People Against a Casino Town
News of Interest
Gambling linked to increased suicide rates
 
Research has proven the link between suicide and problem gambling is stronger
than the relationship between suicide and alcohol or drug abuse, Wert said.
"People look at this as one way to right the wrong for their family . . .
They think, "If I die, and the insurance money comes in, at least my family will be all right.' " 

 
FOCUS: GAMBLING

Gambling's high stakes include rise in suicides

Link is so strong, Canada calls it a public health crisis

By PHIL FAIRBANKS
News Staff Reporter
6/24/2006

"Most of the gamblers I've worked with have either contemplated or tried suicide." Kayte Conroy, gambling counselor

Howard still remembers that dreadful morning when, after two days of nonstop gambling at Casino Niagara, he stopped his car in the middle of the Grand Island Bridge, stepped out and climbed atop the railing. "All I could think about was the lies I'd told," he said. "All I could think about was my wife and kids. I was on the rail ready to go." Just then, a state trooper pulled up behind him and talked him down.

Howard, who spoke on the condition his last name not be used, never took that fateful step, but plenty of other gamblers have.

The link between gambling and suicide is so strong that Canada's provincial coroners now track gambling-related suicides.

One of the reasons is the Canada Safety Council's declaration that addictive gambling is a public health crisis that accounts for up to 360 suicides a year.

The connection doesn't stop at the border and, with the arrival of casino gambling in Western New York, addiction experts are seeing concrete evidence of a problem here.

"I see a huge link," said Kayte Conroy, a state certified gambling treatment counselor in Williamsville. "Most of the gamblers I've worked with have either contemplated or tried suicide." When asked how many, Conroy said it's not an exaggeration to suggest that nine out of 10 considered suicide and one in 10 tried it.

Here in the United States, the National Council on Problem Gambling studied the relationship a few years ago and concluded that one out of every five pathological gamblers attempts suicide.

In Canada, one of the few governments tracking the connection, estimates of the problem vary from province to province.

In Alberta, gambling was cited as a factor in 148 suicides, or about 10 percent of all suicides during the years 2000 through 2002. Coroners in Nova Scotia said gambling was a factor in about 6.3 percent of all suicides there.

And coroners acknowledge that some gambling-related suicides go unreported. "I don't believe we're capturing all the cases or all the information," said Dr. Barry McLellan, chief coroner in Ontario, where the numbers are much lower but nevertheless on the rise. In 2001, the province reported three gambling-related suicides. By 2004, the number was 16.

McLellan said he can't say with any confidence if the jump reflects an increase in gambling-related suicides or an increase in awareness among coroners and law enforcement.

Addiction experts say the links are obvious. "We get people who come in right from the hospital," said Renee Wert, director of the gambling treatment program at Jewish Family Service of Buffalo & Erie County. "We get people who still have the bandages on their wrists."

Wert and Conroy see the evidence in the clients they treat, who cover all demographic categories: men and women, young and old, black, white and Hispanic.

"They see no way out," Conroy said. "They look at the damage they've done to their families or employers and think they can solve the problem by committing suicide. They don't see the hope."

Research has proven the link between suicide and problem gambling is stronger than the relationship between suicide and alcohol or drug abuse, Wert said. "People look at this as one way to right the wrong for their family . . . They think, "If I die, and the insurance money comes in, at least my family will be all right.' "

Howard knows that feeling all too well. When he stopped on the Grand Island Bridge in November of 2000, Howard had already lost about $200,000 at the casino, emptied his bank accounts and savings and maxed out several credit cards. He was flat broke and desperate to end the pain and embarrassment he had caused his wife and children.

"I had promised my kids I would buy them bikes and take them to the park," he said. "I didn't have a dime in my pocket, and all I could think about was what was I going to tell my kids?"

Corey, who like Howard is a member of Gamblers Anonymous, remembers his brush with suicide last fall.

His gambling losses, about $90,000 and climbing rapidly, had pushed him into what addiction counselors call the third and final stage of pathological gambling - the desperation stage.

"I kept thinking, "Am I worth more gone than alive?' " he said. " "If I just go away, will I help my family?' "

Like a lot of gamblers, the 28-year-old Niagara Falls resident turned first to crime and quickly found himself behind bars. In retrospect, his conviction probably saved his life.

"It comes up a lot," said Corey, who spoke on the condition his last name not be used. "I would say 95 percent of the gamblers I know have thought about suicide."

The American Psychiatric Association declared pathological gambling a mental illness more than 25 years ago, and since then, research has found that cities with legal gambling have higher suicide rates than comparably sized cities without gambling.

Here in Western New York, there have been a few high-profile instances of suicide attempts linked to gambling.

Three years ago, a 47-year-old Buffalo accountant gambled away several thousand dollars at the Seneca Niagara Casino, wrote a goodbye note, stepped into the Niagara River and walked to the brink of Niagara Falls. Authorities saved the man and later said he had lost more than $600,000 at Casino Niagara, on top of his losses at Seneca Niagara.

A few years earlier, a local financial adviser whose gambling addiction had led him to bilk clients out of more than $400,000, attempted suicide while being investigated by police.

Victor Lorek of Amherst was eventually sentenced to prison and ordered to make partial restitution. At the time, the judge said Lorek's attempted suicide had left him permanently disabled.

"He was a successful broker and good father who, like a lot of people, could not handle gambling," said Michael P. Stuermer, Lorek's attorney. "He lost everything, and it led to depression. Gambling got the best of him."

e-mail: pfairbanks@buffnews.com
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060624/1072037.asp

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