Missouri Lottery Executive Director May Scheve Reardon explained that what used to be a week-long awareness effort ballooned into a month-long NCPG-sponsored campaign encouraging individuals to “Navigate Problem Gambling” by becoming aware of the warning signs and help available both locally and nationally.

“In Missouri, help and information can be obtained in a variety of ways, including, a 24-hour help line, 1-888-BETSOFF (1-888-238-7633); email address ([email protected]); website (888betsoff.org); and Lottery and casino self-exclusion programs (888betsofforg),” Reardon said.

Reardon added that on behalf of the Alliance, the Missouri Lottery is also launching a new awareness campaign this month, “Help is on the Horizon,” and it will be featured via billboards, posters and brochures.

NCPG Executive Director Keith Whyte said that after 11 years of sponsoring National Problem Gambling Awareness Week during the first week of March, “it was time to extend that awareness period to an entire month.”

“When problem gambling became classified as a behavioral addiction in the Diagnostic Manual, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) from the American Psychiatric Association last year, it was appropriate to lengthen the national awareness period in hopes of reaching more problem gamblers, concerned citizens and healthcare professionals to educate them about the newly classified addiction and available resources,” Whyte explained, noting that the classification is significant in the mental health field, because problem gambling was previously categorized as an impulse control disorder since its introduction into the DSM in 1980.

Smithville Herald © March 2014