What difference will it make if you keep people by your side always 'incase'? If you have any health challenge, especially one where your mental health is at stake, avoiding anything at all that will trigger it, yea even gambling". You do not need that mental stress at all.
If you are someone that cannot handle anxiety, you panic greatly after every gambling rounds, then you need to have a rethink about getting involved in gambling. It is only foolishness if you experience anxiety attacks yet keep assuring yourself you'll be fine, you are causing more damage to yourself and with time it will generate into something more severe.
Everyone must not gamble, same way everyone cannot practice a particular kind of profession. We all know our strength and weaknesses, avoid what you cannot handle for the sake of your health. This is not cowardice, it is a precautionary measure.
It’s common for a player to hope for the best, we all want to hope for that, don’t we? But in reality this does not happen and it turns out that we are deceiving ourselves by entering the game again and again. Of course, there are many who would rather not enter the game, because it will shake their nerves so much that they won’t want to do anything else in life, their nerves will be destroyed or permanent depression will arise. These are very serious problems and many people think that this will happen to anyone, but only to him. I want to say that you should always feel how much the game affects your sleep and wallet. If there is nothing from this, then it is obvious that you can’t play anymore.
We need to know ourselves before gambling. Discovering for the first time that gambling could trigger his hypertension, shows the person may not have been checking his reaction to sudden situations. Winning big, for instance, could lead to shock, to some gamblers, because they never thought about winning such an amount that day, or it could be something they have been imagining to have in a distant time. The person in Op's story, his friend, may have had a similar encounter in the past, even before gambling. But, he didn't look into it or thought gambling could make him feel that way again. Having people around him, in such a condition can help in fastening treatment if he experiences such a sudden occurrence in his life again. Gamblers do feel anxiety, but wouldn't stop because they're looking to gain more money. Anxiety has led many to problem gambling and caused damage to their friendship with family.
These experiences could compound to the extent the gambler now spends money on gambling without feeling any pain or remorse after losing. Hence those who know that gambling could cause them pain, anxiety, or hypertension don't need to gamble again. If he's won the jackpot, taking a break is crucial for his health. No need to practice the same gambling which can lead him to have such a problem again. If he breaks down, or while he was in the hospital, he wasn't able to gamble. That's what we need to consider when going contrary to what our health practitioner told us regarding our health. The doctor who treated Op's friend is expected to warn him to give gambling a huge gab and enjoy his winnings. I think on his end, he wants to wager all the money he's won, before realizing he's making a mistake. Would he be able to get hold of himself if he wins big, eventually, again? it's the question to ask himself, before trying to gamble again.