Stimulus checks poses risk for those with gambling addiction

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CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – With the new year, comes a little extra cash in people’s pockets with the stimulus checks rolling out, but one group in Charleston is concerned the money will be spent recklessly.

Staff at First Choice Services says when the first round of stimulus checks came out they saw a significant increase in gambling. Their worry is that it will happen again this time. They also say a lot of people call them wanting to quit gambling for their New Year’s Resolution.“We get calls from people who use this as a new opportunity to review their life and review their finances,” Shelia Moran, First Choice Services said.The extra stimulus check money poses some challenges for those who like to gamble.“Let’s say you see a 20-dollar bill on the sidewalk, you might pick it up and say, ‘okay this is my lucky day, I’m going to spend this on gambling’, or go buy some lottery tickets. So, we know sometimes when people get unexpected money, they do say I’m going to spend this on something fun, something like gambling and for some people it’s just that,” Moran said.With more people staying home because of COVID-19 and quarantine, online gambling has also increased.“What we see with people that have a gambling addiction is that they spend money, they lose money and then they take more of the money they actually need to get even and eventually they end up in a vicious cycle of debt,” Moran said.According to research, gambling increases the chances of poor mental health for those already struggling with the addiction.

“There’s some significant risk factors including depression, anxiety, isolation and we know right now during the pandemic, especially here in West Virginia, people are certainly seeing an increase in all of those factors.”