Fall Football Arrives As Does Opportunity For Gambling Addiction, According To Local Expert

The first full football weekend of the fall has arrived with both college and professional football on the docket.

And with it, a lot of advertising for betting on football. A Senior Clinical Director at Volunteer Behavioral Health said gambling addiction is on the rise.

Greg Lewis said the chance for addiction increases as football season begins. Lewis said some 250,000 individuals in Tennessee could meet the criteria for gambling addiction.

“Gambling can become a mental health disorder just like depression or alcohol-use disorder,” Lewis said. “When you have all this stimulation, and all these things going on and all these rewards, it releases dopamine in your brain, which is associated with both pleasure and motivation.”

Lewis said gambling addiction can be compared to alcoholism as both take control of a person’s life.

“Using more and more, all the different impacts it has on your life, the lack of control to be able to stop or reduce,” Lewis said. “It’s very very similar to an alcohol-use disorder.”

Lewis said there are several signs of a gambling addiction: a preoccupation with gambling, increased spending when betting, and using gambling as a crutch when stressed. Too often, Lewis said, the gambling impacts relationships, an often overlooked part of the addiction.

“Relationship difficulties and not just from the financial loss, Lewis said. “The time spent gambling where you are not spending time with your spouse or your loved one.”

Lewis said he encourages anyone who thing they have a gambling problem to reach out to the Gambling Clinic. They provide free consultation and a free screening to see if you have a gambling addiction and they can do it over the phone.

“Gambling addiction is a mental health disorder,” Lewis said. “There is neurotransmitters in the brain that cause someone to have this type of addiction. It’s very hard to discontinue this without professional help.”