SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Today, the first-ever conference tackling veteran gambling issues is hosted by the New York Council on Problem Gambling. Over a hundred people attended the conference, combining in-person attendance and Zoom.
Gambling problem or problem gambling? Problem gambling is a hidden addiction that doesn’t carry some obvious symptoms like alcohol or drug addiction. Veteran Outreach Coordinator Jonathan Crandall went over the symptoms that you can track early on.
“You can notice personality changes. You can recognize individuals starting to ask to borrow money,” said Crandall. “If an individual may seem to have sufficient income and they’re not able to pay for groceries or make rent, that could be an indicator. Financial issues are a huge indicator.”
According to Crandall, the rate of problem gambling among active-duty military and veterans is 3.5 times higher than among civilians. One of the reasons for such a high rate is the co-occurring psychiatric conditions.
“A lot of times sessions with post-traumatic stress struggle with problem gambling as well, military sexual trauma…” said Crandall. “So just being aware of the fact that if you’re working with veterans and if you’re not asking about gambling, you’re wrong. You should be. You may be surprised at some of the answers that you hear.”
One thing that people should take away from the conference is to make themselves available to the veterans. Let the veterans know you are here to help.
“It’s creating that awareness. You know, letting veterans know, letting active duty service members know that they’re not alone. This is a disease that isolates and it tends to make people feel they’re alone. They’re not alone. There is help available,” said Crandall.
