Turning the tide on gambling
“I had to sink right down to 30 cents in the bank to realise how sick and toxic I felt,” says ex-pokies addict Diana.
Diana, who withheld her surname for privacy, shared her story during Gambling Harm Awareness Week as it emerged Gippslanders lost more than $125 million to the pokies in 2021/22.
As part of the awareness week, Latrobe Community Health Service (LCHS) urged communities to talk, share and support as it put the negative effects of gambling on people’s physical and mental wellbeing under a spotlight.
“I’d go to bed, shut my eyes and see all the numbers, hear the music,” says Diana. “That’s how bad it got.”
Her turning point came a few months ago when she was declined cash at a pokies ATM. She went home and looked up her bank balance to find nothing left.
“I sat there and I just cried. I picked up the phone and knew I could either call a friend and lie, or I could ring up the gambler’s helpline. And that’s what I did.”
After talking to an ex-addict for hours, Diana gained the LCHS Gambler’s Health number and rang for an appointment.
“I haven’t looked back,” she said. “Now I feel relieved, feel free.”
“There’s this freedom. I can go out with friends and have a meal without thinking I don’t have enough money. It’s a wonderful feeling.”
Diana hopes her story can inspire others to seek help.
With a gambling father, she spent much of her youth around race tracks.
“I never gambled until 12 years ago. I didn’t think about it, it wasn’t in my blood. But maybe it was sitting there waiting to come out.”
Diana had regularly driven her parents to lunch, sitting patiently whilst they played the pokies, be- fore driving home.
“I’d look at the money going in there. It never occurred to me to go and gamble.”
One day, Diana entered the pokies room to urge her mum to leave.
“She said here’s $20, sit down and I’ll show you how to use it.
“I won $400. That’s how I saw it then. That started me off. I went the very next day and ended up losing most of it, but it didn’t stop me. That was the opening for me starting.”
Diana admits she went almost every day, depending on the money available. She will never know how much was lost on the machines, but knows it was thousands.
“I never looked at it as a problem, I didn’t look at it. I knew I was doing it. I was also lying to people.
“I can see now that I was lonely. It was better than me going home and facing what I was doing. I was escaping into this world.”
Diana recalls seeing a fellow pokies player put their head down on the machine. She learned they had just spent all their pension and was unsure what to do.
She said many regular pokies patrons were older and likely looking to fill a hole after finishing their working lives.
For Diana, a marriage breakdown and moving away from family and friends in Melbourne also contributed. Relationships further suffered as lying and fear of judgement reared their head.
Her health took a turn, with high blood pressure.
“I think the whole stress of gambling did effect me with my health. I just felt constantly ill, but there was no way I wanted to stop.”
In her recovery, Diana has highly praised the work of LCHS and has turned to journaling and writing poetry.
It wasn’t an easy journey, spending her first weeks ill, shaking and likening it with drug withdrawal.
Whilst she avoids dining in bistros connected to pokies, Diana is now able to drive past venues without issue.
“It doesn’t even come into my mind now, it doesn’t bother me. I’m very grateful I’ve got to this stage.”
She is now focused on living the rest of her life with happiness and has a renewed focus on her children and grandchildren.
LCHS senior financial counsellor Sue Battle, who works with a therapeutic counsellor to offer a holistic approach, sees about two to three clients per week from across Gippsland. “Gambling clients are very complex,” she said. Sue said the cost of living was resulting in more gambling across Gippsland. Homeless people seeking peace and rest in a gambling venue is also on the rise.
Sue not only works with gambling addicts but also their families.
“Seven to 10 people are affected for every gambler. It’s quite huge.”
“I haven’t looked back. Now I feel relieved, feel free.”
Sue said exposure to gambling starts at a young age, currently working with the family of an 11-year-old who lost $290 in one day via an iPhone.
Gambling advertisements and promotion of betting odds during sports events are a frustration for Sue “because they make it exciting to gamble”.
She said even favourite television shows like “The Block” have a chance or gambling aspect, and the advertising throughout the show reflected that.
“Gambling is a gain for something you do, it’s a chance.”
Her advice to gamblers is “talk to someone that they feel safe with, that’s not going to judge them, that’s going to listen”.
“There’s such a stigma. It’s essential they can speak to someone or access a service like ours. Just be honest and know there are people out there to help.”
For family and friends, the advice is simple, “listen and support them”.
Sue’s key message - you are not alone.
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If you are affected by your own gambling, or the gambling of someone you know, call:
Latrobe Community Health Service 1800 242 696 during business hours.
The LCHS Gambler’s Help service provides free and confidential financial and/or therapeutic counselling to take control of your gambling.
24/7 help: Gambler’s Helpline 1800 858 858. Chat and email support is also offered at gamblinghelponline.org.au.