Thank you, @rob_odaat
👋My name is Ted Hartwell. I am the executive director of the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling.
🎰So I’m in long-term recovery myself, about 16 and a half years. And fairly early on in my recovery, I became interested in the idea of public advocacy and awareness on this issue. There did not seem to be a lot of public faces talking about this particular addictive disorder. And, I outed myself publicly for the first time about a year and a half into my recovery during a training session To become a court-appointed special advocate for kids in foster care.
☝🏻They were talking about all types of addictions in general and educating the class. And here we are in Las Vegas and they didn’t mention gambling at all. And so I thought, Oh, maybe I can say a thing or two. So I raised my hand and the instructor, uh, permitted me to share about it and the sky didn’t fall. In fact, it, you know, opened up the door to a lot of other conversations and that’s how I initially became involved.
🚨A major challenge now is that affordability is still an issue in some states, even where there is treatment available, I think more and more are going to a model of providing, um, free treatment to people who are suffering here in Nevada. For example, if you’re suffering from a gambling problem, you can get free treatment at any level, including residential therapy and free treatment is also available to any affected others.
📞So if I’ve been affected by my friend or co-worker’s gambling problem, I can also get. to learn how to protect myself, both emotionally and financially from that person’s activities, regardless of whether they’re ready to get help themselves.
👀if you recognize, it’s a problem, reach out for some help. check out a gambler’s anonymous meeting, or if you’re more interested in just having a one-on-one conversation with the therapist, seek out somebody who has little experience with gambling harm.
So, don’t delay, seek help now.
#addictionrecovery #addictionawareness #gamblingaddiction #mentalhealth #odaat #ncpg #800gambler
