Nearly 1.8 million Iowans gambled last year, an increase of nine percent from 2011, according to a new study from the Iowa Department of Public Health. The most common forms of gambling include lottery tickets, raffle tickets, slot machines and card games. In 2011, 68.9 percent of Iowa adults said they had gambled in the last 12 months and in 2013 that percent increased to 77.8 percent of adult Iowans. According to the 2013 survey, 8,000 of the 1.8 million could be classified as “problem” gamblers. Symptoms of problem gambling include lying to family members and friends to hide gambling, gambling to run away from problems or get relief from feeling depressed, and feeling restless or irritable when trying to cut down or stop gambling. For more information, including treatment and prevention services call 1-800-BETS-OFF or visit 1800BetsOff.org.
Symptoms of problem gambling:
– Thinking a lot about gambling, such as past gambling experiences, future gambling ventures, or ways of getting money for gambling
– Needing to gamble with larger amounts of money or with larger bets in order to get the same feeling of excitement
– Repeatedly trying to cut down or stop your gambling without success
– Feeling restless or irritable when trying to cut down or stop gambling
– Gambling to run away from problems or to get relief from feeling depressed, anxious, or bad about yourself
– After losing money gambling, often returning another day in order to win back your losses
– Lying to family members, friends, or others in order to hide your gambling from them
– Losing or almost losing a significant relationship, job, or an educational or career opportunity because of gambling
– Relying on others to provide money to relieve a desperate financial situation caused by gambling