Risk of Gambling on the rise!

This is a word from the therapist:

Matt Cihak, a gambling therapist at River Hills Recovery Center, said that although he hasn't seen any young people seeking treatment for a gambling addiction, he knows it's only a matter of time.

"Our gambling patients still tend to be in the late 40s or early 50s," he said. "But with an increase of poker on TV and a host of Internet sites available, kids have never been exposed to gambling more than they are now."

Warning signs may include a teen preoccupied with gambling, excited by the results and irritable after being asked to stop.

"Gambling is a form of risk-taking rebellion," Cihak said. "And like alcoholism and drug abuse, a family history may put a child at a higher risk."

But unlike alcoholism and drug abuse, Cihak said, gambling frequently flies under the radar.

"Obviously, if your child said he's going over to his friend's house to drink and do a lot of drugs, a parent would be outraged," he said. "But if your child said he's going to play cards with his friends, most parents would think nothing of it."

According to statistics compiled by the National Council on Problem Gambling in 2006:

-- 1 percent of Iowa's adult population struggles with pathological gambling -- the urge to gamble despite harmful, negative consequences or a desire to stop.

-- 2 percent of Iowa's adolescent population struggles with pathological gambling.

-- 2 percent of the state's population struggles with problem gambling -- a person gambles compulsively enough that wagering has a severe, negative effect on jobs, relationships, mental health or other important aspects of life.

-- 4 percent of adolescents in the state struggle with problem gambling.

"A person generally seeks treatment for a gambling addiction after some sort of financial devastation," Cihak said. "A teenager or young adult often doesn't have the same sort of financial means, but they may still have all of the other signs."

Cihak recommends monitoring sites children frequent on the Internet and asking questions if they have an unexplained need for money.

"If your child has a part-time job yet never seems to have money," he said, "there may be a problem."