Among Southeast Asians in Connecticut, community health advocates say the stigma becomes another hurdle to accessing the American health care system, on top of language barriers and skepticism of traditional, Western methods of treatment. National data show that Asians are least likely among ethnic groups in the U.S. Although gambling is socially accepted in his culture, and is perceived by some refugees as a way to make fast money, gambling addiction is considered taboo - part of a bigger cultural stigma in Asian communities over mental health and addiction issues.Ĭonnecticut Public Radio Laotian refugee Howard Phengsomphone says his generation carries trauma from 'the war-torn country.' Howard Phengsomphone, 70, a Laotian elder in the Hartford area, has been trying to coax people in his community to talk about problem gambling. “When you have tremendous amounts of poverty, especially in the Southeast Asian refugee population, that tends to be a very tempting idea.”

Timothy Fong, a professor of addiction psychiatry and co-director of UCLA’s Gambling Studies Program. “Gambling is seen as an opportunity out of poverty,” said Dr. A tradition passed through generations, they say, can spiral out of control for some refugees who then find it difficult to get help. Yet Southeast Asian refugees are often overlooked in the public policy debate over the expansion of legalized gambling, as states across the nation push for new sources of revenue to fill holes in government budgets.Īdvocates in the Asian community and gambling experts say this feeling of invisibility helps fuel the “hidden” addiction. One groundbreaking study more than a decade ago in Connecticut examined a sample group of refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos - and reported their rate of gambling addiction was almost 30 times the national average. Southeast Asian refugees are among the groups that are especially vulnerable to falling into gambling addiction, experts say.

Connecticut Public Radio Quyen Truong gives a presentation to Connecticut judiciary employees last fall on problem gambling among Asians, particularly Southeast Asian refugees.

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