Today we have a guest post
A gambling addiction can have a devastating effect on your personal, professional, and financial life. Recognized as an addiction illness, gambling addiction leads to more suicides than drug dependency. As it usually develops around solitary gambling games, this type of addiction is difficult to observe and acknowledge. Here are five signs to tell if you are addicted to gambling:
1. You Are Gambling More Than You Can Afford
The gambling addiction is not triggered by the prospect of easy money; it is triggered by the thrill of the action itself while the pay out is what produces that “high” feeling. However, one of the signs that you may be addicted to gambling is when you bet more than you actually have. When you are pretty well on your feet, you may not notice that you are running out of money at the beginning. As your gambling addiction advances, you will immediately notice that you have gambled and lost more that you had.
2. You Are Gambling Your Mortgage Payment Away
A gambling addict does not know when to quit. Someone who is not addicted would never bet the money they’ve not earned yet, the mortgage money, or even the grocery money. When you have a gambling addiction, you forget all about being financially responsible. You bet all the money that you have and you forget all about your responsibilities or any other type of responsibility, for that matter. You need to feed your addiction and it doesn’t matter what you sacrifice.
3. You Feel Depressed Or Have Suicidal Thoughts
One of the most obvious effects of gambling addiction is suicidal thoughts and depression. Every time you lose, you enter a state of depression. Struggling to get out of that state, you go back to gambling in the hope that you will reach that “high” again. The more you are sinking in gambling debts, the more depressed you will get. However, you may reject the idea that you are depressed and refuse to acknowledge what is happening.
4. You Are Experiencing Behavior Changes
You will find ways to skip school or work just to keep your addiction fed. You will never explain your whereabouts to your family or friends. You will no longer respect your routine of going to school or to work. You no longer commit to activities that you use to in the past, like playing soccer with friends Friday nights. You are too busy to spend time with your loved ones.
5. You Are Keeping Things A Secret From Family And Friends
Gambling addiction is not something that you feel proud of. That is the reason you will do everything in your power for things to remain a secret. You may cut off connections with old friends, and find “new” friends that resonate with your new passion. You will deny everything if you are confronted. You may simply feel ashamed for what you are doing, and avoid contact with the people who love you. You want to keep things secret because you feel they may not love you if they knew about your addiction.
Gambling addiction can be cured. It takes effort and restraint to let go. However, you need to recognize that you have a problem first and that is the most difficult step of all. Allow your friends and family to help you and don’t let gambling take control of your life. Remember that gambling addiction is very difficult to notice even by the people who love you. You need to reach out to them and let them support you in your efforts to let go.
Do you know anyone who is addicted to gambling?
