http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aQgpcxVtu0&feature=related
http://www.gamblinghelper.com
"Whether it's in a casino or online, poker and other games of
chance are becoming increasingly popular. It's not just men who are
addicted, a growing number of women are becoming compulsive
gamblers, too. Early Show correspondent Hattie Kauffman takes a
closer look at the troubling trend," news anchor.
"The reality is the longer you gamble compulsively, which is what I
was doing, the more you become a compulsive liar," Melanie Morgan,
former gambling addict.
"In the 1980s Melanie Morgan was a successful television anchor
until her gambling addiction cost her, her job and nearly destroyed
her marriage," Hattie Kauffman, CBS national correspondent.
"I would lie about where I was going, what I was doing, who I was
with, how much money I was spending," Melanie Morgan.
"Even her pregnancy did not stop Melanie from gambling," Hattie
Kauffman.
"Of course I was in a terrible environment, smoke-filled rooms,
hardly taking care of myself. I was gambling until an hour before I
gave birth," Melanie Morgan.
"After her son was born, she often left the infant with an
assortment of babysitters," Kauffman.
"I remember packing up the baby one day and driving around to each
of the card rooms where I thought she might be and finally locating
her and taking the baby in its carrier and putting the baby in the
middle of the poker table and saying, 'You got a choice. You want
to play cards or you want to be a Mom?'" Jack Morgan, Melanie's
husband.
"I knew at that point I was in desperate trouble and I knew I was
sick, sick, and needed help. And I still didn't want to stop,"
Melanie Morgan.
"You might think the opportunity to gamble non-stop would be
limited to a trip to Las Vegas or Atlantic City, but the temptation
is everywhere. Visit here in Phoenix and you'll be greeted with the
Arizona Casino guide, listing 22 casinos, dog racing, horse racing,
bingo and more," Kauffman.
"I won $10,000 playing bingo. It just hooks you right in," former
compulsive gambler.
"Slot machines," another compulsive gambler.
"Mine wasn't slots, it was draw poker," another compulsive
gambler.
"I sat down with three women in recovery from compulsive gambling:
Shannon, Freda, and Vicki,"
"Do you have any idea how much you've lost to gambling?"
Kauffman.
"I've lost $300,000. It was all of my retirement
money," Vicki.
"I have thought it was around $35,000 but my husband has
stated that it's around $50,000," Shannon.
"It was around $115,000 to $200,000," Freda.
"But Freda lost a lot more than that. She lost a year of her life
when she went to prison after stealing cash to gamble,"
Kauffman.
"The sick compulsive gambler will do whatever they have to do to
gamble," Freda.
"It makes me think about a drug addict who steals to get the
drugs," Kauffman.
"It's an addiction. It is an addiction," Freda.
"Psychologist Paul Good says that it used to be women used to
gamble to escape their every day life, but now more are being lured
simply by the action," Kauffman.
"A sense of excitement, of being on the edge. You are literally
holding your fate in your own hands at a poker table. For a women,
that could be a powerful riveting experience," Paul Good,
psychologist.
"Is it a high? Is it a euphoria?" Kauffman.
"Oh yes. Oh yes it is. It's like a drug," Freda.
"Especially when you hear the bells ringing," background
voice.
"According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, in the
1980s just a handful of women sought treatment for gambling
addiction. Today, almost half of those seeking help for gambling
addiction are female," Kauffman.
"You are going to see gambling take its place alongside alcoholism
and drug abuse as being one of the most significant addictions of
our time," Paul Good, Psychologist.
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