{"id":358232,"date":"2025-12-19T15:10:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T15:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/358232\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T15:10:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T15:10:10","slug":"with-human-costs-of-gambling-mounting-in-ohio-more-are-seeking-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/358232\/","title":{"rendered":"With human costs of gambling mounting in Ohio, more are seeking help"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Marty Schladen<\/a> for\u00a0Ohio Capital Journal<\/a><\/p>\n

Since online sports gambling became legal in Ohio in 2023, sports scandals have been mounting. Getting less attention is the human toll, which has grown rapidly.<\/p>\n

With the stress of the holidays \u2014 and college and professional football playoffs \u2014 approaching, a Columbus-based clinician said it\u2019s important to understand when gambling passes from being simple fun to a real problem.<\/p>\n

Kelley Breidigan is an assistant clinical professor at Ohio State\u2019s College of Social Work. She said that measures of problem gambling have been on the rise in all 38 states that have legalized online sports betting.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost folks are assigning this to the Supreme Court decision in 2018 that allowed states to legalize and regulate sports betting,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith that legalization, what we\u2019re starting to see is that as online betting increased, it coincided with record-breaking demand for help for gambling addiction.\u201d<\/p>\n

The costs of problem gambling can be demonstrated several ways. For example, people\u2019s financial health has deteriorated in a big way.<\/p>\n

The UCLA Anderson School of Management in April reported that entire states\u2019 average credit scores took a hit<\/a> when sports betting was legalized. That\u2019s not just the average credit scores of gamblers, but of everybody in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur main finding is that overall consumers\u2019 financial health is modestly deteriorating as the average credit score in states with legalized sports gambling decreases by roughly 0.8 points,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen states introduce access to online sports gambling, average credit scores decline by nearly three times as much (2.75 points). The decline in credit score is associated with changes in indicators of excessive debt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, the researchers also found an increase in other, more serious problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe find a substantial increase in average bankruptcy rates, debt sent to collections, use of debt consolidation loans, and auto loan delinquencies,\u201d the UCLA report said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether, these results indicate that the ease of access to sports gambling is harming consumer financial health by increasing their level of debt.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Connecticut, 12.4% of lottery revenue and 51% of sports betting revenue comes from about 2% of people with severe gambling addiction, a 2024 report from Gemini Research shows<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Amid accusations that big-time players are rigging at least parts of games<\/a>, Gov. Mike DeWine last month told the Associated Press that he regrets signing Ohio\u2019s sports betting law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"FILE
\nRepublican Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s taken steps to limit bets on minor aspects of games \u2014 or \u201cprop\u201d bets \u2014 that seem particularly prone to abuse.<\/p>\n

Speaking of the gambling companies, DeWine referred to \u201cthe deep, deep, deep pockets they have to advertise and do everything they can to get someone to place that bet\u2026\u201d the AP reported.<\/p>\n

Breidigan, the Ohio State clinician, said that marketing sends the message that sports betting is a normal, safe activity.<\/p>\n

Indeed, watch any sports broadcast and you\u2019re likely to see Kevin Hart and LeBron James laughing it up as they promote the Draft Kings betting platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Breidigan said such promotion and the ease of betting via cell phone have mainlined gambling to a huge new audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was always relegated to the fringes of society \u2014 people who had gambling issues. What this did is completely normalize gambling,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt made it so easy for people to just pick up their phone and make a bet. That has had a severe impact on individuals and families.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to deteriorating finances, other social costs are mounting.<\/p>\n

There are an estimated 255,000 problem gamblers in Ohio. And the United Way of Greater Cleveland reported a 277% increase<\/a> in gambling-related calls to its helpline in the first month of legalized sports betting when compared to a year earlier.<\/p>\n

Even though legalized gambling creates a stream tax revenue, it\u2019s still a losing bet in terms of public policy, the peer-reviewed journal Public Health<\/a> reported in October 2024.<\/p>\n

It cited studies in Sweden<\/a> and France<\/a> finding that the social costs of gambling outweighed the taxes it generated.<\/p>\n

And, as people develop gambling problems, they can face catastrophic personal consequences, the report said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRates of attempted suicide and suicidal ideation are much higher among individuals with serious gambling problems and\/or clinically diagnosed Gambling Disorder<\/a> than among the general population,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts have been found to be even higher among individuals in treatment for Gambling Disorder<\/a>: as high as 81.4% for suicidal ideation and 30.2% for suicide attempts in the past 12 months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Breidigan said that it\u2019s important to understand that problem gambling functions in ways similar to problems with substances.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I think a lot of people don\u2019t realize is that gambling actually stimulates the brain\u2019s reward system just like drugs or alcohol,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Advertisements
\nAdvertisements for sports betting apps are seen in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, on Nov. 29.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way our brains are set up, once it acclimates to a certain activity or substance or whatever it is, it needs more to get the same kind of dopamine hit to get that feel-good response.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reasons some people might be more prone to problem gambling than others can vary.<\/p>\n

Bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorders as well as depression might underlie a gambling problem. But so can many other things, Breidigan said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to recognize when gambling goes from being an amusement to something more.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when people \u201cdevelop an incredible preoccupation with gambling. They\u2019re constantly thinking about it. They\u2019re planning it. There are increased bets\u2026 You\u2019ll see them where they\u2019re chasing losses \u2014 they\u2019re trying to win back that money that they lost,\u201d Breidigan said.<\/p>\n

As with other addictions, problem gambling often reaches a point where it damages families.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of times we see a lot of lying that really affects the family and friends because they\u2019re hiding the extent of the losses that they have,\u201d Breidigan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a huge issue where they\u2019re borrowing money. They\u2019ve got unpaid bills. They\u2019re selling possessions so that they can keep funding their gambling.\u201d<\/p>\n

As with other forms of addiction, help is available for problem gamblers. Breitigan said it\u2019s important for people to get over their embarrassment, and understand that they\u2019re far from alone.<\/p>\n

She said a good place to begin seeking help is the Ohio problem gambling helpline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some people who try very hard, but despite their best efforts, they\u2019re still engaging in this harmful behavior,\u201d Breitigan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOftentimes it\u2019s friends and family saying, \u2018You need help.\u2019 If you\u2019re hearing those sorts of things, or thinking about them yourself, it\u2019s probably a good idea to talk to someone. The job of a mental health professional is not to shame. There\u2019s absolutely no point in that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Marty Schladen for\u00a0Ohio Capital Journal Since online sports gambling became legal in Ohio in 2023, sports scandals…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[97,259,260],"class_list":{"0":"post-358232","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}