FEMALE GAMBLERS
Written by Paula Burns & Don Hulen: modified May, 2008

A majority of all calls for help to the Arizona Council Helpline receives the majority are from or about women with gambling problems.

Of the women who call, 95% meet the criteria of ESCAPE GAMBLERS. They gamble at different games than ACTION GAMBLERS. They gamble for different reasons and their character profiles are almost opposite that of the Action Gambler. Remember that in the final stages of an Action Gambler disorder the gambler often gambles for escape. When the action gambler is in this phase he/she may meet Action or Escape criteria and it may require further investigation to determine the type of gambler he/she is. The only purpose in making this determination is to allow the clinician to provide the best treatment plan for the gambler.

Because the great majority of women are Escape gamblers, the woman who is an Action gambler may, without an understanding of the differences in types of gamblers, feel uneasy about why she doesn't identify with the majority of other women in a program such as GA.

Learning about the differences can set her mind at ease and help her accept herself. It may also help her better understand others in her program.

Until the early 1990's very few women sought help of any kind for compulsive gambling. In Arizona, we have no record of any women obtaining a year of abstinence from gambling in any programs in the state prior to 1992.

Today, a substantial number of members of the twelve step program of Gamblers Anonymous meetings in Arizona are women. We urge all women who believe they are compulsive gamblers to attend a Women Only Meeting whenever possible.

WOMEN IN GA IN ARIZONA TODAY

Since the Women only Gamblers Anonymous group was started in the Phoenix area in 1992, women have become very prevalent at other meetings. Today they make up an estimated 50% of the GA meetings in the greater Phoenix area. Once they began to understand their specific differences relating to gambling, they began to attend other meetings in groups of three, four and more. Many began to learn to forgive themselves, to understand that they suffer from a disease and began to throw themselves into recovery.

WOMEN, GAMBLING AND EMPOWERMENT

The self-help programs tell women they must admit powerlessness over their compulsion to gamble. Ironically, feeling powerless over all of the problems in their lives may have been a major factor that led them to gamble in the first place.

What they may need is empowerment; that’s what the machines gave them, a sense of having freedom from being powerless. They have just been asked to leave the one thing in life that gave them some sense of freedom, their machine. When they no longer have it, they may believe they have nothing.

They must be encouraged to replace that illusion of freedom which the machine provided with some other activities and coping skills. For those who seek it, the power of the 12 step program often fills the void.

CODEPENDENCY

Many escape gamblers identify codependency problems as some of the underlying issues they must deal with as part of their recovery. Books by such authors as Melody Beatty or Pia Mellody are recommended. And please click on CoDA in the left menu bar to learn more about Codedpendency Anonymous, an organization that has helped countless people address their Codependency issues.

Books are available on line through Hazelden or Amazon.com.

Compulsive gambling is a diagnosable & treatable disease, not a disgrace.


 

We welcome your comments and questions: azccg@azccg.org
The ACCG is a affiliate of the National Council on Problem Gambling