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FLORENCE, Ky. — March is Problem Gambling Awareness Month, and March 11 was Gambling Disorder Screening Day. It was as good a day as any to ask Gerrimy Keiffer about the importance of getting screened.
“What we see in a lot of cases are reasons why gambling use disorder may go undetected … we’re not screening, we’re not asking the right questions,” said Keiffer, River Valley Behavioral Health community health evaluator and Kentucky Council on Problem Gambling (KYCPG) board of directors member.
During Problem Gambling Awareness Month, KYCPG advises those who choose to gamble to do so responsibly, including weighing whether gambling will interfere with one’s personal responsibilities, whether one is free of stress and whether one has set limits. Those who choose to gamble should keep track of pre-set time and money limits, take frequent breaks and avoid ATMs or other immediate sources of money or credit.
If one suspects a gambling problem exists, a three-question self-test is an effective screen for problem gambling. Developed by the Division on Addictions, Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School, answering “yes” to any of the following three questions indicates there may be a possibility of a gambling problem.
The council said the number of Kentuckians seeking information on problem gambling has increased over the last decade and has significantly risen since sports betting became legal.
“A lot of folks are seeing commercials from DraftKings and sports betting, to say, ‘I need help; reach out,’" Keiffer said.
He said several of those calls, however, are customer-service related.
Keiffer said in January, the center received 270 calls, 68 of which were people with a gambling use issue. He said five of those people were suicidal.
“That’s where our concern is, because gambling-use issue does have one of the highest rates of suicide risk of any non-substance-use addiction,” Keiffer said.
He said there are also spikes around large sporting events such as the NCAA Tournament, adding people whose gambling issues are related to online sports betting tend to skew younger than traditional gambling at casinos, which he believes will continue to trend further in that direction.
The KYCPG 28th annual Educational and Awareness Conference will be held March 13-14 in Florence, Kentucky, at the Cincinnati Airport Hilton. Open to the public, the conference features presentations from credentialed experts on identification, treatment and prevention of problem gambling.
