Gambling

Gambling is generally supposed to be an entertaining pastime, just like fun parks, video games, cinemas, and many other types of entertainment. But for a number of people, unlike other fun pastimes, gambling grows into something serious, something important and addictive. The question is: “When does casual gambling become problem gambling?”

This question is extremely difficult to answer, because it varies from person to person. In reality, the problem appears when gambling occupies too large a role in a person’s life, when you stop gambling for pleasure but rather out of compulsion. You may well think that problem gambling happens other people, to people who have no real self-control, but that’s not the case. Anyone can become a problem gambler without even noticing it.

 

Gamblers Anonymous Help

We would like to share with you a set of 20 questions posed by Gamblers Anonymous that you should ask yourself if you think you may have a gambling problem:

1 -  Did you ever lose time from work or school due to gambling?
2 -  Has gambling ever made your home life unhappy?
3 -  Did gambling affect your reputation?
4 -  Have you ever felt remorse after gambling?
5 -  Did you ever gamble to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties?
6 -  Did gambling cause a decrease in your ambition or efficiency?
7 -  After losing did you feel you must return as soon as possible and win back your losses?
8 -  After a win did you have a strong urge to return and win more?
9 -  Did you often gamble until your last dollar was gone?
10 – Did you ever borrow to finance your gambling?
11 – Have you ever sold anything to finance gambling?
12 – Were you reluctant to use “gambling money” for normal expenditures?
13 – Did gambling make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family?
14 – Did you ever gamble longer than you had planned?
15 – Have you ever gambled to escape worry, trouble, boredom or loneliness?
16 – Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance gambling?
17 – Did gambling cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?
18 – Do arguments, disappointments or frustrations create within you an urge to gamble?
19 – Did you ever have an urge to celebrate any good fortune by a few hours of gambling?
20 – Have you ever considered self-destruction or suicide as a result of your gambling?

Gambling Help Organizations

Those organizations work either on a global level, such as gamblersanonymous.org, responsiblegambling.org, gamtalk.org or operate on a national and state level, like ncpgambling.org, problemgambling.vic.gov.au, gamcare.co.uk, problemgambling.ca, gamblingproblem.co.nz and many others.