'We are broken': Inside one family's fight against gambling addiction

Amit, a 20‑year‑old honors student who arrived at the University of Cincinnati in the fall of 2023 with ambitions of becoming an engineer, fell into a gambling addiction that began with a college poker game and quickly spiraled into a crisis. Within two years he lost roughly 20 pounds, his appearance grew disheveled, and his academic performance collapsed as he flunked classes, dropped out of others and squandered the rent money his parents sent him. By spring 2025, three weeks before finals, Amit could no longer stay on campus and returned home, telling his mother, “I’m glad you got me,” a plea that left her, a pediatrician, helpless to address her son’s hidden problem.

Amit’s story reflects a broader surge in gambling among young adults, a trend experts say is becoming entrenched in American society. A 2025 Common Sense Media survey found that more than one‑third of 11‑ to 17‑year‑olds had gambled in the past year, with one in eight betting on sports, while a 2023 NCAA survey reported that 51 % of women and two‑thirds of men aged 18‑22 had placed sports bets. College students encounter gambling through sportsbook apps, daily‑fantasy sites, offshore bookmakers and the rapidly growing prediction‑market sector, often bypassing age restrictions. Dr. James Borchers, chief medical officer for the Big Ten, warned that gambling now ranks alongside alcohol as a top campus concern, noting its regularity and potential to spiral out of control.

The fallout extends beyond individual families to institutions and policymakers. In Ohio, where the legal betting age is 21, sportsbooks recorded 469 under‑age betting accounts in 2024, including three with buy‑ins over $80,000, according to the Ohio Casino Control Commission. Parents, like Kim Freudenberg who founded the support group Parents Standing Together after her son’s addiction, are increasingly caught off guard until debt and mental‑health damage surface. Universities are beginning to respond: TCU now asks general gambling questions during mental‑health screenings, and the Big Ten emphasizes proactive education, though it acknowledges that awareness alone cannot eliminate the problem. Legislative efforts are also emerging; New York lawmakers are debating mandatory geolocation to block campus betting, while Connecticut proposes requiring public universities to deliver at least one on‑campus problem‑gambling program each academic year, signaling a growing recognition that the crisis demands coordinated, systemic action.

⚡ Effects Interpreter