Penn State's 'Know the Odds' program addresses gambling addiciton in students

Penn State’s Collegiate Recovery Community (CRC) has launched a new campaign aimed at raising awareness for and reducing stigma for gambling-related disorders.

The campaign launched by the community that specializes in helping collegiate athletes overcome various addictions is fittingly called Know the Odds, and it comes as a direct response to the opening of the Happy Valle Casino, serving as a reminder that gambling could potentially have serious consequences and that seeking help early could be important. The CRC hosted a virtual seminar, hoping to boost awareness for the available support resources that students struggling with the habit can turn to address the issue. The idea behind Penn State’s CRC’s new campaign is to help identify the beginning of an addiction before even the players know. Penn State’s CRC wants to help people better understand the chemistry of gambling addiction and what triggers lead people further into compulsive behavioral patterns. Commenting on this, Jason Whitney, Director at Penn State’s CRC, added: Even if you are not taking drugs, it’s almost as though gambling is an addiction to the drugs your own body makes, Whitney explained, bringing clarity into the matter. Whitney also noted that students can be struggling with multiple addictions at once, and that students who are experiencing trouble controlling their alcohol use, or who have developed drug addiction, could also tip into compulsive gambling.

Penn State’s CRC is also clear on what needs to be done for any intervention measures to actually have the desired effect. According to Whitney, to succeed, any intervention needs to lead to recovery, and not just stopping. It’s about staying stopped and maintaining that lifestyle change, treating it that seriously as something that can ruin their lives and/or kill them. The main way this disease kills people is suicide, Whitney added. The CRC has multiple recovery options at its disposal, and those have been tailored to the type of addiction students are facing. There is a recovery dorm and a daily peer support group, which involves students who were previously in recovery themselves and now assist others.