Gambling addiction is something that we hate talking about, because it affects so many people. We are strong advocates of responsible gambling. If you or someone that you are close to has a gambling problem, it’s important to get them help. When people are caught up in the midst of a gambling problem, they don’t really think about how much damage they’re doing to their lives. They are chasing short term highs that make them feel good, and being affected by the losses that eventually occur. You need to make sure that you are being as supportive as possible when you approach the person. Gambling addictions are hard to admit, because it signifies a lack of control. They already feel embarrassed. There’s no need to try to shame them into anything else.
If you’re trying to personally carve a new life out for yourself after a gambling addiction, there’s hope. You can do it. Don’t let anyone tell you that it’s hopeless. You might have a lot of debts because of the way your money went out the door to the casinos, but you can turn that around.
If you haven’t already, you want to make sure that you turn off your casino subscriptions. When you know that you have a problem, the first thing that you have to do is make sure that you cut off access. You don’t want to just say “Oh, I’ll only play 15 minutes or so!” because chances are good that you will break the rules and end up making yourself angry. When you have a problem, you can’t just say that it’s something that you will be able to fight on your own. You need to reach out for help. That’s the next step after realizing that you have a problem.
You may have to get professional help in order to really see any improvement. A therapist can work through some issues with you. If you haven’t looked up a support group for gambling addictions, then you might want to do that as well.
It might take you finding new friends in order to really get past your gambling addiction. Usually we’re into whatever our friends are into. So if you have lots of friends that gamble online, you need to distance yourself a little bit. Explain up front what you’re doing. While some will be offended or even try to tell you that you don’t really have a problem, you know yourself better than anyone else ever could. This means that you need to step back when you know that it’s time to step back, and just leave it at that.
What about when you really want to make sure that you have a new life to wait for? Well, that’s the part that’s going to take the longest. At first, you might feel like there’s no point of even bothering to do any better than what you are, because everyone is going to have so many mixed feelings about you. But at the end of the day, you have to do what’s going to be the best move for you to do and not worry too much about what anyone else thinks about it. That’s just the way it is. Hang in there!