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Show A Good Bet For B 60 men and a few women crowded into a church basement to share w ith fellow members of Gamblers Anony-mou- s GA their struggles to live through m H a single day without placing a bet. Mem-J- L told one another of pawning family heirlooms, stealing from their childrens savings, even prostituting their wives to settle with bookmakers. Carrying out a resolution to make restitution for such wrongs is a keystone of the GA recovery program. The accumulated indebtedness confessed to by gamblers at just that one meeting was staggering. Two examples: A well known screenwriter lost SI. 25 million in one Las Vegas weekend, trying to win enough to produce his own film. A garment worker who earned S175 a week owed S550 a week in "vigorish" interest on a loan taken to pay back a bookie. Many at the meeting had lost everything but the grace to continue and the gift to reach for help. Reaching out to GA. they openly say. has saved their sanity and. possibly, their lives. Jimmy K.. in his 40s. reached out when he said: "l've gambled every minute of every day through 16 years of marriage. I always thought I was in full control .. .Then, five weeks ago. my wife threw me out. I was run out of my business because 1 was stealing from my partner. Ive been sleeping in cars. 1 owe a fortune to five loan sharks." The group leader read to Jimmy GAs test of 20 questions (see box). Give seven "yes" answers. GA contends, and you have a serious problem. Jimmy answered "yes" 19 times. Assigned a sponsor, an experienced recovering gambler. Jimmy was told to call him day or night if tempted to make a bet. In GA. to talk about the urge to bet is to talk yourself out of it. he had the de- Jimmy met GAs only requirement sire to stop his compul- sive gambling. That night, he joined the more than 10,000 re- - Almost Jbers -- Y EMERSON MORAN million Americans may be incurable, compulsive gamblers. Add to these 3.1 million who gamble so abusively that they are deemed "potential" compulsive gamblers. (The American Psychiatric Association classifies compulsive gambling as a treatable mental disorder.) But the problem goes beyond the statistics: The National Council on Compulsive Gambling projects that each such gambler disrupts the lives of eight to 12 others spouse, family, friends, employer and Compulsive gamblers must realize that, though their illness cant be cured, it can be curbed. There is a way to stop. And stop they must. "Just as an alcoholic must not pick up that first drink, thecompulsive gambler must not make the next bet." says Dr. Robert L. Custer. He is the psychiatrist with the U.S. Veterans Administration and a pioneer in the medical treatment of pathological gambling. The nongambler spouse, relative or partner can go to Gam-Anoan allied GA fellow ship. Gam-Ano- n trains the wife, for example, not to bail out the gambler, not 1.1 top-ranki- to believe his lies, not to lose her composure. Says Msgr. Joseph Dunne, president of the National Council on Compulsive Gambling. "The wife must give an out! " ultimatum: Go to GA or get What awaits the gambler at GA? "First." says Monsignor Dunne, "he will find that it is possible to go through a w hole day without placing a bet and that these GA guys are happy and normal . . . Then they w ill get through to him that his problem is not money, but gambling. Thats a revelation." GAs recovery program, modeled after the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, aims at instilling guiding principles for daily life. And it works. Said one recovering compulsive gambler: "My greatest accomplishment is to come to GA tonight and know that I w ill not gamble tomorrow. If it never gets worse than it is H today. Ill be happy the rest of my life." For more information, write to Gamblei s Anonymous National Sen'ice Office. Dept. P. P.O. Box 17173. Los Angeles. Calif. 90017. covering compulsive gamblers in 586 GA groups in the U.S.. as well as in 145 chapters in other countries. In the spirit of anony mity. GA keeps no membership rolls and maintains no statistics. But an estimated 25 .(XX) compulsive gamblers hae recovered through GA since it began 27 years ago. formulas in the Ford According to population-stud- y Administration report "Gambling in America." at least . Photos b Peria. international Snck Photographs 'duet Skoogton HoodftnCamp 'uirdst Abramson tslot machine and korods Sgmanhtpn PAGE 16 JULY 15. 1984 PARADE MAGAZINE |