Addiction is something that comes in all shapes and sizes. From gambling addictions, alcohol addictions, drug addictions etc, these addictions can seriously impact your life. Anyone can have an addiction but looking at immigrants, the chances of acquiring an addiction is much easier. Many Immigrants tend to experience large amounts of trauma in their immigration process leading them to turn towards tendencies which can lead to addiction. They face constant struggles and trauma relating to division or loss of family, separation anxiety, abuse of all kinds, isolation, stress of relocation, learning a new language, etc. These events can lead to chronic mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression.
These addictions can lead to serious consequences especially a loss of money in the long run. We see this very prevalent in the book The Leavers by Lisa Ko, as Daniel started off playing poker for highschool and then realized he was talented and could recognize certain patterns to win. He later became so obsessed with gambling that he built up his online account to $80,000 and never withdrew it, instead funneling it back into poker. He ends up consistently borrowing large amounts of money from others and is unable to pay them back. Addiction can ruin relationships with others and leave people dealing with these addictions feeling extremely lonely. Many studies find that gambling has a huge prevalence in immigrants and that those who were first generation immigrants were ultimately less likely to become gamblers in the long run compared to second and third generation immigrants. First generation gambling rates were much lower at .82% prevalence for men and .40% prevalence in women. Compared to first generation immigrants, second and third generation immigrants had a 5.18% prevalence of gambling. Rates are also majorly dependent on the age of arrival and the duration of time in the new foreign country. Also, studies have shown that being part of an ethnic minority may constitute a risk factor for a gambling problem. These problems are very common and not very talked about as people immigrate to new countries, yet need to be talked about as they can change someone’s life for the better or for the worse.
Works Cited
“Addiction and Refugees and Immigrants.” Addiction Center, 27 Oct. 2021, https://www.addictioncenter.com/addiction/refugees-immigrants/.
Gambling Prevalence Rates among Immigrants … – Researchgate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268148800_Gambling_prevalence_rates_among_immigrants_A_multigenerational_examination.
I have never really thought about this take or correlation between immigrants and addiction. Throughout reading The Leavers and your blog discussion, I can understand how one may turn to an addiction to help cope with their emotions or trauma. This is something that should be talked about more, as it’s in the realm of mental health and physical health. It’s great that mental health is becoming a less taboo topic and I hope to see more come out on immigrants and how we can help them to receive help through therapy or from other outlets other than choosing addiction to either mentally harmful or physically harmful substances.
Wow, this topic is so interesting because of how prevalent it is in our society. We hear of addiction in so many different forms having an impact on so many people and families. The thought that certain people are way more likely to deal with an addiction never even crossed my mind. Addiction affects people in different ways but ultimately can ruin someones life very quickly. As seen in the Leavers by Lisa Ko, Daniel went through this exact situation. He started out small with some games in high school and it ended up being a very large struggle in his life to come. The fact is with addiction it hurts more people than just the person who has it. We can see this through Daniel borrowing money from others because it it affecting those he borrowed from as well. Addiction is a serious issue that can ruin peoples lives and their mental health as well. It plays a big part in depression and anxiety, which is why I feel that this is such a great topic. Overall, really great post!
Normally “addiction” immediately evokes the idea of drugs for me, so it was really interesting to see Daniel’s experiences with g*mbling explored in this book. I wouldn’t have expected the correlation between being a second or third-gen immigrant and g*mbling, or that being an ethnic minority could be a risk factor for it becoming a problem. I agree that I have never seen this stuff discussed, so thanks for bringing it to our attention. Great post!
(Couldn’t post my comment without censoring g*mbling for some reason, lol)
I can understand the correlation between addiction and immigrants. If they experience trauma, they can experience mental health issues which can lead them to turn to addiction. I usually think of drugs or alcohol when I hear the word addiction The Leavers and your blog post has made me think more about all the different kinds of addiction immigrants and anyone can have.
This is such an interesting correlation that I never thought of. It’s also interesting that both Deming and Leon both struggle with this same addiction in the story. For Deming, the p0ker was never a means to make money, it was an escape from reality. He was not poor when he lived with the Wilkinson’s. His identity struggle, much like many Asian Americans could have sent him to look for acceptance in g@mbling.
It is very interesting to see the connection between immigrants and addiction. I never really thought about the two together but after reading your post and reading our story for the week I can definitely see how this may happen with trauma and other experiences. Especially after learning about Deming’s addiction issues, I would say he is a good example of this seeing that he went through so much as a kid.
Your connection between immigrants and addiction is very eye opening. I always knew that immigrants could have PTSD from their home countries or even the trauma of coming to a foreign country. I also knew that some do end up addicted to drugs and alcohol due to their PTSD. I guess with Deming’s story, I never thought about how much of a toll g*mbling could be. I never realized how addicting it could be for some people.
That is very interesting to note. When I had originally read that part of him g@mbling, I thought it was an odd character trait to give him and I didn’t think it had anymore meaning to it. But after reading your post, I can see that it is a trauma response to all of the things he has experienced in his life. Thank you for sharing.
I really like how you connected immigrants to addiction; two things you never really think have a correlation but actually do in fact correlate with each other. People also overlook the negative effects that immigrating to another country can have on one’s mental health. Mental health is super important to take care of, especially since immigrants don’t really have time to relax when moving into a different country.
I thought that the connection between immigrants and addiction isn’t talked about when it should be. Mental health issues especially in immigrant household needs to be talked about more, especially with the stigma with mental health. The challenges many immigrants go through can really effect one’s mental state, and there should be something done about it, like offering more resources towards immigrants for things like therapy.
It is interesting to highlight addiction as a product of the hardships experienced during immigration. Immigration often is a source of great trauma from the experiences before immigration, the process of immigrating, and the hardships of adjusting to a new environment. People often turn to addiction of various types to cope with emotional pain and mental health issues. I have seen this first hand and it is very difficult to watch. The experiences of immigrants is unique, and one we should discuss more so that harm of the process can be reduced. Addiction is often a problem for people who are mentally and emotionally struggling because it gives a temporary sense of fulfillment.
I like that you connected this topic into the novel Leavers considering it now makes a little more sense that Daniel turned to addiction. I would like to know more about the reasons why 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants struggle more than the first I feel like that goes against what I would have thought. I believe the first generation immigrant goes through more relocation stress although maybe the reason is that the other generations are just younger and more likely to develop that addiciton younger such as Daniel.
Thank you for blog post. I was unaware of the statistics on generational/immigration gamb|ing and found it really shocking.
The link connecting immigration and addiction is fascinating to see. I’d never considered the two together, however after reading your piece and reading our week’s narrative, I could see how trauma and other situations could lead to this. I believe Deming is a fantastic illustration of this, particularly after learning about his addiction troubles.
I’ve always heard about the correlation between addiction and immigration, but I never fully understood. Your post really opened my eyes though, they go through so much so it’s easy to see why some would turn to addiction. It’s hardly something they can control though. It’s a tough life and I can’t imagine going through it.
As a first generation child, I know how easy it is to fall into addictions for basically anything. At least for Asian immigrants, the countries are far more conservative than the US. So when, everything is so free and unrestricted here that I feel like everyone goes through some toxic addiction. In Daniel’s case, it was more on the severe side. This is a topic that isn’t talked about a lot, I really appreciate your perspective on this!
I love this topic because of its current relevance to society. While there are many instances where addictions have developed, are there addictions that are healthy in situations like these? I never thought of addiction to be based on age, duration or time of arrival within immigrants and how this can later affect identity.
I had never considered how being an immigrant would affect one’s likelihood to have an addiction of any sort. I think it would be interesting to study how being from another country impacts people’s risk taking behaviors across generations.