Gambling is not necessarily like other addictions. It stands alone in some of its characteristics. It does, however, resemble other addictions in some ways. Gambling is a process addiction, like a number of other addictions. It supplies the addict with dopamine, like every other addiction does. And it only causes harm to a person’s life by depleting their resources and personal wellness. Though compulsive gambling is not always taken seriously as an addiction and is qualified by some as merely a bad habit, it actually has all the classic attributes of an addiction.
Gambling is a process addiction. This means that its addictive qualities are arrived at through a repeated series of behaviors rather than a chemical high. Other similar process addictions may include sex addiction and shopping addiction. Believe it or not, a chemical process actually does take place in reaction to carrying the process out, and it is what the addict is trying to achieve with their behavior.
The chemical process is the creation of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is what our brains create to express pleasure. When we find something that creates dopamine, we tend to return to it frequently. Addicts return to it too frequently for reasons that are still somewhat mysterious. When a person gambles, or carries out any other process addiction, they achieve the dopamine they are seeking through behavior that gratifies them. Contrary to popular opinion, it is not the substances used in addiction that keeps the addict returning for more; it is the dopamine.
And like all addictions, a gambling addiction will take a person’s life apart if it is allowed to thrive. No addiction is sustainable because it is, by definition, overusing something to an unnatural extent. In the case of a gambling addiction, people often lose their money, their homes, their cars, their jobs and their relationships to their addiction because they set their sole focus on their addiction rather than their responsibilities.
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Gamblers Anonymous is a group that was founded in 1957 in California. It was created by two individuals who had great difficulty abstaining from gambling and spent time discussing their problem, which they found alleviated it. They based Gamblers Anonymous on groups like aftercare facilities for alcoholics in Edmonton, Alcoholics Anonymous, which operated under the idea that peer support, honesty and a desire to change could help a person overcome their addiction.
Today, Gamblers Anonymous is a world wide program that allows anyone with a desire to stop gambling a membership. The group offers support in person, over the phone and online in order to prevent compulsive gambling. It is not affiliated with any institution or denomination and there is no membership fee due in order to join. The only requirement for membership is that the individual desires to quit gambling.
Many people who are addicted to gambling try repeatedly to bring their addiction under control alone, to no avail. At Gamblers Anonymous, the organization does a lot to help people understand why they are different from others and why they struggle with gambling so much. A big part of their philosophy is helping people to understand that they cannot control who they are or the fact that they are different, but they do have control over the choices they make and how they view themselves.
There are a variety of ways to treat a gambling addiction. Different types of addiction call for different remedies. Less severe addictions can sometimes be managed by joining a support group such as Gamblers Anonymous, or reading self-help literature. But in the case of a more severe addiction, the individual may need to submit to therapy or rehabilitation in order to regain a lifestyle free from their addiction.
Outpatient rehabilitation requires the addict to appear for group and individual counseling sessions, as well as participate in other addiction treatment activities. This style of rehabilitation is for addicts who cannot quit on their own, but who are also not in immediate danger from their addiction. Outpatient rehabilitation allows an addict to receive ongoing treatment while still being responsible for their day to day lives.
Inpatient rehabilitation, on the other hand, involves housing the addict within a facility for their own protection. Needless to say, this kind of rehab is for severe addicts who have the potential to be a danger to themselves or to someone else. Being housed, fed and supervised within the facility shelters the individual from their addiction and lets them focus solely on their recovery. This is done through individual and group counseling, therapeutic activities, workbook lessons, and aftercare programs. The time spent in an inpatient rehab program is usually in an increment of 30, 60 or 90 days.
Once a gambling addiction has been identified, most addicts need support in order to stop gambling. This support can be found in a casual or an immersive form, but most important is that steps are taken to move the addict away from their addiction. Any kind of addiction is destructive to lives and should be eliminated as quickly as possible.
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A gambling addiction can wreak havoc on the life of the addict and the people they are close to. When a person is addicted to gambling, their behavior can change so drastically that it becomes unrecognizable, to themselves and their loved ones. The best way to end an addiction to gambling is by identifying the signs of the addiction and seeking help for them.
A gambling addiction can look different from person to person, but there are some general commonalities that can be drawn between gambling addictions that serve as warning signs, such as:
- Missing school or work because of gambling
- Turning to gambling to cope with difficult situations, or to celebrate positive situations
- Engaging, or considering to engage, in criminal activities in order to finance gambling
- Gambling for longer periods of time than intended
- Budgeting funds carefully around gambling
- Borrowing money in order to finance gambling
- The urge to gamble is insatiable, even after a win
- Lowered sense of responsibility and ambition due to gambling
- Feelings of remorse or sadness after gambling
- Reputation damaged due to gambling
- Considering self harm or destruction because of gambling
- Using gambling as a means of obtaining income
- Obsessing about how to make up for gambling losses
- Emptying bank accounts in order to continue gambling
- Selling personal possessions in order to finance gambling
- Not caring about personal well-being or the well-being of loved ones due to gambling
- Losing sleep over thoughts of gambling
- Feelings of unhappiness at home due to gambling
No one begins gambling thinking they are going to become addicted to it. A gambling addiction usually begins in a way that is seemingly harmless. A person comes into some disposable income, or perhaps they have saved up for some recreational pleasure. They start gambling at a casino, online, at a horse track or at another gambling venue as innocent fun, with no intention of making bad life choices.
However, it is only a matter of time before their fun becomes not-so-innocent. Studies have shown that people who are prone to addictive behavior are psychologically and/or biologically wired that way, so when they discover something that gives them immense pleasure, they are likely to become addicted to it. What started as a casual passtime becomes habitual, and the gambler starts to become obsessed with their winnings and their losings, investing more time, money and energy into their habit than is healthy.
As is the case with any addiction, eventually the person in question cannot stop themselves from gambling even once they are aware of the negative effects it is having on their life. They develop a tolerance to the emotional high that gambling gives them so they perpetually require more of it, and the gambling becomes compulsive. They will go as far as writing off their personal responsibilities and relationships in order to gamble, putting themselves and their family members at risk. Some go as far as draining bank accounts or obtaining the means to gamble illegally, and develop antisocial personalities in order to hide their problem. Others begin to pathologically lie about their gambling habit.
And as is the case with any addiction, it cannot end until the addicted person wants it to end. Sometimes the person decides this on their own, and sometimes they require an intervention from their family and friends. The method of recovering from a gambling addiction depends heavily on the severity of the addiction. Usually some kind of treatment is required, in the form of Gamblers Anonymous meetings, outpatient rehab or inpatient residential rehab. No gambling addiction is impossible to recover from with the right treatment.