WGM#38 NOV/DEC 2015

问 题 面 对 面 TREATING THE PROBLEM
BC: Most callers get to know our treatment
centre through publications or the introduction
of institutions. They will first call the gambling
hotline, asking tentative questions about
whether it is confidential, what methods we
use, how to deal with debt and so on. The
instructor will encourage them to come in for
an interview although formal treatment won’t
start until they agree.
BB: How long does a standard treatment take
and does the length of time differ based on
different factors? If so, what are those factors?
BC: The rehabilitation situation varies. There
is no standard treatment time. The length of
treatment time depends on the extent of the
patient’s gambling addiction, motivation, the
extent of debt, the level of network support
such as family and so on. For example, if the
caller isn’t motivated he might only come in for
interviews once or twice then refuse treatment
– they want instant treatment to quit gambling
and repay their debt. Another example is that
some callers have very complicated gambling
issues such as suffering from a mood disorder
or facing a marital crisis. In this case the process
will become more volatile and may take up to
several years to maintain stability. Even if they
can stop gambling for over six months, from
experience they may fall back into old habits due
to a minor thing or even just a casino opening.
This is because there is too much temptation in
Macau and for those who once had a gambling
addiction problem, there is no immunity.
BB: Can you run us through and explain
the process of treating someone who has
a gambling problem and comes to you for
treatment?
BC: The common counseling process usually
has the following objectives and content:
• Evaluate the degree of “gambling disorder”
• Reduce the burden of debt through debt
restructuring or a repayment plan
• Assist in the reconstruction of new values
of gambling and money in the long term
• Clarify and find the crux of the problem.
It is a deeper level of counseling, such
as marriage issues or personal growth
damage which makes the gambler rely on
gambling to avoid the issue.
• Reduce the chance of relapse; learn
decompression methods or enhance
problem-solving ability; early identification
of the crisis events that easily cause relapse.
• Repair the relationship with family and
build a new social and life mode
BB: What sort of success rate do you have?
BC: As I mentioned before, the easy accessibility
of gambling in Macau is the biggest challenge
to quitting gambling so it takes a long time and
relapse happens. It is difficult to use a unified
standard. In Hong Kong they use six months
as the observation period. It is considered
a successful case if there is no relapse in six
months. But in Macau, out of 10 callers maybe
only three or four of them will stay away from
gambling for more than six months. The rest
will have to experience a few cycles before
they succeed!
BB: Do you have any specific examples of
success stories you can tell us about?
BC: Sure. There is a male gambler who has
gambled for over 10 years. Gambling caused
disharmony in his family and the family has
been in a constant cycle of debt repayment.
His wife eventually wanted a divorce so he
was forced to act as both father and mother
of his children. The most gripping pain for him
was seeing a scattered family as a result – the
negative impact on the next generation was all
his fault. He attended gambling counseling for
more than three years and relapse happened
often during that time but he constantly
reflected on his own and recognized the
fact that gambling is a path of no return.
Once he did that, positive changes started to
appear in his values and lifestyle. He has now
stopped gambling for a period of time and his
children have served as the motivation for his
transformation.
There is also a female gambler that
springs to mind. Due to the seriousness of her
gambling addiction, she broke the law and was
sent to jail. Her family wasn’t willing to forgive
her for the damage she caused and didn’t visit
her at all while she was in prison. She suffered
through some long and lonely days there but
also spent time reflecting on her mistake. When
she was released, her husband’s forgiveness
and love convinced her to accept gambling
counseling. It was while recalling her life during
counseling that she realized the cause of her
gambling issue was that she suspected her
husband of having an affair. Gambling was her
way of releasing her anger and unhappiness
but eventually became an addiction. After
being released from prison, her husband’s
love finally eliminated her doubts and the
counseling process helped her rebuild trust in
her husband, which also reduced the chance of
relapse in the future.
But there are a lot of very bad cases.
The most profound are those with very deep
gambling addictions. Because of the harm
they’ve caused to their family and friends over a
long period, by the time they seek help they’ve
already been deserted by them and live alone
in homeless centers. Their level of education
is often low and their income isn’t enough to
offset their debts and living expenses. You can
imagine their frustration and loneliness. You
only see despair and endless regret in their
eyes. It is very difficult for this kind of gambler
to find the motivation to quit gambling in the
long run because their life has lost focus. Their
situation might best be described in a Chinese
idiom as “dreaming their life away!”
BB: You must see some very desperate people
in some very unfortunate situations as a result
of their gambling.
BC: Yes! From the angle of addiction behavior,
it is very difficult for someone to quit a habit
or material that they’ve been dependent on
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