Hamilton, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/07/2016 -- This October, the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey honored National Mental Health Awareness Week with a renewed commitment to breaking the stigma surrounding mental illness. The CCGNJ emphasizes that problem gambling is a behavioral disorder with a high rate of co-occurring mental illness. As always, the CCGNJ continues to offer support and hope in the form of compassionate, comprehensive access to multiple treatment resources for issues like problem sports gaming and casino gambling in NJ, as well as problem lottery playing in the Meadowlands area.
National Mental Health Awareness Week is an initiative spearheaded by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Mental illnesses and disorders affect millions of Americans per year, and are often shrouded in shame or misunderstanding. To combat the stigma, NAMI's National Mental Health Awareness Week efforts from October 2nd - 8th, 2016, focused on encouraging Americans to take the #StigmaFree pledge. In order to replace the stigma surrounding mental illness with hope for support and recovery, participants promised to 1) learn about mental health issues, 2) see the person and not the illness and 3) take action on mental health issues. Advocates and allies can still take the pledge at http://www.nami.org/stigmafree.
Removing stigma around mental illness is an initiative close to the CCGNJ's mission as a problem gambling advocacy organization. According to Neva Pryor, Executive Director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, problem gamblers often suffer from stigma and shame surrounding the behavioral disorder of problem gambling; additionally, many problem gamblers suffer stigmatized mental illness alongside their disorder. The CCGNJ facilitates ways for people to break the stigma surrounding gambling and mental health issues so that problem gamblers and their loved ones can embark on the recovery journey together.
Contact the CCGNJ's toll-free, confidential, 24/7 sports betting, casino gambling and other disordered gambling hotline for all of NJ (including the Meadowlands area) at 1-800GAMBLER.
About The Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey
The Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey is a non-profit, private organization dedicated to helping individuals seek help for their disordered gambling problem, and for concerned friends and loved ones to confidentially express their concerns about someone close to them. Their 24/7 hotline is 800-GAMBLER. The Council also works to train professionals in the fields of gambling addiction and recovery.
For more information, please visit http://www.800gambler.org.