on bringing those programs to more local communities such Dorcester County.
47 ABC sat down with an addiction counselor at the Dorcester County Health department where they’ll be offering individual and group sessions for those suffering from gambling addiction.
Officials at the health center said they will have both group and individual sessions for those suffering from a gambling addiction. The health center also offers a screening they say, to help people realize they might suffer from addiction.
“From individual perspectives (we) do consults and do further work with the client towards raising their awareness, developing refusal skills, developing other outlets to take that obsession away from them,” said Owen Wilson, an addiction counselor at the center.
Dorcester County Health Department is one of the centers chosen to participate in the Disordered Gambling Integration project, or “DIG IN”, as officials refer to it.
The Maryland Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling says this year they’re focusing on bringing more of these state run programs to target communities near casinos,such as Worcester County because of Ocean Downs.
Their three year goal they said is to have a gambling addiction program in every county across Maryland.
As for payment, officials at the center said most treatment programs are covered under healthcare, and if it’s not we’re told anyone who needs help can still find it though the center.
