Gambling Addiction
High stakes
"It took mounting debts to 25 financial institutions, failure at university and finally the tears of his wife before a Tokyo man finally got help for his problem.
The man, now in his 40s, was addicted to gambling, a social ill that only recently has received wide recognition in Japan.
Although no official statistics exist for gambling addiction in Japan, estimates range from 1 million to 1.5 million people, including 70 to 80 percent gripped by the lure of pachinko machines..."
"... Psychiatrist Masando Iwasaki, who heads the Iwasaki Mental Clinic in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, said the evils of gambling are finally being addressed in Japan.
"Partly because the addiction problem has come to be discussed openly in Japan, it has become a prominent problem," Iwasaki said. "Patients have doubled in the last five years..."
"Experts say that attending self-help groups is the most effective way to recover.
Gamblers Anonymous Japan, for example, was established 16 years ago and now has 43 groups around the nation.
Anyone can attend the groups' meetings, and addicts can remain anonymous. They talk about their experiences but do not criticize each other as long as they have the intention to quit.
"Loneliness and anxiety are at the root of this affliction, and anyone can become an addict in this society of diluted communication with real people because of collapsed family ties and the wide-spread use of the Internet," said Taizo Kato, professor of psychology at Waseda University.
"There are concerns that patients will increase in the future," he said..."
International Herald Tribune/Asahi Newspaper, February 11, 2006
"It took mounting debts to 25 financial institutions, failure at university and finally the tears of his wife before a Tokyo man finally got help for his problem.
The man, now in his 40s, was addicted to gambling, a social ill that only recently has received wide recognition in Japan.
Although no official statistics exist for gambling addiction in Japan, estimates range from 1 million to 1.5 million people, including 70 to 80 percent gripped by the lure of pachinko machines..."
"... Psychiatrist Masando Iwasaki, who heads the Iwasaki Mental Clinic in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, said the evils of gambling are finally being addressed in Japan.
"Partly because the addiction problem has come to be discussed openly in Japan, it has become a prominent problem," Iwasaki said. "Patients have doubled in the last five years..."
"Experts say that attending self-help groups is the most effective way to recover.
Gamblers Anonymous Japan, for example, was established 16 years ago and now has 43 groups around the nation.
Anyone can attend the groups' meetings, and addicts can remain anonymous. They talk about their experiences but do not criticize each other as long as they have the intention to quit.
"Loneliness and anxiety are at the root of this affliction, and anyone can become an addict in this society of diluted communication with real people because of collapsed family ties and the wide-spread use of the Internet," said Taizo Kato, professor of psychology at Waseda University.
"There are concerns that patients will increase in the future," he said..."
International Herald Tribune/Asahi Newspaper, February 11, 2006
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