Beating Addiction
Gambling
Gambling as a proportion of household expenditure has almost doubled, from 1.7% in 1982–83 to 3.2% in 1997–98.
In 2000–01 the net national takings from gambling was $13.8 billion.10
The total estimated losses from gambling in 1997–98 equated to a loss of $819 for every adult in Australia. NSW was above the national average with a loss of $921 per adult.10
In 1998 the Productivity Commission conducted an investigation into the gambling industry. The report found that over 80% of Australians had indulged in gambling activities at some time in the previous year. It also found that 2.3% (330,000 Australians) of the adult population had significant gambling problems but provided about a third of the total revenue spent. Around 140,000 experienced severe problems.11
The report estimated that Australia’s 330,000 problem gamblers lost an average of $12,000 per year from their gambling activity.
The costs of gambling are not only financial — one in ten problem gamblers said that they had contemplated suicide because of gambling.
It is estimated that around 80% of Wesley Mission Gambling Counselling Service clients have contemplated suicide.
98% of clients are addicted to poker machines and the remaining 2% have TAB addictions.
The Productivity Commission also found that, on average, lower income people spent a higher proportion of their incomes on poker/gaming machines.10
Hugh’s story
“When you have a low opinion of yourself, you think you don’t deserve to be happy.”
Five years ago Hugh began to gamble his life away as a means of dealing with low self esteem.
“I could sit behind a (poker) machine and forget about the world and forget about issues that I hadn’t dealt with over the years,” he said.
“Then it (gambling) became an addiction and then it became catch-up. You were always losing money and having to play catch-up.”
Hugh was and remains a personal trainer and admits alcohol or drugs would have never become his “drug of choice”. Gambling, however, offered an easy and accessible escape with little physical side effects, although the financial and psychological costs were enormous.
“Every pub had card machines in it and it was easy for me,” Hugh said. “In between shifts or clients when I was working, I could go to the nearest pub and gamble. I wouldn’t even buy a drink. I would just put money through the machine and an addiction developed.
“I was trying to escape from my childhood because as a child I suffered from depression and back then there wasn’t as much knowledge about depression. It’s a bigger issue today as it’s spoken about more openly.
“I was considered a bad kid and I had issues with mum and dad. I was adopted and not told a lot about my adoption until six or seven years ago so in the back of my mind I always felt that something wasn’t quite right but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
“When you have a low opinion of yourself, you begin to think that you don’t deserve to be happy and don’t deserve to win.
“When my parents told me to do something, it never seemed right to me. I isolated myself as a child and this continued into adulthood. It all came to a head and I couldn’t face these issues.”
Hugh amassed $24,000 in credit cards debts before he contacted the problem gambling telephone service G-Line which referred him to Wesley Counselling Services (WCS).
Hugh declared himself bankrupt and with the help of WCS counsellor Elizabeth Terry, they designed a financial plan. He also saw a psychologist who helped him deal with issues of self esteem.
“I had to begin thinking ‘I deserve better, I can do this and I don’t need to gamble,’ ” he said. “That gave me strength to sort out other issues that I had.”
Hugh is living each day at a time. His immediate aims are not to gamble and to build his self esteem. He continues to work as a personal trainer and fitness instructor and has produced a music DVD video to highlight the needs of problem gamblers and to thank Wesley Counselling Services for restoring his life.
