Slot Machine Addiction Tough to Treat

Studies have shown that for those with a tendency to lean toward becoming a slot machine or gambling addict, living within 50 miles of one will greatly increase your chances of becoming one. Lisa Pawlowski wants to make sure that doesn’t happen in the Lehigh Valley. She is the wife of Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski, and she is concerned by a recent study that showed that the Lehigh Valley could be looking at an increase in slot machine addicts with the addition of a casino in Bethlehem.

Pawlowski organized a forum for counselors, social workers, psychiatrists and psychologists to get together to learn about what makes slot machine addiction different from drug or alcohol addiction. She wanted to expose these specific types of care workers to an understanding of slot machine and gambling addiction, as well as show them how to get professionally certified in the treatment of this disease.

When she initially created the forum, Allentown was in the running for getting a slot machine license. Aztar Corp was vying for that slot machine license and in addition to building the Tropicana Pennsylvania - they agreed to help fund the slot machine addiction seminar. When it was announced that they would not be getting the slot machine license, they still paid the almost $3,000 that they had promised.

The forum covered the signs of slot machine addition, as well as various treatment methods, including therapy and anti-depressants. They think that they work because slot machine and gambling addicts do not have enough dopamine receptors in their brain, and therefore are more susceptible to an addiction.

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