How do you fight this battle?
I have never been addicted to gambling, even though I play for more than 10 years. My close friends who have been gambling with me for years are also not addicted to gambling from what I can tell. Among my family and friends I have seen people be addicted to drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. I can tell how someone is struggling to get his fix and focuses only one thing in his life. With gambling addictions I would expect it to be similar. This might be a bit hard for me to answer, but I tell you I control my habits for such a long time. The most important factor for me right from the start has always been to have a fixed limit of how much money I am willing to gamble with. This started out from my early days when I went to my home casino and I only took cash with me, going without credit cards allowed me to control my maximum loss for a night. Today when I mostly gamble online I still follow the same idea, I set fixed limits for myself for each month to not lose more money. Once I lost the budget allocated for a week, then I am stopping and take a break. Also whenever I make a good profit from gambling I will withdraw some of that money to take it out of my bankroll, to not lose it again next week.
However, isn't it true that addiction is a beast of many faces, different for everyone? The reins you hold over your betting instincts might be a tougher ride for others. Picture steering through a tempest – no two voyages are the same, and what smooths one person's sail might not ease another's.
Wouldn't it make more sense to push for prevention instead of mere control? A full-court press involving community awareness, advisory services, and fellowship can be a game changer in the fight against gambling addiction. Doesn't a wide-net strategy seem crucial to ensure support is within reach for those who need it most?