Problem Gambling Innovator: Carol O'Hare
Carol O'Hare discovered the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG), of which she is now the executive director, about the same time she learned of the gambling disorder itself - while attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings in 1991 to overcome her own gambling addiction problem.
Fifteen years ago, O'Hare found herself as a recently divorced working mother who started gambling to escape her life's stresses. Eventually, however, she became obsessed with the games and the quickly dulling thrill the bets brought to her. At the time, disordered gambling was not as well understood or as discussed as it is today, so O'Hare had no idea that other people were going through the very same problems. "I thought gambling was not my problem, life was my problem. Gambling was my coping mechanism," she said.
O'Hare later learned that major gaming industry companies like Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. already were beginning to speak out about responsible gaming awareness, but O'Hare usually frequented local bars, pubs and even laundromats to bet on video poker and any other machines they had available. The gaming industry's responsible gaming efforts weren't reaching her. "It got to the point that gambling was no longer fun, it just hurt less than not gambling," O'Hare remembers.
A friend suggested she attend a Gamblers Anonymous meeting, and O'Hare says this was the first time she had ever heard the phrase "compulsive gambler." She discovered she was not the only person with this problem, and that she could find help. "The irony was that after divorcing a person with addiction problems and trying to rid my life of all addictions, I couldn't see that I was falling into the same traps," she said. "I viewed myself as morally weak and used gambling as a temporary solution, but it became a problem itself."
It wasn't until she began dealing with her own problem that O'Hare began to ask why compulsive gambling was not discussed more often and learned of some awareness campaigns already in place. She met a friend who worked with the Nevada Council, and eventually was asked to present her story to a group of executives at Harrah's Entertainment. "HarrahÕs was looking for someone to tell their story, and the Council wanted to help get knowledge [of disordered gambling] out. All they needed was a bridge between the two," O'Hare said.
For several years, O'Hare served as a responsible gaming consultant for Harrah's, where she was uniquely qualified to advise executives on the effectiveness of internal awareness programs, just as the industry and scientists were beginning to understand more about the disorder. O'Hare then began work with the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling, an affiliate of the umbrella organization National Council on Problem Gambling.
Although awareness of disordered gambling has vastly improved since the early 1990s, O'Hare says there still is a lot of misinformation out there. The general population may be more conscious of the problem and of industry efforts to curb it, but there remains a learning curve, she says.
O'Hare stresses that the responsible gaming message must be kept fresh through diligent tactics to maintain awareness and advertise ways to get help. The Nevada Council's core program is providing access to and promotion of the state problem gambling help line, which O'Hare calls a "vital communication link." Teaming with the gaming industry, the Nevada Council also helped pass gaming regulations in Nevada that set an industrywide minimum standard for responsible gaming services, which OÕHare notes many companies provided voluntarily. Now the help line number is provided in every type of gaming facility, which gives it greater visibility for those people who may need it.
"My motivation is that I don't ever want someone to be in my position, reaching for the phone and not knowing who to call," she said. "Most people need only that one piece of information - that they're not the only one with this disorder - and need to know how to get help." As executive director of the Nevada Council, Carol O'Hare has made improving the ability of a person to hear this message her life's work.
