Summary - Understanding Gambling Disorder and its Connection to Suicide

This one-hour CE workshop will provide participants an overview of gambling disorder and how problem gambling behaviors can prompt suicidal ideation. The program will define gambling, provide examples of gambling harm, and outline risk factors for gambling disorder. It will explain the roles that a problem gambler's perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness play in suicidal ideation and provide a framework for assessment. The session will close with a discussion of gambling disorder recovery tools and will provide specific recovery resources.

Nakita Sconsoni (she/her) is a Community Health Educator and Continuing Education Specialist at the Division on Addiction at Cambridge Health Alliance. Ms. Sconsoni has over 4 years of experience working in the field of addiction with a focus on gambling. She has developed and facilitated live trainings and online courses and has created educational materials for allied health professionals, recovery and support providers, and community members. She contributes to the development of grant proposals for capacity building and outreach activities and works with capacity building specialists at the Division to create and execute plans to increase awareness of addiction-related health issues across New England. Ms. Sconsoni is also a Content Manager of the Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS; https://basisonline.org/) research blog, and she is particularly interested in the intersectionality between addiction and other social identities. Ms. Sconsoni earned her MSW from the University of New Hampshire.