As gambling addiction rates rise, keep an eye on grandma this Super Bowl | Edith Langford

Seniors with gambling addictions are often boomers who have attained the American dream and then lost

I have been a psychotherapist for 40 years and I still remember the first time, back in 1984, that I led an in-patient addiction therapy group. Joe, a retired marketing executive in his 60s and a compulsive gambler, abruptly exited the room and disappeared into the dark snowy Long Island evening in his pajamas and slippers.

Devastated, I thought I had done something wrong. No," my clinical supervisor explained, it's just post time at the Belmont racetrack."