Topic: Can loneliness make one addicted to gambling - page 32. (Read 4154 times)

Definitely yes.
Loneliness and depression can easily push anyone to start gambling and even develop a dependence to it easily; actually it does not need to be only extrictily about gambling, sadness, depression and loneliness can make a person to find coping mechanisms whenever they can find them: alcohol, drugs, gambling, prostitutes, excessive gaming, etc

So next time someone having a rough time and also tells you they need gambling to cope with it, believe them, because rolling dices or spinning slots can be powerfully distracting from the problems of this world, hence why many of those who develop addiction use it as an escapism mechanism.
May God help anyone going to such situation, where gambling is one of the few things which keep them going. 

A lonely individual is prone to gambling addiction. It becomes their escape/strategy to avoid loneliness. As far as I remember, there's a study showing that loneliness is a common experience for excessive gamblers. Focusing solely on gambling helps them to forget loneliness, by finding a new hobby and gives them different emotions such as excitement, happiness, and such.

Especially if a lonely individual has nothing to talk to, they feel that gambling is their only way to be happy. Getting addicted to gambling because this is the only stress reliever they have.

If he is used to gambling and he is lonely, yes, he can become addicted to gambling. But if he is just lonely and uses his time to do other things, including gambling, he probably won't get addicted to gambling because there are other things he does that can distract him from gambling. He should have realized that gambling can make him addicted to gambling and if he is already addicted to gambling, it will be difficult to cure it, especially since he needs support from other people to cure it. It would be best for your friend to find other activities to reduce his gambling activities so that he doesn't get addicted to gambling, especially if he's lonely. Sooner or later, he will make gambling his best friend (or has he?) and won't do anything else.

I think that lonely persons have several hobbies and way to spend their valuable time... not only with gambling...
I don't think this can be a reason or a motivati on to blame for someone that Is gambling a lot... maybe It can be one reason but not the main one.

Like you rightly said, loneliness is never the direct cause of why people venture into gambling but it's also worthy to note that in search of company , lonely people do involve in varieties of engagement to keep themselves busy which gambling is also part of those engagements. So when one says he started gambling as a result of being too lonely, he's not far from the truth.
That being said, it's not advisable for anyone to start gambling when they can not be able to control their emotions so wether lonely or not no one should see gambling as an engagement to get busy with when lonely when the concerned person doesn't know the Dos and Don'ts  of gambling

There are possible reasons on which we would really be tending out to engage with gambling whether you are just simply finding out for leisure or simply you would really be just trying out to ease some pain or stress on which this would really be that situational on each person and this is why we cant really be able to be that conclusive when it comes to this which we cant really be able to judge up someone that they are making foolish actions because we know that if we are on deep problems or stress then it would really be just that part of human instinct on finding up ways for you to be able to ease up that stress but sooner or later you would be realizing that you are really that spending up unwisely. Just give some advise into your friend and telling that it wont be the solution into his problem.

Therefore, it would be better that giving him some advise and if he wants to be alone then just give him some time and would be realizing on things that he's been doing.
Of course he's really that still on verge of grief because of what happened but time comes that he would really be able to move on but of course
we dont know on when it would happen.

It's possible to get addicted to gambling when you're lonely because the mind wants to take up something to replace boredom and it will accept anything that will replace boredom, some offline casino enthusiast go on a casino tour vacation just to get out of the boredom and loneliness in their life.

Your friend just wants to forget the hurt that he felt when his wife left him so he turns to gambling because gambling stimulates excitement in the mind and when the mind is excited he forgets everything that worries it, that is why some people are forced into gambling because they want to forget something that's hurting inside

Yes, it is possible that loneliness can lead to gambling addiction in some cases, but not in all cases. Loneliness may contribute to the development of a gambling addiction, but there are also other factors to consider, such as stress, depression, and other mental health issues.
If I'm lonely, I might become interested in gambling if I think about it. I believe we could run into financial problems if we let our emotions control us just because we're feeling alone and sad, and this is already a red flag.
On the other hand, if someone gambles not for the sake of fun, I would say there's a gambling problem because, as far as I know, gambling is a form of entertainment. You should not gamble if you cannot afford to lose.

I was alone for years. I was making good money from bitcoin and from my job. It never made me 'addicted' in gambling, even though I already have it in my routine to play dice every weekend and spend $20 just to pass time. What I craved when I was alone wasn't something to entertain me, but rather something worthwhile to do apart from sleeping on the weekends or watching a movie in my house. Gambling was one of those things that killed a good 1 or 2 hours of my afternoons, before I head out and meet with friends or go out alone.

It is always within the individual's decision whether he will gamble or not. Sure, these circumstances might add fuel to an already starting fire of interest in gambling or any other activity, but it doesn't always end up there if the fire isn't stoked by something else.

Tell your friend to go out with friends or pick a hobby, or get a personal goal, e.g. gym or a new skill and work hard towards it. I'm pretty sure with that much money, he can afford to be in a new hobby or even get a gym membership to keep himself busy and fit at the same time.

Gambling addiction can be due to a bad habit of chasing winnings when gambling so that he is curious to continue gambling all the time so he forgets that he has a wife to take care of so it is difficult to share time with his wife and family. Rarely are people addicted to gambling because they are lonely living with their wife and family, the opposite is true. because people who gamble are often dishonest with their wives and families so that is a reasonable reason for him to be abandoned.

So it doesn't make sense if because his wife left him, he became addicted to gambling, I'm sure he was abandoned by his wife because he was caught gambling, sometimes people need attention by distorting the facts of the true story so they want to get sympathy from the people around them, not sure if he is addicts because they are lonely and abandoned would not be logical. Most people who are addicted leave their wives and families because they are busy pursuing their pleasure in gambling and chasing their winnings there. 

Of course that could happen. Maybe he was stressed and wanted to vent the emptiness he experienced in gambling so he started gambling. However, if he continues to gamble and becomes addicted to gambling then I don't believe that in the end he still doesn't like gambling. It was only when he enjoyed his gambling that he became addicted to gambling. The poor condition of his relationship with his wife was the initial trigger for why he gambled

But if you know him, maybe you can tell him to gamble responsibly, otherwise he will have a new problem, namely running out of money because of gambling.

Loneliness is not the direct cause but loneliness can cause depression and depression can cause addictions. If you don’t get depressed the chances for catching an addiction is low. I am saying this because some people actually like to be alone. Not everyone is an extrovert. These people won’t get depressed because they are alone. On the contrary that is exactly how they want to live their lives. There are also many addicts who are very social. That happens too. Usually these people have other mental problems. In the end, whether you are alone or not, as long as you can keep your mental health safe, you will be fine.

$600 a day? That is huge amount of money already, so I don't know what else should a individual be doing better with that kind of money. If I'm making $20,000 a month, I wouldn't think of gambling to enjoy my money.


He needs to get ahold of himself, otherwise, he could lose all his hard earn money from gambling.


There are other forms to cope with loneliness, others become alcoholic, others become gambling addicts. So it's really hard to deal with this kind of situation. But I do hope if ever he can reach to someone for professional help so that he won't be fall on and become a gambling addict and lose any direction on his life.

Yes, many people went to gamble because they're lonely or bored, they don't know what they need to do, so they're choose to gamble.

This is why when you read a guide or suggestion to stop gamble, some people will ask you to find more activity aka keep you busy everyday.

His wife left him obviously because she know someone will never change, she deserve to find a better man.

Personally, I also gamble just for entertainment, but "it doesn't mean I'm lonely or feeling broken", but gambling is just a routine when I've finished my work and am free. However, maybe for some people, in my personal opinion too, there are definitely those who vent their feelings of loneliness in their lives or when their lives are in chaos by gambling. Because it is certain that people who are experiencing loneliness in their lives need entertainment so that their feeling of loneliness is reduced a little. So it's normal if your friend chooses to gamble when they are experiencing problems in their life. Because at a gambling place he will definitely meet lots of friends who can at least entertain him (offline gambling). However, there are still pluses and minuses. Because for example, when your friend's feelings are broken and your friend decides to gamble. The biggest fear is when your friend cannot control himself well and in the end your friend could experience big losses in gambling.

So in my personal opinion, when hurt or confused. It's better to calm down first and not take it out on other things, including gambling. Because when someone's feelings are in turmoil, that person certainly doesn't care about profits or losses. Therefore, gambling is not the right thing to use as an outlet when your heart and feelings are broken. Because I personally think gambling should be played by people who have good feelings and a calm soul. Because I personally think gambling should be played by people who have good feelings and a calm soul. Because if gambling is played by someone who is experiencing depression, it is feared that when that person wakes up from his depression, he will be even worse because after he realizes, he has spent his money.

I don’t know if it’s applicable to everyone but one thing is for certain; whenever someone is lonely, depressed or idle they become extremely prone to some thoughts or ideas that can lead to some detrimental results… So in your friend’s case it might be the that when he was lonely he thought of ways to have fun and escape his loneliness and gambling comes into his mind.


Generally no, they are some people who only gamble when they are 100% certain that their gamble will enter (most especially sport betting) so you can’t possibly categorize such people as those gambling for fun and yet it will be difficult for them to addicted to gambling.


Sorry to say this but your friend is addicted to gambling; it most likely because of what the separation between him and his wife did to him so he resorted to gambling to try to escape his reality. I’d advise that you stick closer to him because if he should be able to get over his addiction he would need extra help from those that are close to him.

Your friend is not into gambling because of loneliness, he is into it out of frustration of his wife leaving him. He needed something that would make him calm and forget the pain he felt inside but unfortunately, he learned to choose the wrong path that would lead to his destruction(that's gambling).

What your friend need of is therapy, not a gambling habit. Advise him to seek the help of a therapist to help him overcome the sadness of his wife leaving him, not to find gambling to be a remedy to his broken heart

Loneliness can definitely bring one to an addiction. Whether or not that is a gambling addiction or food addiction, drug addiction or even an alcohol addiction (although one might suppose that is also considered a drug addiction). Remember what addiction is: A malfunction of brain chemicals which give you the feeling of happiness and reward. If there is something wrong with your dopamine receptors or the levels of dopamine, then it can lead to addiction as a symptom.

The best thing to do is go cold turkey until your brain chemicals rebalance itself back to normal. That can take months or even years, depending on the severity and time of your addiction.

Loneliness is what makes you crave for more dopamine. And your brain thinks that, if you gamble, all your dopamine needs will be met. But that is just your brain lying to you. You should know better.

People gamble for different reasons which include fun and money and in most cases because of both. Not gambling for fun is not a sign of addiction because there are still other genuine reasons to gamble. Many responsible gamblers gamble because of money and they are just okay. Gambling addiction is when your betting activities become uncontrollable. The moment you cannot control the drive or motivation to gamble, that's a sign of gambling disorder.
People try to seek different escape routes when they are lonely. They begin the seek activities that would keep them company. Hard drugs, alcohol, video games, and even pornography addition can be an offshoot of loneliness.

Your friend is in deep trouble in the sense that he will soon become indebted. If he spends $500 of his daily income $600 on gambling, how will he survive? He would end up not being able to pay his bills and begin to seek credit or loans. He needs to be counseled and if possible let him seek professional guidance.

You cannot heal from pain by venturing into gambling,  you will loose so much that you might be depressed. His wife leaving him has had a great effect on his mental health , his focus should be how to get his mental health back and not to complicate things. It is urgent for him to seek the services of a therapist.

 Gambling requires a stable mind as much as it requires luck.  Financial decision making is something that should be made with a clear and undistracted mind. Hope he bounces back soon and become the best ge can be.