Then they run up credit card debt. They sell or pawn possessions and beg for loans. Thousands file bankruptcy. Many commit suicide. Pathological gambling rarely affects just one person.
Families lose savings, college and retirement funds.
They suffer foreclosed mortgages. Under the stress, many problem gamblers commit domestic and child abuse. After casinos came to the Mississippi Gulf Coast , domestic violence increased 69 percent. An estimated 37 percent of all pathological gamblers have abused their children. The paper edition contains reports from the field, legislative updates and more.