It also seems to me that it is quite difficult for the gambler himself to understand where the boundary of normality is in gambling.
Often it seems to the player that everything is within the limits of a reasonable game and he definitely does not cross the line. But those close to him understand that he has actually gone beyond it and is stubbornly moving towards a really strong gambling addiction. According to my observations, of course, most players can stop at some point and reduce their participation in gambling. These people show self-control and, one might even say, are more responsible for their own lives and for creating a more comfortable life for their loved ones.
I think that most responsible and experienced players have gone through such a period in their gaming history. And now they are not afraid of any addiction, since for them it cannot develop to the stage of disease.
Most people hold a very positive bias towards themselves so they cannot really judge their actions in a fair manner, for example in a study which I read many years ago, most students thought about themselves as harder working than the average, an impossibility of course, as by definition only half of the students can be above the average in any given metric at a time, so while an addicted gambler may see their gambling in a positive light, their friends know the truth and see they are gambling too much.
Absolutely correct observation.
Of course, I also think that when a player first starts playing, he mentally always overestimates his capabilities and is usually too optimistic.
This is a psychological phenomenon that is clearly visible to the player’s friends or relatives, but remains unnoticed by the player himself. A novice gambler simply does not think at all that he will actually have less luck in the game than he expects. Although, of course, there are probably novice players - pessimists who can objectively evaluate their game in the future. But I think that such players are still few among all beginning players. Simply because this is quite an interesting and exciting entertainment that has not been used by a beginner before, and novice players have a natural state of slight euphoria at the beginning of the game and as the game progresses too.
To go a little bit further on this, in that study the students that were interviewed were simply normal people without any kind of particular personality flaw or psychological problem, so can you imagine the amount of self-denial an addicted gambler must go through in order to not see they have a problem? It is because of this that even if their family realizes there is something wrong with them, they are not willing to listen, and in their minds their family is the one that is blowing things out of proportion, even if we know this is not really the case.
Here, it seems to me, lies an extremely common situation among gambling players, when the player’s parents or his close people begin to scold the player for playing too much, but he, on the contrary, tries to brush off this accusation.
The result is scandals, quarrels and a generally tense situation in the family. Sometimes even the breakdown of a famiily, if a player, for example, quarrels with his wife. I think that this is an eternal and very common problem among gamblers and that is why many non-gamblers hate gambling itself as the source of their problems. But such is our world. There is always contradiction and adoration on the part of some people, gamblers. And hatred from other people who suffer from being next to such a player.
Here I especially feel sorry for the parents of players who are in the stage of mental illness. This is indeed a very serious family problem. And it’s not always possible to cope with it.
