Topic: ADHD People Cannot Be A Gambler What If You Know One? (Read 295 times)

There's nothing like coming from one who has ADHD in the family; thank you for contributing to this discussion, yes ADHD is manageable even if there's no cure; it's the family of people with ADHD that can help them manage their ADHD, its better for families to check their children for signs of ADHD so they can give them meds and guidance on how to manage their ADHD at their early age.

https://psychcentral.com/adhd/can-adhd-be-cured

Locking this thread, thank you to all who participated, and we'll go on to the next discussion.

In this case, it is better ADHD persons are exempted from gambling, once anyone notices such strange behaviour from any gambler in a physical casino, such gambler should be reported to the casino operators so the ADHD person can be prevented from gambling.

There is no 'but' about it, it is very risky for ADHD persons to gamble so, it is safer for them not to try to gamble at all and it will be the collective effort of everyone to ensure that these set of people live healthy lifestyles that suits their health statuses. If left for ADHD persons alone to handle it, a lot of them might become too defensive and even reject offers of help.

First and foremost, don't self diagnose, even you think you have few symptoms of ADHD, there's no proof if you're an ADHD when you not seek for professional help.

If there's an ADHD person gamble in front of you, you can pay attention with his gambling session, if he show something weird, you can warn him.

People with ADHD still able to become a gambler, but it's quite risky if they can't control themselves when their impulsivity weren't controlled.

They have medication for people with ADHD that help them especially with being able to focus and concentrate. I have a kid who has ADHD and has been taking meds for years. Once we got him on meds he went from a kid who showed no interest in school to a kid who started getting all As and Bs and graduated this year and starts college next month.

I think with the proper medication, anyone with ADHD can gamble just fine. All gamblers have impulse issues IMO, not just people with ADHD.

I think you have made a nice observation from op but I think this health condition won't deprive you from other things and achieving great thinks and future for yourself. Then as we know most of the circumstances in life be it health challenge like the ADHD would deteriorate with age if not properly managed and the names that were called had most of their achievements during their prime and young age, so it might not have been a bigger problem to manage during the young age and moreover with medication it can be quit controlled. Therefore, their gambling addiction due to ADHD might not have affected their achievements and progress especially where such person is from a home that can provide support, medication and care to the person.

You know ADHD is a spectrum. Some have it worse and some did not even got to be diagnosed until they were well into adult life and that’s because the symptoms were barely noticeable.

So it will depend on where they fall on the spectrum. I will try my best to get some professional help to convince someone even more if they seem to be struggling with gambling due to their ADHD.

I'm hearing of ADHD for the first time in this thread and I thank the OP for sharing information about it. It is good to advise our family and friends who have it to quit gambling for their own good, so that they don't get too emotionally attached to it and the effect can not be good, especially getting emotional and losing all their money. Beyond gambling they should also be be cautioned when they're engaging in other activities that can affect their mental health. Although I'm quite confused that it's mentioned in the OP that great minds like Bill Gates and Disney, also suffer this condition, yet they where able to make great decisions and impacts despite their conditions.

If I know that person, I will asks him to quit gambling and asks him to follows me to go to some place to distract his minds not tells him to return to casino. I will not tells how much they already lost their money in gabling but I will tells him to join with me to have some fun in other activities. I know that he may not accepts his lost in gambling because he may wants to keeps playing gambling.

But I can take a normal breath because I don't have relatives or family members who had ADHD and I hopes I will not meet that in the future. Maybe that will difficult for me to explain what happens to him but I will try not to lets him to playing gambling because he can gets big risks from gambling. It feels sad if we meet someone that we knows had ADHD and we can't helps him.

Answering your question, I will say that if I see someone with a similar diagnosis gambling, then I will definitely say about it (what you say in this article), but I will not and cannot insist and I have no idea that's right. Will I say this? Necessarily? Will I insist? No. After all, every person has the right to choose what to do, even if he has a medical diagnosis. After all, ADHD does not mean that a person will necessarily be unsuccessful at gambling. There are people who do not have such a diagnosis and are completely unsuccessful in gambling.

I personally have an attention deficit diagnosis and was even on meds younger.
Honestly the meds are far from perfect and won't help everyone, for some they make it even worse.

So I would say people with attention deficit disorders should generally get also therapy from a psychologist to deal with the effects of their disorder that affect them in many ways as young people currently learning the world.

As a principle I would say ALL young people under 25 need to abstain from gambling. It's a bad habbit to acquire before you have gotten out there to get a job and manage your finances. People have their brain growing still until late twenties! So better avoid such things in general while young. Anyone can have impulses not just people with ADHD!

Help can be rendered to someone who wants it and agrees to accept it. If you offer help to someone whom you think needs it but the person doesn't accept that they need help, then all your effort will be futile. According to that article, it is easy to identify someone with ADHD because of the symptoms. 

If I see someone with such a disorder, I will talk to them and explain what ADHD disorder is and how I feel it's affecting them. I will also explain to them the symptoms they are exhibiting that clearly show they are having this disorder, and then I will clearly advise them to stop gambling because of their condition. It is left for the person to take my advice or not; I can't force the person to stop gambling.

I agree with you but "in vivo" exposure is also sometimes an efficient therapy to treat or at least to help people to overcome or to manage their disorders to some extent. Systematically avoiding all triggers and difficulties can sometimes make the patient's condition worse because it can make him more fragile in the face of even weaker stimuli. Brain needs to be trained like a muscle for some mental disorders in order to be able to resist more efficiently. A bit of stress exposure is not always a bad thing IMO.

Would definitely try to stop him. But I guess it depends on how impulsive they are? Sorry, not really familiar with ADHD people have impulsivity maxed out or if they can control it or not or something. But if they can, then feel free imo. If they have someone to help them manage the funds they use to gamble then even better imo. Would definitely advise them to stop, but it stops with advising, similar to what I'd do with most addicts I meet.

That, or just help them replace gambling with something else. Something safer or less expensive or something. I reckon there's a lot of methods out there, ADHD has been a disorder known for a long time after all.

I guess even a close friend will still be a serious matter because I do care for the future of my friends. Advices from family and friends should be a must, but if that won't be enough knowing their level of understanding is quite different from us, then calling a medical practitioner is the last key. I'm sure they have encountered same cases like this and it will be easy for them to approach an ADHD individual and make him completely understand the risks that this gambling will bring to him not just at the present but more likely in the future.

If a person with ADHD tells me that he is not harming himself with the way he gambles, it means he is not aware of the dangers of gambling to those with ADHD. This would be an opportunity to thoroughly sensitise the people about ADHD and some activities that might be dangerous for those with ADHD and how they should stay away from them.

If should take a more drastic approach, I would block all online gambling platforms from their devices or self exclude them from some gambling sites. The environment they find themselves is a very big factor to be taken seriously and I must make sure they are not exposed to further gambling opportunities in their social environment.

It is my responsibility to protect a loved one around me who is going astray and I must do that in love.

There could certainly be psychological ties between gambling addictions and ADHD, cause in my experience with people who have this I can say that one of their striking characteristics is that they constantly need to be stimulated, and will be bored to find the next indulgence if they couldn't get it in this one, which means that ADHD people who gamble may fall deeper and faster into addiction than regular blokes because they will constantly and more quickly push for higher boundaries to beat. And they are easily agitated by obstacles as well, with the most common action taken being beating said obstacle into submission, this connotes that gamblers with ADHD are more prone to revenge gambling, not only because they want to gain the money they lost but also because they wanted to "beat" the loss streak.

So yeah, I completely agree with ADHD people being more prone to gambling addiction, at least based on my observation and a couple of studies I read about it after the fact. Now this doesn't mean that ADHD people should be banned from gambling outright, I think everyone deserves to find their indulgence even if it is gambling we're talking about. I just meant to say that as a person with ADHD, it is your responsibility to keep a closer eye upon yourself, so you don't end up falling for cheap tricks your brain and the casino is playing on you.

It is good to hear from someone who has ADHD here and how he approach his gambling activity. It goes to show that a person with ADHD can also contain his addiction if he will practice self-control. And with the awareness that you need to stop when you feel you are losing the grip of what's going on in front of you, you can still manage yourself in front of your games. That is, if you have strong determination to follow your limits on this very addictive activity. Do remember, even persons without ADHD can't control gambling impulses. How much more for people who have ADHD? I guess, it takes a lot of effort and sheer will to keep up with your boundaries.

I've never felt a huge relief as though i ran a thousand miles to escape a panting lion.... Is there a way you could concentrate on something atleast? I mean, that's perfect.!!. When I discovered what ADHD was, a thought of a boy's iris, moving in frenzy due to albinism kept playing back in my head over and over again.
I guess it's just different when you're trying to be focused on something serious; something that needs alot of attention to solve, recreate of repeat a routine. Addiction is never better way to suppress it eitherway.

I think the major challenge of ADHD is having that impulse to get out of the addiction. It is like the usual kind of addiction where it becomes difficult for a gambler to stop, so likewise in such situation. The families of such gamblers have much to do to ensure that they don't get into such addiction.

Also, some other health condition disorder also have that inability to control emotion. However I have not really seen such gambler.

If after hearing the evidence and my advice they refuse to stop gambling, then there is not much I can do except hoping for the best, after all it is their money and their life so they can do as they wish, however people really need to think about their strengths and about their weaknesses before they do something, so there are things in which they will have an advantage due to their nature, and there will be other things that could be harmful to them as well, so once you realize this you should play to your strengths while avoiding that in which you are weak, so without a doubt someone that has problems with the control of their actions and emotions should remain away from gambling.