IT’S THE DOPAMINE –
April 8, 2025 – Kate’s family was about discover a devastating secret she’d kept hidden for years – one that was going to turn their financial lives upside down.
Grasping for the words to explain the depth of her deceit, she could only say ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry’, over and over again.
It started with a flicker of excitement and the push of a button.
It was 2002. Kate, then an expectant mother, sat trance-like in front of a poker machine, her eyes glued to the flashing screen for hours.
Her mind ruminated on the near-misses – she needed four matching symbols, missing just one would mean a jackpot. So close. Just one more spin. Just one more.
The dopamine hit was too strong to walk away from. The next one could be it.
The machine gave the illusion of losses disguised as wins – $5 here, $20 there – but she quickly lost track of how many $50 notes she’d inserted.
‘It’s like electronic heroin from the moment you sit down. It’s so hypnotic, you don’t quite understand it’s happening,’ Kate, now 45, tells me.
