PAUL MCLEOD
The Halifax Daily News Daily News, 03/05/07
There are many people who want to wipe out problem gambling. The catch is, no one knows how to stop it.
That’s why the Nova Scotia Gaming Foundation (NSGF) hosted a roundtable discussion on problem gambling this week. The roundtable explored new research in the hopes of finding innovative ways to confront the issue of gambling.
“The problem is that the field is in its infancy,” said Rob Simpson, CEO of the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre and a speaker at the event.
“If you look at problem gambling’s closest cousins, drinking and smoking, we know much more about those two. We have 50 years of alcohol studies to look at. Whereas my company is the largest gatherer of gambling research in the world and we’ve only been around six years.”
New research, showing that gamblers fall into three types, was presented by Dalhousie psychiatry and psychology professor Sherry Stewart. According to Stewart’s team, the three types of gamblers are “coping gamblers,” “enhancement gamblers” and “low-emotion regulation gamblers.”
Coping gamblers are people who gamble to escape negative emotions such as depression or anxiety.
Enhancement gamblers are the thrill seekers. They do it for the rush of risking money and the high of winning.
The third group is the most curious to researchers. They don’t fall into either previous category and don’t tend to have any other mental health issues.
Researchers already know that problem gamblers are most likely to be one of the first two types. Stewart hopes that before long, they can develop specific treatments for each type.
The NSGF is an arms-length government organization that offers funding to Nova Scotia community groups and researchers dealing with problem gambling. Almost 100 people came to the roundtable to discuss the foundation’s future direction.
Among those in attendance were people affected by problem gambling in various capacities, from friends and family members to advocates to community workers.
The NSGF ultimately hopes to find the best way to address problem gambling in the future.
“Optimism is the theme of the day,” said Simpson. “You have to define the problem. Today we went a long way in defining problem gambling in a way that we’ll have more insightful solutions.”
pmcleod@hfxnews.ca
