Topic: cruel level of addiction, causing harms and still keeping it up (Read 549 times)

If we call something a hobby, it means we are already doing it for a long time and it will now be impossible for us to do it wrongly. Gambling addiction has a level and it's not always severe but we can rather say that the issue is rampant, especially now that being online is just a touch of fingertips away and many business are building their empires here including gambling.

Maybe it's true that this is like a real battle. If a person is strong, we do not only mean that he is immune to addiction but it also means that he is fighting his way out of it. That's good. Gambling gives pleasures but it's just in our nature already to be greedy of wanting more of it. This is the ones that messes our brain's reward system, not gambling, drugs, or anything.

Indeed, many gamblers who have suffered huge losses but still persist with gambling are still doing it because they cannot control themselves as well as their own emotions. In the absence of good self-control so even though it ultimately disappoints them but they still insist on doing it because there is indeed a separate push to continue to survive at that point. It's unfortunate when they can't control themselves and their emotions when gambling which obviously can make them suffer in the long run. The desperation to gamble that eventually leads them into a big problem that is difficult to solve.
That makes sense, maybe there are gamblers who think that if they stop then it's the same as wasting all the money that has been deposited in gambling, because there is a chance to win too, but I'm sure the winnings obtained at gambling may not be able to cover all the losses that have made them stressed. It's never too late to stop, I think if they are already suffering, don't force themselves to continue gambling with the alibi of getting a win. That will only make them lose more money.

I think that's the point of why they are problem gamblers. They cannot stop and fail to get out of addiction. What makes you say that "generally" gambling addiction happens to people who love money more than others? Is there any research on this? Certain factors might affect whether you will become addicted or not, including some drugs[1] but I've never heard of research that supports your idea. Other factors like age and environment also show up often when I search about gambling addiction[2]. Some even went as far as saying that financial problems are one of the key factors, but there is no way to quantify how much love for money affects that[3]. If anything it feels like anyone who struggles financially wants money to survive, not necessarily because they "love" it. CMIIW.

[1]  https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/compulsive-gambling/symptoms-causes/syc-20355178
[2] https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/faqs-what-is-problem-gambling/
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9994414/

Yes, it is a reasonable reason, friend, where someone has great hope and confidence that someday they will be able to succeed in getting a very large win and maybe they consider that something they have lost today is a sacrifice to get a much bigger win someday so they continue to maintain themselves to stay involved in gambling despite the fact that it tortures themselves in various aspects of life.

When in fact the concept of gambling is that everything or the odds will return to the starting point when you have finished the session with any result whether it is winning or losing, in the sense that even if for example now you win it does not mean that in the next session you will win again which means that the possibility of losing still has a great chance of happening, and this is why we should bet the amount of money that we can afford to lose because this is useful to make you feel less upset about losing which will certainly be able to make you avoid the act of chasing victory to restore something that has been lost before. So in my opinion the real problem and the mistake that exists in the mind of a gambler who always thinks that someday they will be able to get a big win is that from the beginning of their involvement they do not understand about the real concept of gambling which ultimately makes them gamble in the wrong way, approach, expectations, and beliefs.

The worst, even with that bad situation that is happening to them, to the point that they have no assets left, debts everywhere, and every worst financial status we can put as an example, there's still no realization about what their current status since they have one purpose, to hope for the best just by doing gambling. The focus is only there since they think gambling is the only way to recover from everything.


I agree with this. Since these people don't have proper working minds already, someone needs to notice them. These people who are already in a dark situation won't be able to help themselves anymore and they need someone to light them. With an effort and patience, soon these people will return to their normal state and will changed for good.

Well, they won't realize that they already have a high addiction. Maybe they will realize this when all their assets are gone, they have debts everywhere and no money at all. Finally, they realize that they are addicted to gambling to the point where their life collapses. With a situation like that, there must still be someone to give advice so that things change for the better and nothing bad happens to cross his mind.

I have never heard of anything as reducing the love for making money. Everyone loves making and it is even the love for making money that motivates us to enter into good professions, trades, businesses and other mediums for making money, remember we are humans and we must make money. Provided you are making your money through decent and legitimate means, who cares if you are overmaking the money?

The perfect advice would have been for us to control our emotions so greed doesn't lure us into channelling our energy to the wrong means of making money, and this is what most gamblers are going through. They have channelled all their energy and time to gambling that it is causing problems for them. What has put these addicted gamblers into their pitiable state is greed and they are already frustrated. Quiting seems like wasting all the effort they have invested into gambling, therefore they must keep pushing till they make it.
It is not easy helping people like this but constant persuasion for them to see a therapist might really do the magic.

That's for sure, addiction is a disease that has various characteristics, addiction is indeed dangerous and crazy, I have seen for myself those who are addicted to gambling, they act like crazy people, stressful and annoying, I really hate it and hate to see those who operate extraordinary addictions, most of them have no shame anymore, just like crazy people, whatever they do to achieve their goals.

There are various levels of addiction, for those who are super addicted, the strange behavior of such people is no longer worth giving advice to, tired of us giving advice and they themselves know what they are doing is a loss for themselves, but they still do it, in fact they know it is dangerous and a loss.

Addiction is indeed a very dangerous disease in society, especially those who are very addicted to gambling, alcohol and so on.

Those addicted to gambling thinks that they are still good and they have no issues whatsoever, even go to the point of blaming people around them that they think they have high-risk behavior in gambling, it's their defense mechanism so expect your friends who are addicted to gambling avoiding you if you keep advising them to stop gambling.

For an addicted gambler, there will be a point when they will cross the line and ask for help or a way out and those who are close to these people should be on their side once they are ready to reform and get rehabilitated.

People who are idle or have few options for making money may be more likely to become addicted to gambling. This is because they may regard gambling as an opportunity to earn money and improve their financial status. Gambling, on the other hand, is an unreliable source of income and can lead to serious consequences. People who have other responsibilities and sources of money, on the other hand, are less prone to develop a gambling addiction. So as a gambler, it's really important to have a variety of sources of income, and if you have to gamble, it's simply for the pleasure of the game, not necessarily because you want to earn money off it, so whether you win or lose along the line, it wouldn't really matter because you must have had your own share of fun

Let me tell you something. Do you know that gambling addiction is actually worse with a person who is idle than a person who actually have more source of income. Generally, addiction comes from when you have too much attention for money, you want to make money by all means and if you happen to be a gambler and you don't win frequently, you will likely suffer from addiction because you will always go back to play it anytime you have small money on you.

If you reduce the love of making money, your addiction will reduce. If any person that is suffering from addiction snub the love of money and focus on other aspect of life, the gambling addiction will clear up with time if manage properly. It's not even advisable to put money before gambling, you likely suffer with addiction if care is not taken.

The sweet words from the family do not enter the mind of an addict when the gambling system has directly invaded and it only repeats in the brain that more money is needed to gamble, this system also filters out sounds from family and other people, instead of conveying a message and meaning from family, gambling gives us a bitter perspective and counters these arguments. Knocking the system out of the brain will reduce the habit, quite a few people can do it, but only the moment they see the devastating consequences

I think there are many unobvious things that prevent a person from getting rid of gambling addiction. I think one of the main ones is the hope that a person can one day get a series of big wins and get rich from gambling. Until this hope leaves a person, it will play. You know, not all gamers, even experienced ones, want to quit the game. Even if they suffer from losses. In the depths of their souls, there is still hope that someday that happy day will come when good luck will come to them and they will get rich. This forces them to take out loans and continue to drown in a financial swamp.

In my opinion and according to my experience, usually people who have entered the phase of gambling addiction are very difficult to wake up, especially with just suggestions and input, because usually they don't consider and don't consider or even don't listen to anything we say, even though in fact common sense it is ideas and suggestions that are indeed good and can help them get out of the addiction phase, But the problem is that everything always depends on "whether they want to stop or not", and I think we can already conclude that if they refuse and do not listen to the best advice from the people around them then that means they still don't want to stop and still have a strong ambition and desire to continue gambling based on unreasonable understanding and beliefs.

Rehabilitation centers can indeed help but I think it will still have no effect if basically the gambler himself does not want to stop, because the name of addiction is a disease that exists in the brain and mind where they will never want to stop if for example they still have a strong desire to continue gambling despite the fact that it always makes their situation worse and that means clearly I think it is difficult or easy to cure someone from gambling addiction it depends on the person.

If an addicted gambler ends up in prison, it means that many parties are harmed. Usually he takes out loans with collateral that he cannot repay, and some even sue the authorities. After everything the gambler has done and not being able to control himself, he should be jailed and given some kind of rehabilitative treatment. However no one can help him anymore, his family and those closest to him are no longer able to give advice or warnings, so the best solution is to hand him over to the authorities to take responsibility for his actions that have harmed other people. Gambling must remain responsible, even if in the end other people are harmed then the risks will be very serious, apart from legal sanctions, sanctions in the eyes of society will also have a negative impact.

We can provide support but the one who is addicted may seek or deny the support which really depends on every individual and by that time we may get tired or don't know what to do further that is why it is mandatory to seek medical support as soon as possible when you feel that person is resistant to any other forms of detox his gambling nature. And once the person is in the rehab that is the period it is very important to show your support whether it's a friend or family that will help to shift his mind to new things and get himself off the hook from gambling addiction and this applies to every kind of addiction as well.

Yes indeed to stop gambling those who are addicted must have their own intentions and determination, because there is no way they can stop if there is no intention and determination from themselves including with the help of encouragement from others such as their family or friends who support them to leave the casino. All that will be in vain if the main perpetrator does not have the intention to quit. I also think that someone who is already addicted to gambling will become a stubborn person, so it is likely that they will ignore advice or support from those around them. What is clear is that it will only harm themselves, and it is true that what you say is all due to their own mistakes.

To be able to stop gambling, of course, you must have a strong determination, because I am sure that in their environment there must be people or even friends who are equally fond of gambling or may be addicted. Now here will be a test for those who are in the process of recovering from addiction, such as when their friends win at gambling, there is a possibility that the gambler who is in the process of recovery will be interested if he knows that his friend wins at gambling and there is a possibility that the main perpetrator may return to gambling and may even be more aggressive with gambling that he will do again. Therefore, the majority of people who are in the process of recovering from addiction fail. And even more crazy.

The first effort that can be made is to raise awareness that what ruins an addict's life is gambling. it will build the mind to force the addict to exercise control over his gambling activities.
This cannot be done instantly, the process must be quite long and gradual. support from family and those closest to you is very important. For anyone who has someone who is a gambling addict, don't leave them and try to support the addict within certain limits.

Addiction is a cruel thing that can make you forget everything and urge you to do it depends on the level of severity that needed to give the satisfaction feel. The root cause of his gambling maybe anything that needs to be identified if we want to set them free but obviously it needs professional medical help and probably rehabilitation to detox his mind and get him into the right mindset where he can differentiate what he is doing and why he shouldn't do it.

Because it is extremely hard for them, I've seen people with gambling addiction who would love to quit their addiction but the urges they feel because of their addiction are too strong that they can't help it and they are almost helpless to stop it.

His mind, gambling addiction are mental illness that affects people rational decision. as I have mentioned before he might want to quit gambling badly but he can't help it because of his addiction. in times like this I think an intervention is needed to help them out.

I won't call myself an addict but I gamble a lot The issues that people are facing just because they gamble make me feel like they choose to live their lives like that. The reason I said so is that there are a lot of rich men who gamble every day when they are out chilling with their friends. It is a lifestyle and how you live with it is a choice because, I see, some people look miserable and they all blame it on gambling and not on themselves. I don't think I have the intention to stop gambling now. and people don't listen if your life is going very badly, it will be best for them to stop but they have enjoyed money from gambling and they don't want to stop. and people like that will find it difficult to stop If they can not stop on their own, then they should get help it will be better that way, before they lose themselves totally and end up committing suicide.

Addiction can be stopped, but hardly will an addict quit gambling. Addicts are informed to stop, not quit because it's impossible or not wrong to gamble. We only try to remind the addicts that they're going quite too fast into destroying their emotions. When we argue this with the addict, he develops a countervailing reaction. He could blankly stare at us for uttering such words. The addict is emotionally detached from whatever is happening around him. Hence, his attitude is centered on what he believes in gambling. Nothing else could get him out of such thoughts.

Gamblers who are into such problems, lose old friends and hardly will see a fresh one. If one is opportune to have help around him, sooner he'd be fine. And have a change of mind. Although we all need to be smart on this and act professionally. It's a mind game, and they must be a winner. Going to show the addict your plans towards him are a threat to him. He'll get prepared waiting for any moment you tend to reach out to them.

He'll also prepare his answers to whatever questions he presumes you'd ask him that day. The conversation can't end in peace. That wasn't a conversation, anyway. It's a mental tug-of-war. Relieving this stress helps reduce the problems of the addict. He needs to focus on whatever he's doing. We can only be of help when we claim to be or act like him. Picking up the best possible means of being of help to him, works faster. The relationship we build with the addict while on his side, makes him hear from us.

Isolation is bad emotionally for any human, addicted or not. Humans are meant to network and communicate with people around them. Naturally having conversations not relating to gambling with an addict, helps sharpen his thought for a minute or two. Continuously doing it can change his brain entirely to that perspective, which you seized the opportunity to embed in his thoughts. The goal isn't to make him quit but to stop him from compulsive gambling.

You're not in their shoes, it could be a lot more harder for them to understand why they have an excessive urge to gamble.
Yes, It could be mental health problem, but most addicted gamblers are not aware that they are really into a sh*t situation, not until they realize they've already lost everything.
Lack of support? Nah, If that person is not interested in cutting of gambling completely out of his daily routine, that support means really nothing. You can force him to go for a rehab, but most likely he's still gonna come back to gamble. Combating gambling addiction starts from ones self. Otherwise, It could be a very rough journey forcing someone to withdraw against gambling addiction. The same goes to people who are alcoholics and drug addicts. Even cigarette addiction is really hard to get rid off. Sometimes you'll get withdrawal sickness.

It's evident that the guy you're describing is dealing with a major disastrous impact on his life, and it's probable that he's using gambling to cope with deep mental health issues. If that's the case, he should seek professional assistance. Finally, it's conceivable that he's been so caught up in the gambling cycle that he can't think properly or logically about the implications. This is known as " betting fog," and it can be tough to get out of.
If you are concerned about this individual, there are a few things you may do to assist. First, you might persuade him to consult a specialist who operates in gambling dependence.

All these won't matter if the addicted doesn't realize that he is addicted, and the way that OP wrote this story makes me believe that there is no awareness from the addicted gambler, there is never going to be a way to break free from something thats no problem to thr addicted one.

Every addicted gamblers must realize that they are addicted, this awareness will make them to crave for a change, at least they are struggling to break free, but what about someone who dont know that they are in a chain of addiction? To them, they are doing just fine, no problem at all.

You can't solve a problem where there is no one, if they can't realize that they are addicted they can't solve any problems, I think this person may have lose his right sense already, he needs to be taken to a health center for a check-up, the question is where are his families?

I agree. I didn't expect that I would see this in my brother-in-law who was so addicted he took the savings of his own nephew and gambled it away. Then all his borrowed money floated when he was nowhere to be seen. All the people he took a loan with are telling his mother to pay up. Now, he is still hiding somewhere we don't know and my wife (his sister) doesn't really care anymore because she said this is not only once, he had been doing it a lot of times.

I suggested rehabilitation once he goes back but I am guessing they won't listen to me. I bet once all the loaned money was paid by his relatives he will surface again and go back to his gambling habits.
It can ruin lives, that is real. So guys, please be responsible when you gamble. You just don't know when you will get addicted, it may be now or tomorrow, so ask yourselves if you are still in the right path.

Addiction for a married man is worse compared to a single man. Family is the advantage for a married gambler, he'd easily have helpers. But the emotional harm he entrusts on his kids and wife made a single man better off. Especially when he got love from a good therapist. The problem gambler above is undergoing serious pains, I guess he'd be aggressive to anybody that dares talk him down on his gambling attitude. His family will share his pains, and it's early for the young offspring. Addiction is a chronic sickness; the pain stays for a longer period. Hence, the kids will grow up undergoing ill-treatment from an addicted father.

That's actually a rough ride as a fresher in this big blue marble. His kid's future will emotionally be affected, the wrong way. He, the child, can be a gambler or a full-time hater of gambling. While it's wrong to get addicted, one shouldn't grow up to hate a specific exercise. His life won't be complete. Life is only enjoyed when we acknowledge all aspects of living. In a nutshell, gamblers should teach their kids, and envision what the child's future would be if they allow addiction to destroy their childhood. Mood swings have made addicts yell at kids, on slight matters that are not yelling. The child starts to behave strangely.

This isn't the most cruel one. In the first place, no life is lost in this case. A U-turn is still possible with the help of professionals. Money can be earned once again. He could still get back his family after undergoing therapy and rehabilitation and turning over a new leaf.

Gambling addiction can actually be very brutal and fatal. Around 7 years ago, a gambling addict entered Resorts World casino here in my country, set the gambling tables on fire, fired at people, killing dozens in the process. He stole millions worth of casino chips before killing himself. That's how far gambling addiction could actually go. It can be as deadly as this.

This could be worst, and once you’re addicted in gambling it seems that you don’t care anymore to the people around you even if its your love ones. Please be reminded that if you are going to gamble that much, you should keep in your mind about your limit and being responsible is always advisable. Gambling addictions took life of many gamblers already, and this continues because people are being too emotional and yet they gamble that much.

It's pretty close to a mental illness really and well, you don't question the why of mental illnesses at some point. It just happens. Well for the most part though, some people may really have some "justifiable" reason for them to continue on with gambling but we'd probably never understand or relate to it since from our pov, it'd probably seem really dumb or something but for them? It'd probably be pretty important. Who knows, there might even be the influence of drugs which makes it 100% a mental illness.

And in addition, being used to something kind of just turns off your brain. Like it refuses to understand that you can't anymore but since you were able to for the past year without any problems, you'd think you're still able to.

When it comes to addiction on which it isnt really that something limited on Gambling alone but also in other forms on which we know that everything which is excessive into our lives will really be that
normal that once you do deal up with something in execessive manner and this one talks about spending money then you would really be losing all because it would really be creating such
domino effect. Lets say that you are that spending too much money and since you are a family guy then it would be normal that you would really be providing needs but what if you have lost it all?
Its common sense that you would really be not able to provide those things anymore on which it would be resulting to separation or divorce on which this would really be the next thing that would happen.
This is why it would be better that you should really be wary on things if you dont like to have a miserable life.

The thing here is that people do only make out those learnings or realizations on the time that they would be experiencing those hardships or messed up situation into their lives
on which they could actually be able to stop it midway.

True, what you mentioned is one of the facts about the actions taken by addicted gamblers where they will not think of ways to stop especially when winning because one of the hardest things for them is to stop when they are in a losing situation which is because they have no ability at all to accept the fact of the consequences of gambling. They think that the idea and action of chasing that win will get them in a recovery situation when the fact remains that when you have ended the previous session with a loss or a win then the next session is likely to change the outcome which means that there is a high chance for you to lose again if you continue gambling with the intention and purpose of recovering something that you have lost.

I think it is a fact that it is very unlikely for them to really listen to the advice of others, whoever you are even if for example you are one of their family still they will not listen to any advice because addicted gamblers have a high ambition to pursue something that has been lost based on emotions and unreasonable beliefs. 

The mind of addictive gamblers totally changed after a consecutive losses then they don't think about anyone and continuously gamble just to get back their lost sum but it is not easy in gambling like every gambler thinks. I don't think that gambler will ever try to reduce their gambling habits because they have learned that more they gambler more they will earn which is totally a wrong concept.

Gamblers do not understand with sweet words of their family and if someone's parents teach gambler to stop gambling then it is not possible for him to alter this behavior because gambler thoughts are limited to earning only as well as Love cannot change the thoughts of gamblers.

There are different reasons why he won't stop even after losing everything.

An addicted gambler requires mental or emotional support from someone, like his family, specialist, wife, or anyone close to him. Addicted gamblers who lost everything do not know any more where he need to go or what he can do to turn back to his previous lifestyle. Without anyone to talk to with his gambling addiction, the only thing he can think of is to continue gambling where he sees a future if he can possibly win back his losses.

A motivation, where he can completely put his mind on one thing. The one thing he can focus on completely forgetting about his gambling addiction is to change his life and become a better person.

Someone who can bring them to the right path and show them that gambling addiction will only bring harm not only to themselves but also to their family.

In my opinion, when they gamble excessively, it is a sign that they are addicted to gambling, but they don't want to admit it, they don't want to admit that they are addicted, maybe because they are embarrassed too. The more they eat like that, the closer they will be to gambling so that it will be difficult to separate them, unless they themselves realize that they are addicted to gambling and this has caused them to experience many losses, not only financial. It is true that you say that gambling addiction is a dangerous thing because it can be detrimental and can even ruin a person's life.

Indeed, there will be many things that can be harmed by gambling addiction, the main thing is money, and perhaps another is health or relationships, because there are also people who become stressed because they keep losing at gambling and families who divorce because of unstable finances because of one of the parties. some of them are addicted to gambling. because when gambling everything can be done to make money, borrow money or sell property owned or even steal to the detriment of other people.

He still curious with gambling and still wants to knows more. He doesn't care if that will cost him a home, business and even family because his focus will be gambling. He must realizes that what's he doing is wrong and someone must comes to him and tells the truth to him. His family must reminds him about his gambling activity and not let him go back to gambling daily.

We don't knows what's his minds, especially if he playing gambling without stop. If he lose his money, he will comes back to the casino and continue to playing gambling. He becomes addicted to gambling and we don't knows how to cure his addiction.

It all comes back to the intention and determination that must be instilled in the addict to be really serious about stopping gambling, and if he still continues to play it means that the addict does not have a very serious intention to stop. Because they still follow or are influenced by their desire to gamble, making it difficult for them to get out, which is actually their own fault.
Because stopping gambling must start from the sincerity of the addict's intentions and determination first, then the support of the people around him, especially his family or partner, and apart from that, he must also get closer to God. And in my opinion all three are enough, and the most important thing is the intention and seriousness of the addict so that the process goes well.
And the OP's story is like an addict who is lost and also feels like he doesn't have a family because there is no support or advice as the OP wrote, and it's normal for it to go that far.

Gambling is very bad. I have also experienced someone keeping his family out of food for months because of gambling just his wife struggling to make sure she feeds the children or he does go to work gamble drink and come home the next day go to work gamble drink and come home each time he takes his payment 95% is going for gambling 5% is maybe for other things he don’t even care about his family anymore gambling has taken over him. He always have this mindset of getting back or he has lost in gambling, which is not possible when looking at it because he is not gambling wisely yes, this really happened you are right.

That's bound to happen when things become a mess in your life and it's because of your addiction, you don't know anyone and what they truly are capable of until they show it to you, that's why when things become worse for you especially if you've been asking for loans from a lot of people and you use those loans to gamble hoping to get that win you've been looking for a while now, you're bound to meet the person that would rather hurt you than wait for you to payback the loan, they know or assume that you won't pay it anymore, so they might as well get back on you by hurting you. It shouldn't come that far but things will escalate especially if you don't do anything about it.

Definitely cruel and I hope that person is alright after all that hurt that he's been through, I hope that it's a lesson for everyone of us too, that things will get worse and we have the power to not go to that point.

It's really tough seeing how gambling addiction can hit people differently and what you described is just heartbreaking. Some people just can't seem to break free from it even when it's cost them everything. Addiction's a real beast because it messes with your head and makes it hard to see straight. Sometimes it's not just about willpower, there could be a whole bunch of stuff going on in their lives making it hard to quit. Maybe they're dealing with other issues like depression or anxiety or they just feel stuck in a cycle they can't break. It's tough to watch but reaching out and offering support could make all the difference. Encouraging them to get professional help or join a support group might be a good idea, it's all about showing them they're not alone and there's a way out of this mess

Yes to the general notion of being able to be redeemed from the addiction, but the major work still rely on the addict himself wether or not they ready to change to move over they addiction level, this is very important because that is the point they going to begin from, sometimes if the addicted person himself has not acknowledge the impact of addiction on they general well being, there can not been any impact of effort of another third party that can save them from the whole thing.


First there must be the will spirit in the addict that will place him alone a position of possible excape since he is already determine to quit gambling.

I'm guessing that the person you're talking about is still desperate to recover all his losses and can't think of any other ways to get it. What you've seen is probably the second to the highest level of addiction. The worst I've witnessed are the ones who steal money so they could continue to fund their gambling.

I think it's as he hasn't realized that he's addicted to gambling, some individual don't know that they're addicted to gambling until it's too late for them to stop but some others come to their senses and they try to stop gambling as they have known that it's what is responsible for the unfortunate life that they're having. Gambling addiction is dangerous as you might think that you're gambling like others but you're not and you're in debts as you already have borrowed to gamble.

Sometime Gambling addiction can do more damage to you than only making you to lose money. Some addition also affects the gamblers mindset and it can make them to become abnormal in their thinking and they'll begin to do things like a mad individual. Gambling addiction has different phrases, you might have seen one of the worst cases of addiction. Some individual go as far as to sell everything to gamble.

There is a rehabilitation programme for those who are addicted to something in general, meaning any addiction, drugs, gambling, and many more, in our country, even though it is not open or fully discussed. I know we do have establishments that offer rehab for those individuals that need help in terms of gambling, and I'd say I'm not sure if this thing is effective, but it's better than nothing, right? If there's a last resort, I think rehab is the best option in order for the gambler to minimise and slowly help him avoid or stop his gambling addiction. Personally,  I think this programme is going to help those people in deed for their addiction. As I said, rehabilitation centres here in my country are general.

Honestly, it's the fault of what the OP is saying; he is the one who is responsible for himself, which is why he is in that miserable position or situation.

So, in short, what you're asking for OP is why he doesn't stop, even though he's feeling miserable because of it. It's very simple. This is a mechanism that exist in every other addictive activity, like drinking alcohol, playing computer games, watching movies, eating disorders. Why do fat people keep eating a lot even when they know that it's destroying their lives? Why do people with lung cancer continue to smoke? Addiction turns of the sane part of your brain. You ask if he's crazy and the answer is yes. Auto destructive activities are a sign of mental illness. At some point you won't be able to get back on your feet without some help from others. He needs help.

There would be no such thing as a gambling rehabilitation program or gambling-related problems if an addicted gambler could think properly.

Since these people can't think properly anymore, they don't know what's the best thing to do as they rely on gambling to solve anything.

We can blame that person for allowing themselves to be like that but in that critical and worst situation already that are stuck with, that's not important anymore as these people badly need help. It's the unfortunate reality that we can see anywhere in gambling.

I feel bad for people like this, there are some people that are addicted to gambling, they really know about their addiction, and they are really trying to stop gambling, but it’s just kind of difficult for them. When addiction has eaten deep into you, even when you are trying to stop, it’s always difficult to stop.

When you realize your mistake, the next thing to do is how to find a solution to the mess you have caused, you shouldn’t keep on with the bad behavior. You have been harmed badly due to gambling addiction, you already know that you made a mistake by being addicted to gambling, then you should just stop gambling, if you keep on gambling, you are causing more harm to yourself.

Like any other activity that makes a person feel good, gambling can lead to addiction.
Gambling can become addictive when it is used compulsively and becomes out of control.
Similar to alcohol and drug addiction, gambling addicts require more gambling over time to feel satisfied.
They prioritize getting what they want over what they need.
And the best way to overcome addiction is to seek help from a psychologist or psychiatrist.

Some people just couldn't quit or break away from their addiction.
Not everyone could go back to their normal life after being addicted to something, I saw some who could restrain their self for some period of time, but they would eventually come back to their addiction.

Yes it is true that gambling addiction has its own level depending on how badly they treat gambling in the wrong way, or I mean depending on how aggressively they treat their gambling activities, and if you ask me about why they still continue their gambling activities when on the other hand they have lost all the valuable things in their lives such as large amounts of money, homes, businesses and families in my opinion it is simple that they have not been able to reach the level of awareness in themselves and also they have not been able to be in a situation to understand the fact that gambling is about winning and losing or gambling is a risky activity.

You only know a few of them where what you know is that a person who is addicted to gambling can turn back or stop and get out of the gambling zone while on the other hand there is a very chronic level of addiction where it is really very difficult for them to achieve self-awareness, they are still in a situation of not being able to let go of all that has been lost so they are still gambling which is where they have the goal of returning something that has been lost which is actually quite an impossible thing to achieve, because that action is like you are chasing your own shadow and I am sure that everything will still end up with significant regret.

It's a stage of addiction, not the fault of the addict, he's only undergoing a series of addictive levels. At a stage, the gambler will never want help from anybody, or think these people trust him. The addict's thoughts will revolve around him believing he'd achieve more in life than those people who try to help him stop gambling. However, at some point, he'd begin to have a rethink. What is most important is that he's getting a response from people. Not just letting him continue this way, when people talk to us about something they don't like us doing, it first hits us as though an insult. But to a non-addict, he'll only see it as the person's response and nothing else attached. That doesn't stop us from being friends.

An addict will see it as the opposite. He'd avoid the person and get aggressive whenever in touch with the person. Nobody addicts or not wants to get blamed. That's the fastest means of losing a friend. They are ways of changing people's minds other than just going straight to the point and laying blame on them. An addict can't get saved automatically. All these require a gradual process and must be followed gradually. They also deserve love; these people make up the world. The world can't be filled with perfect people. Sometimes I get offended when people tell me to go shave my hair. That doesn't mean it's a problem, but everyone has something they want to do without disturbing anyone else. Shoving it directly to the person's throat isn't right, they're a clever means of telling an addict to cut short his habit.

This question can be only answered by a professional from the mental health sector. Your friend should be conducted to psychological treatment or therapy. There he can be helped to understand what is going on with him, and what mental mechanisms he can use to slowly switch off from these obsessive thoughts he developed regards gambling practice. It's important that family members and friends stay close and together in this moment, especially during the beginning of the treatment, which is the period of time the patient needs more attention and observation from the closest ones.

If he will remain like this forever or not, it will depend mainly on his self strength and will to change his conduct. If he doesn't cooperate, you can treat him intensively with the best professionals disponible on the market, that he won't show any positive results. What you can do since now is to encourage him to give up on gambling, inspiring him on how he can revert his current life's conditions if he chooses this path. Retrieving his business, house and family, or achieving new ones.

Actually. You would be impressed on the amount of people who could be considered to be "poor" and end up being trapped by addiction to gambling. It is not a matter of having money or not, it is about the lengths people are willing to go in order to get the money they need to continue to gamble as much as they want.
People within the middle class will sell their cars, take some loans, sell their weeding rings, among other things. People who do not have so much assets will resort to get into ilegal markets, like the trafic of fuel, narcotrafic and even worse things.

It is a good reason there are so many betting and gambling small establishments in the developing world, even though people there do not seem to have resources to spare, they will always get what they need to continue to gamble and satisfy their craving for it. If it was just about liquidity at hand, there were not so many betting places in developing countries as there are.

The gambler in mentioned by OP is an addicted gambler and someone who's addicted can't stop gambling easily. These days I have heard of stories both in this gamble section and outside this community that a male gambler used his life savings to gamble and loose the whole money, about 1 million plus.
It's bad to see people that can not control themselves when it comes to gambling. IMO people that are addicted to gamble don't listen to their friends or family advise, just imagine how the gambler uses his business and house money to gamble and I also believed that this gambling of a thing has cost the gambler more than that.
Recently I witnessed 2 couples got separated because of the guy was a gamble addict and the he used the money for project to gamble and he lost the whe money, but the funniest part is he didn't tell his partner.
I guess their is no way to help a gamble addict because everywhere has a network access and people are always around, if they don't have money to bet they will fund another means to stake with, so the best place a gamble addict can stay a whole year without betting is in prison.

I also can’t understand this. After all, to gamble, you always need money. This means that it is not poor people who acquire such dependence. If a person does not have the means to play, how can he want something?
They write a lot about psychologists and compare it with drug addiction. There is a free way to wean yourself from this addiction. Take all the money and send him to work where there is no casino or Internet. A person will simply have to do something to survive.

I agree so much with you on this issue, the best way to encourage an erring person to come back on track its by showing him pure love and continuous support, without these, the gambler feels very much excluded ave embraces only what gives him a sense of inclusion, which in this case its continuous gambling. Currently, that's the only thing that gives him joy and hope  as he doesn't have a home, a job, or even a family to go back to, so he clings tightly to his habit.

Its important to note that  many times he thinks of quitting, but the circumstances surrounding him depressed him the more and he's left with little or no option than to fall back and gamble again. He surely needs all the love and support he can get to pull out of that addiction, yes he can pull out of it, but not in this state of abandonment.

I agree with this, where there is a gambling addict who is aware of his bad behavior, and aware of the losses he has experienced, but he cannot abandon this activity, someone who experiences this kind of addiction can still be saved. However, there is also a gambling addict who is actually not aware of his bad behavior in gambling, does not realize the losses he has experienced, and when someone tries to make him aware, the gambling addict continues to avoid him and continues to look for reasons to justify his bad behavior in gambling. and for people who suffer from this kind of addiction, it will be quite difficult for them to realize and recover from the addiction they are experiencing, even though they have received support from those closest to them. It is not uncommon for gambling addicts to disappoint the people who are close to them, the people who are sincere in helping them get out of their addiction. And it is possible that the addict will become aware of his addiction only when he has truly lost everything, including losing the people close to him.

Addiction is not something that comes once but it is a gradual process something. And all gambling addict arrive at one stage or goal in the addiction. Your first day wins can lure you to gamble more and if you loss in your first day then you would loss interest to continue gambling. Therefore gamblers in gambling is motivated when they win and not the loss. The first stage of gambling is using money and the second stage is to sell small, small things in your house and the nest stage is to sell properties and that is why there op said there stages to gambling addiction. To avoid gambling addiction you don't have to chase your loses.

Gambling addicts has always been having huge faith in gambling that it will eventually make them rich, but in reality only the casino gets richer while pushing gamblers into extreme poverty. But since they’re blind to that reality, they still pursue their gambling urge even if it means losing their family and their career.

Sending them into rehabilitation center is the only solution. But before that, they should learn to admit to theirselves that they have fallen into gambling addiction and gambling has eventually made them worst that they lose control of theirselves anymore as long as gambling is concern. And all they need right now is understanding and emotional support coming from their family so they can move forward and take measures from gambling addiction recovery.

Well more reasons for him not to stop, he already lost it all. This is more reason why as a gambler, you should be able to control you gambling activities and avoid over gambling that will lead to an unstable life. He obviously didn't see anyone who would have set him in the right direction in his early stage of gambling. If he had did, he won't have turned our this way. He won't stop now. He might actually end up in rehab.
His family left him maybe they couldn't bear anymore of his nonsense character but I really think they even added more to his addiction. They were supposed to be with him and help him get back his senses but instead they left him on his own and now he has lost control. Addiction is a really bad thing but if it stopped at an early stage, it may never come to play in first place.

Of course gambling addiction is cruel and harmful, however addiction is still addiction no matter the level I don't think it should be ever considered as tolerable because sometimes people end up becoming gambling addicts because they overlooked certain bad practices that gradually became used to them and over time caused their addiction. Sometimes gambling addict don't actually realize the damage their addiction influences on both them and their relatives whether directly or indirectly. Sometimes by the time they get to realize what they have lost to their nasty addiction they have already ended up losing soo much.
This is why as a gambler you have to set priorities and limits to help you monitor your gambling activities and habits like stakes , time spent and lots more.

That’s not the highest form of addiction because he still doesn’t affect others but only himself. There’s other scenarios which addicted person kidnapped or do a crime just to gamble which I consider the highest form of addiction because it’s already resorted to violence and crime.

Although this kind of story is really can be considered as very serious since he is inflicting financial damage over and over while he already gets use to it just to gamble. I’m surprised how he can still maintain to gamble with that kind of addiction with limited source of income because a consistent heavy loss will usually makes people already out of money considering the level of his persistency to gamble. He is the type who goes all in using life savings on gambling.

His addiction is what is keeping him from doing it.
When we say addiction, think about those who are drug addicts and alcoholics. Why can't they stop it? Because of the availability of the product or the service in the case of gambling.
Now, we are in an era where we could access gambling sites through our phones or our computers so I guess it will be much harder to stop gambling because of it. It's just one click away so there's really no stopping it.
I am guessing he is way deep and what he may be thinking is not just to play the game but maybe to get back whatever he had lost in gambling which I do believe is impossible when you are a gambling addict because you are not thinking straight anymore.
This kind of case needed help that could be beyond our reach. I mean it cannot be fixed in a simple chat with him. Rehabilitation, keeping him away from gadgets and the internet, some professional help, and maybe medicine to calm him down will be the help he needs. It's a lot but if we want to save his life and straighten it up again, that may be the only solution to it.

It's not the government responsibility to treat theses addicts but they could help somehow. If the level of addition of a certain country has not yet reached the alarm level, then I believe the action of the governmnet is just to make some rehab facilities but they'll not allocate a big budget for that as it's not good in th eyes of the people, they will think that the government are just allowing these people to get addicted instead of preventing it, so theyll not show it to the public even if the problem is already worst.

The best people that could help us is our [1]family , [2] friends, and lastly the government if they can accomodate.

that is the highest level of addiction, where he no longer takes his life into account and just lives it. he realized that his life was ruined, and he was no longer afraid of his addiction, because why would he think of treating his addiction since his life was already a mess and could not be restored. i really feel sorry for seeing people like this who are trapped by their own addiction and no one cares about their addiction. the government should care about these addicts because after all they gamble and provide taxes to the government.

It's hard to advise this kind of gambler, he is too deep into gambling that no amount of encouragement, or good words even if you promise him anything just to stop I don't think he will or he can, he is totally out of control

Gambling addicts are like those people who are addicted to liquor or drugs the body and the mind cannot keep up or function without them, people will wonder what happened to these people but the only cure for these people is rehabilitation, addiction triggers symptoms so the rehabilitation center will try to replace those that trigger these symptoms, its costly and takes a lot of time, but this is the only cure, if the gamble will not go through this plan, healing will not come and the symptoms will surface once triggered.

This addiction to gambling is a severe issue. We're not talking about a little hobby gone wrong, we're talking about a real battle here. I've witnessed the strongest people battle addiction; its a strong force. Its just the way the brain functions; its neither a weakness nor a misfortune.

You see, gambling, like those harmful narcotics, messes with your brain's reward system. This explains why breaking the pattern is so difficult. Folks, here's the thing: it is possible. We must tackle this with intelligence, the greatest experts, and a never-say-die support network. Its about walking that difficult path together and demonstrating that there is a route back, not about shouting "stop it."

Level depends on severity of symptoms. In the given case, your friend is showing obvious signs of addiction and if you're curious of why he is still continuing to gamble despite of the 'damages' he is having, then it is more likely due to frustration in particular with financial needs. Frustration in terms of embracing the losses with hopes of winning at the end but that's with no certainty no matter how we look at it and most likely, loss will just grow as he continues. What's best is for him to accept things even if it won't be that easy; that's the only way out. He should also consider seeking for professional help if he's willing to make things better for himself.
It is easy to understand why but what's hard is to think of a way to help a friend of yours. There will alwys be a side that you really want to but also another side wherein you can't be of any help because everything should start with oneself or with one's initiative. Determination and will would be important things an addicted gambler should posses. Guiding them will just be a little help, it'll all depend on their decision to act upon the problem.

Until you understand that addiction is an impulse disorder then you will not be able to the difficulty he is facing. Most addicts really desire to quit but  they cannot. This is not a matter of taking a U-Turn as you have implied. This can be likened to a sick person who needs medication to get well. An addict also need prescription in form of support by a professional to be able to overcome his addiction. What you witnessed is minimal compared to observation of an addicted gambler. There is a man living in my neighborhood whenever he records an irreparable loss, he turns his wife into a punching bag. At one point, he almost took her life if not for the intervention of the cop.

There is not spiritual about his actions. He is only guided by impulse. This is similar to how one of my friends act. He will gamble with his last card, sometimes sell his property with the intention of using the money for a pressing need but sadly, he will end up using the money for gambling. He will always tell you that he wanted to multiply the money because to him gambling is an investment. I have tried to talk him out from such mindset and each time he is broke he appears to listen and promise not to gamble again but as soon as he has money, he will go back to gamble.  Op, the best thing you will do for the person in question is to link in up to a counselor that can help him overcome his addiction.

This level of addiction could probably be associated with some psychological  implications and I think beyond expecting him to stop gambling he should visit a psychiatrist so that if they could offer him some kind of help then it will probably go a long way helping him becoming a normal person as expected that he should be because he's probably not stable mentally again bat this point just like you did mentioned.

It's very possible he's been traumatized by the losses he's gotten over the years gambling and the only way he could probably get back at it would be gambling continually and that's why he's continued to resulting to still gambling despite all that he's lost to gambling and this level of his addiction can actually be life threatening at some point because when he gets too frustrated by more losses probably after exhausting all that he's got, he may become suicidal with his taughts because the feeling of loosing everything will and can actually be very terrible and really heavy to bear.

He should be watched closely and if possible help him to avoid gambling by every means possible because he can't resist the urge at their point all alone, he will definitely need help , a supervised help so he can gradually hope for a better life while trying to quit gambling aswell because that's like the best way he could be free from this addiction and possibly he could be sent for therapy too that too can aswell help him.

That you on your own as a gambler got into gambling addiction doesn't imply that in same manner you got in on your own doings that's how easily you could get out of the addiction all by yourself. Addiction to any negative attitude or activity is easy to get in but you would need the intentional support of family, friends and a specialized therapist to gradually get out of that dark hole of addiction. So I don't blame addicts when I see they struggling on their own to leave the attitude but couldn't along the way.

It could neither be a spiritual attack or craziness. More often than not , these addicts are in dire need of someone who can listen to them and understand them of what they are battling with on the inside, instead of some persons that are focused on criticizing them for the nasty behavior they exhibit due to the gambling addiction they are known to have. Getting closer to these people that are passing through one addiction to another can help us understand fairly enough how to help them get of their addiction irrespective of the stage of addictiveness they have reach.

I remember when HYIP was still new some years ago, many people can't control themselves when they are in profit, to take the profit off the HYIP platfor became a problem and they will rather see everything folding up in front of their eyes.

So many people are turning their real lives into dreams, they shun reality off their chest once they come across a way of making money online, hoping that it solves all their problems.

I think this person that OP is talking about must be facing some challenges in life, and after coming across gambling they learn to relent instead of gaining control, some people become extra addicted once they gamble a few times and win some unexpected amount, in this moment they will start dreaming about making life changing money in gambling if they can try to take more risks.

Its a self inflicted madness.

Most likely these type of persons suffer from what psychologists call "belonging to something" and the only thing they can think about is gambling.Most probably these persons think that since I lost everything in gambling I must fight till the end to get those things back which is never the case.These persons are so addicted that they can't logically think that gambling in the long run can simply not be fought.Unfortunately these cases have no healing and they are destined to suffer till the very end of their life.

Except you are in the shoes of such people before you can understand, it takes more than determination to break away but the support of concerned people to be able to get away from it. At times it gets to the level of employing someone who is a professional counselor who would monitor the addict and control his exposure rate to gambling until they are finally properly handled. But if it is left for the addict alone, it may not be possible to get out of because no body actually likes to be an addict to a particular substance but when you have lost your control then it just feels normal to indulge in it.

There's one thing with addiction. If you're not actively  and consciously trying to stop any addition, then one is simply not ready. From your post, my candid opinion is that the gambler in question is not ready to stop despite losing everything, he might be hung up on the belief that be best is yet to come and if he gives up now, all losses will be realized FULLY and there is no way to get them back.

Secondly, he would need all the supports he would need — family, friends, loved ones if he'd want to get out of the addiction because he might be too far down to pull himself out

added are Self control mate , because if the person will not use its control then each person will always give chance of being addicted , but all of your comments are truly why each gamblers becoming addicted.
but the big factor is the FAMILY , specially if the person is already having his own family.

It's hard to understand why they cant just stop. Could be due to mental health problem or lack of support.  It takes a lot of courage, willingness, and determination to break free from addiction, so it's recommended for them to seek professional help to have successful recovery.

I never saw or heard a case like this before but base on your description the guy is already suffering some mental problem and not just gambling addiction anymore. This extreme case is already needed psychological attention since his mind is probably just trap in a cycle of gambling because he is not behaving rational based on the damage done on him.

There’s no way for him to stop on his own unless someone will do it for him. It’s already same scenario with substance addiction which the brain only looking for substance that result to abuse.


Obviously his mind, If a person is already not considering his environment and too focus on things that harms him then the problem is already deep on his mind. It’s very hard to recover on this compared to just losing money.

I think that's a normal thing, because that's what will happen if someone is addicted to gambling. With a gambling addiction, of course it will affect one's mental state, because addiction is something that is self-defeating, unclear thinking pushes oneself to continue to enter the danger zone. With the statement that gambling will most likely only end in defeat, it is clear because losing at gambling is the same as losing money, and if we gamble with the wrong motive, such as the aim of winning or pursuing victory, then the loss that will definitely occur will not be accepted well. . Also, losing in gambling cannot be avoided unless it is a big loss, it can still be avoided if we have a clear mind so that we can accept defeat without worrying about it because we already know that it is something that will definitely happen in gambling.

If we can't accept the reality of losing or losing the money we bet on then it can trigger emotions and thoughts that become messy, the feeling of wanting to chase victory will become stronger, and when you are addicted it is very difficult to stop, because in my opinion to be able to stop addicted to the main perpetrators must first realize what their mistakes are and be fully aware that excessive gambling has caused them to lose a lot of money or even assets, and it is not easy to recover from this addiction, they must be able to restrain themselves from the strong temptation of gambling.

addiction is a disease, I took the liberty of removing some parts from wikipedia to make it easier to understand, because most of the time people have a lot of difficulties with how to proceed if they have a relative or friend or neighbor who is addicted to video games. bad luck. In many places, when people are faced with a person addicted to gambling, they rush to blame the spirits and perform rituals to please the spirits because they believe that this way they will be able to cure the person addicted to gambling and when that doesn't work, in other words, when the addicted person is not cured even with the ritual performed, then people run to churches that promise to perform miracles, the addicted person's relatives, even though they are relatives who are very well educated in terms of schooling, are people who have done faculty

Even so, in times of despair they become blind and really believe that that church will perform a miracle on their addicted relative. But after this section of miracles, the addicted relative doesn't cure anything, so the addict's relatives start going to the hospital as a last resort, they go to the hospital without much hope. if you look at:


source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addiction

With this we can clearly see that to cure addiction it is necessary to seek help from a doctor and start with treatment so that the person changes their behavior, it is possible to cure addiction, it is enough that the person is complying with all recommendations of the doctor. An addicted person develops a behavior in which they are excessively dependent on a certain thing, which can be alcohol, sex, gambling and drugs, and treatment with a doctor consists of making that person's brain stop feeling dependence on those things in excess, for example of a person addicted to gambling, they will always feel the need to play and as in the casino you don't play for free, the addicted person will play until they run out of all the money they have, but when that person starts with treatment in the hospital then the doctor could be able to make this person no longer dependent on gambling and live a different and happy life

Probably, because he thinks he still has a chance to hit the jackpot and win all his money back and even more, with all his money back he could get all his positions again and even work on getting his family together. So at this point of his addiction, sadly he is trying to flee his problems by further engaging with them and running faster/accelerating towards a concrete wall.
The sad reality is, even if he for pure luck managed to pull off a financial return and hit the jackpot he is desperately seeking to fix his life, he would still misuse that money and continue to wager more, for the sake of greed and accumulating more, he may convince himself that is his lucky day. He would be back whenever he started in the previous day before the jackpot.

For cases like that one, I believe education and awareness of how gambling works is supposed to be more widespread, so should be the rehabilitation facilities for anyone who feels to have reached rock bottom.  

Personally I don’t believe in spiritual things, instead I see it as another pretext to cover behind addiction which can be a dangerous problem if not treated soon. Unfortunately, the online gambling now became a very large industry and everyone has access to gambling very easily, one of the reasons for gamblers to quit is availability mixed with bad self control.
In any moment, anyone of us can also get affected by this addiction even knowing all about the risks behind it, especially in my experience when you have money and not knowing where to spend it.

Addiction of anything is almost the same, the urge of having that morning cup of coffee or that cigarette after a good meal to me are all the same as gambling addiction. The solution and first step of getting rid of this issue is confessing to someone close, family member or a friend. Some countries where they don’t have centres of rehabilitation are more affected and ,ore difficult to get over it.

The ability to have that total withdrawal from gambling is what many addicts lack, I know remember how you have always mentioned about your previous gambling addictions problem and how you where able to overco that addictions now and can gamble within your set budgets and doing well at that, so if the victim can apply same approach he may still make it our of his current state unharmed but at this stage he is really in a mess that need urgent intervention.

Gambling is risky and even most of us who are not addicted still experiences some bad outcomes if we go over our budget and taking gambling for what it is not, we need to always put in check whatever our gambling activities are to keep balance because addictions is indeed a bad virus to any gambler.

It's possible that this person already lost his mind, we are humans and if something unexpectedly happen it's possible to enter a state of shock and it's also possible to lose your mind.

Someone turned into a crazy woman when she lost her only child to an accident just across the street, opposite their home, she was looking after her child, and in a few seconds, the child ran toward the road.

This affected her so much that she was taken to an asylum later, but she never got herself back, it's possible that this gambler that OP is talking about was in shock after losing everything to gambling and he already confused himself to get everything back from gambling.

This case might be those of chasing losses addiction, someone who have no clue about gambling can use all they have on gamble especially if they have won before, but they never think about how they will feel if they lose everything until it happens.

That is addiction for you. Also that the person can be addicted to other things like drugs.

You are right. But the person needs to know that he has to stop gamble for months or years until he is satisfied that he is no longer addicted. If the person love gambling, he can have a gambling budget like we always say on this gambling discussion board and it should be small amount of money. But it will be good if the person just stop gambling.

At first I fine this story very hard to believe may be because of the way the ops posted it because I don't believe someone in that harm state will have the ability to decide for himself wether or not to gamble, I agree with that level of violent gambling addictions but at this stage he should be on chain on in rehabilitation house since obviously he is now uncontrollable.

Addictions is the worst state for any gambler and once you reach that point, the only thing that can get you out is the person 100% involvement and determination to get off the addictions.

I agree with you mate, Seems like that person is suffering in severe gambling addiction and possibly accompanied by other mental health issues due to lack of financial, mental and family support. We don't know what the real reason is, but based on OP's description, it seems that consultation or advice from other people is not enough to change the person, In such cases, rehabilitation and drug medication are necessary because no matter what advice we give in a person, if he continues to return to the thing that destroyed him, he will only drown more and more in gambling addiction. Only rehab can really help a person to change and of course his dedication and desire to change, the treatment will be faster if he helps himself.

This is actually just one story of an addictive gambler, because their are so many and even countless addictive gamblers out their that are even in a worse situation in one way or the other, I have even heard of a story of how a man kidnapped his ageing father through a hired tugs, and demand for a ransom from his elder brother which is a wealthy man, so that he can keep up to his gambling habits, which he can no longer afford, but he was later exposed and arrested after an investigation was carried out after everything, he and the other perpetrators were brought to Justice, arrested and punished according to the law, so why am I saying this? Am saying this because you need to understand that addictive gamblers are ready to go extra miles, to keep up to their gambling habits, even when it's destroying their lives, because to them, they can't live without it.

He may still be normal and not derailed. If you have lost so much to gambling, it could have such kind of negative effect on the person because they keep struggling to win back their money at the expense of not having time for any other thing


If you are a loner and you don't allow anyone to know or understand what you are doing then no one will know you need help. So it is worse of you don't have a wife or a close companion, you will be at your own mercy.

So it is not anything close to spiritual attack but the mind which have stationed him away from the need to disclose to any person. People die in silence from this especially if they are huge gambler, they lose much faster than they can control it. An addict is worse off if they don't have spouse or children because at some point he needs to eat, rest and feel the bossom of his family but if that is missing, he will always be on the straight looking haggard.

What are the none monetary ways to help a gambling addict. We can agree the fees for rehab may be too exorbitant for the addict to afford. Anyone who is addicted and seeks for him will get. There are environmental factors that could influence the gambling addict to keep gambling or to quit. Changing locations can help weaken the triggers that causes the addiction to persist. Changing friends, and reading new books can help too.

I feel for him. This is because he knows that gambling has made him lose everything but he still would not give up, because he still believes that he can hit the jackpot with the next game. False hope is what many gamblers have, and gradually gambling keeps destroying them.

The person needs to be in rehab home, where he will be deprived from gambling for a very long time. I guess that will help him, but he needs his family to succeed in this. I haven't seen such gambler in my entire life. Is it that the losses was what made him mentally sick or something else.

What I can call it is frustration of losing is affecting his mental health already, but addiction is hard to quit. You are right by saying he needs help. Rehabilitation center will greatly help him. He needs his family and friends support they should advise and take him to rehabilitation center if they have the money. I hope this can teach many people on this forum lessons that gambling addiction is not good at all. It is wrong to be thinking that money can be made through gambling.

With the level of addiction you've described OP, I think that person needs to be taken to a rehab, it's obvious he has lost his mind, gambling can be one of the addictions he is going through, but i believe there are other things too he can be addicted to that your not aware of. Gambling can be addictive no doubt, but not to the extent of costing him his business, home and family, that's far too much.
At that stage, he cannot stay on his own and stop gambling, he obviously needs help from friends and well washers, because in his state of mind, he hasn't done anything wrong with his gambling lifestyle.

Gambling addicted person will want to stop the addiction if he knows already that he is likely to lose more than win and that profit is not promising in gambling. It would be like a mad person that knows that he is mad which means he is cure ify the madness already. Or maybe people are different but that was how I quit gambling addiction. I quit gambling the day I realized that I will always lose more from my irresponsible gambling. The person has not accepted that, he thinks a day is coming that he is going to be lucky, but that day may never come.

what is keeping him imprisoned(addicted) could be a lack of social support.

• Family- mother, father, brother, sister
• Religious support - Priest, Iman, Rabbi
• Communal support - Gambling Anonymous groups

People who are addicted and are finding difficult to break free more than ever need love and compassion. They need to know that they have not been abandoned by their family. They need to know that they are loved and their family need to help them overcome it. Strength comes from the mind and it come from the loving and encouraging words from family.

There is no metaphysical forces at play in any addiction. With the necessary support any one can break free from it.

Gambling addiction are of different levels I guess

And this one that I just witnessed is likely the most cruel one.

I have seen gamblers who are addicted to gambling fighting for their lives to stop or reduce their gambling activities but they can't, obviously they are addicted to gambling and struggling with it.

But for the first time I happened to see someone who is a gambler and he was harmed because of gambling severally, fully in financial distress but instead of him to calm down and try to avoid what's harming him so badly, even after losing everything, he is still so desperate to continue.

The way I am looking at him, he is behaving unstable, as if he is now mentally derailed, he can communicate but gambling is the next thing he want to do, this have cost him is home, business and family.

Where I am confused is that why won't he stopped already? Those that are addicted to gambling that i knew get to this same level of losing everything and they make a U-turn in the end, what is keeping him imprisoned ? His mind? or he is already crazy? Or even a spiritual attack?