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This morning I read a scientific article that discusses the symptoms of a gambling disorder or behavior that is classified as severe gambling addiction.
And according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition: DSM-5, there are several symptoms that indicate the behavior of someone who is addicted, including:

• The individual with the disorder feels the desire to gamble and uses more and more money to get the pleasure he craves.

• Finds himself agitated and annoyed when he tries to gamble less or halt altogether.

• He has tried time and again to curb, lessen or halt gambling, but has not been able to.

• Many times, he obsesses about gambling, such as thinking about his past gambling involvement; preparing for another gambling session; and devising how to get the money he needs for gambling.

• When he feels unhappy, distraught, remorseful and hopeless, he gambles

• When he is defeated during gambling, he tries to make up for the loss of money by going back to gamble again, trying to win back what he lost.

• He is dishonest about his gambling, trying to cover up how much he participates in it.

• His gambling has caused an important relationship, academics, current career or future chance of a job to be in serious peril.

• He depends on other people to give him the money he needs to resolve serious problems he is having (paying the mortgage, utilities, loans, car payments).

• The gambling is not because of a manic episode.

• Stealing or cheating for money to gamble

Source : https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/gambling-disorder/what-is-gambling-disorder


In the last few hours I personally do self-introspection and analyze these symptoms may be in myself, family or friends. and as a result there are some of my friends who do seem to have these symptoms ;
1. Should I shut up and watch him continue gambling.
2. Or risk the friendship to fall apart by suggesting him to go to a psychiatrist, because because in my place people who go to a psychiatrist are identical to people who have mental disorders.


Note : This is my first topic in the gambling thread, and it may still have many shortcomings, but my intention is just to share a little information with everyone here and hopefully it will be useful. thank you...!

It's a complicated issue when you want to give advice for his own good, but he won't listen, and sometimes there will be aggression towards you. Well, for me, if he isn't asking for help, I won't talk about it too deeply. If he wants to ruin his life, I'm afraid there is nothing you can do about it. Why should we care so much about our friend? It's his privacy after all. But in case you really want to help, tell his family about his problem and ask them to keep silent. Only his wife, son, parents, can talk to him.

Maybe I won't care what other people do, but not with my best friend whom I have considered a brother. But what I'm thinking right now is how to convey it without destroying the friendship that has existed since childhood, and honestly its emotional nature makes me have to think twice about conveying it without causing other problems.

Intervention would always be the best choice, however do it in a way that your friend will not be offended and will understand that your intentions are good. It’s in the way of delivering the bad news in a manner that the receiver will understand, and will not be triggered by the sudden rush of emotions that will result from the bad news that you uttered.

Just a few small talks and some beers may help you explain things in an unoffensive and personal manner. Better to have a small, temporary rift between you and your friend than to let him/her fall apart due to gambling.

thanks for the advice and maybe I will wait for the right time to talk about it, and maybe there should be a little humor in conveying it later ;D, I really should take her for coffee in her favorite cafe, but if I have to invite  her to drink beer, maybe I should also see a psychiatrist  ;D, because to be honest beer is a drink that is forbidden in my religion and family. :)

I do not think there is any problem to say the truth, it is only just a matter of telling him politely in a way he will not be offended. I think if your friend is a gambling addict, he will know that something is wrong about himself, but the stop is the issue, but you that have read about it will be able to tell him about the dangers there and about the reason he should stop, not that you are commanding him to stop but just you wish him to stop because quiting it for time being will help him. Just be polite about this and that you do not want what is not good for him is the reason you are advising him. As simple as that, it is not about bear or not imo.

Unfortunately you can give advice but you cannot change somebody who does not want to change. Often it takes a certain self realization that what they are doing is futile and wasteful, a conclusion that they have to establish themselves in order to start on the road to recovery. Pretty much everything you specified applies to other addictions like alcohol and drugs. You can always try to explain in logical ways - like the fact that Las Vegas wasn't paid for by winners, but some people simply do not understand the mathematics behind it or will constantly chase the dream that they deserve to be the lucky one. People who do things like chase losses will often concoct some bizarre sequence that they will soon win, when in actual fact every bet is totally independent from previous bets and the odds are almost always against them. The best you can do is try to help when they want to break free but definitely do not give them cash or anything that could be used to further fund an uncontrolled habit.

also, the best way to give him a piece of advice is if he brings the topic first. usually, if you will raise the topic and tell him about his situation and how to address his, may end up him not talking to you. some people get offended even if you want to help their situation. let him realise first his situation and if he asks for your assistance, then you can very well offer any help for his situation. people know what situation they are in, and yes, they need to realise it on their own because the real change will only come from themselves and not from anyone around them.

It's better if I don't say anything to my relatives, let alone give advice about gambling, however this will be more sensitive to say, even if we talk to family, we will still become enemies because we have spoken about this openly even though the relative wants to remain private about gambling.
I have a friend since childhood and until now it is still the same, but he has been a gambling lover for a long time so I let him do whatever even though I have seen a lot of damage done, but I thought as long as you never borrow money from me just to gamble then I wouldn't give it any less.

You're in a very difficult position here, and the right thing to do would be to try and convince your friend to visit a psychiatrist. However, I don't know how bad things are with his addiction, but if it's severe there is a risk that he will be very mad, break the friendship, and won't even listen to your advice.
In such a case you need to come very carefully, don't make any straight approaches. I can share my experience of what I did when my friend was an addict (only not gambling, but alcohol), but the psychology is the same here.

First, you need to take his side, make him see that you're in the same team he is. SO, you'd have to start gambling, share your experience (only be cautious not to become addicted yourself!), gamble together.

Then you'd need to slowly start exposing some problems. E.g. say that you're facing financial troubles because of gambling (even if it's not true), can't stop thinking about it and then very gradually name all the problems that your friend is facing but as if they're yours. But don't make any hints or references that he might be having the same problems, that will ruin everything! He'll need to reflect that on himself and see that he's in trouble himself but through watching you.

So, the main psychology here is that the person often can't see when he is in trouble, but he can see it in others. But don't make it fast, or he'll suspect something, maybe make it weeks. Eventually, he will see the problem, and then and only then (if he doesn't think of that himself at that point) you can start talking about the psychiatrist.

That worked for my friend, and I gave that advice to other people that were in similar situations, it always works if you do it right.
I hope this will help!

I understand why the OP is very concerned because that person is like a family to him. Since he knows better that person, he should know when to bring that topic to his best friend without him offending. Some people get upset when someone is pointing out their bad habits even if he is a very close one. So as a best friend, you should know when to inject such discussion without him being upset and that you have good intentions of bringing that up.

This point made it seem like, gambling can actually be some form if stress relief, really! Can it? Can gambling really be a way of handling stress? Because what I see there is actually accumulating more stress. The stress that comes with each wrong prediction or anticipation of the game, each money you loose and all that. It actually sets your adrenaline off and other things thinks in.

Gambling addiction is bad and addiction doesn't really ends with gambling alone. Being addicted to anything at all is bad. It might surprise you to hear this but then, your being sucked in completely that you no longer see the need for any other thing or its importance. This isn't the way to go. Anything that is so static breaks. Flexibility is where you should be because, the would itself depends on the variation within it to survive. Don't be an addict!

You can see most of these on the casinos, they are playing despite of being broke and usually they fake their smile just to tell people that they are ok but in reality, they are not. We can help them but it’s still up to them if they are going to listen to us or not, the only person that can help them is the professionals, and their family. If you see someone acting all those on the list, be kind to them.

You would surely be giving out some advises and piece of words if the one who got addicted is neither your friend, loved ones or something you do know but if you do tend to say or showing off some concern into some random guy then i highly doubt that you wont really be saying a thing or wouldnt really care at all and would just let them on the things that theyve been doing and for sure i wouldnt really care into someone on telling and they might
scold you on and say that mind our own business since its their money to spend on and its up to their full rights on how they would gonna be spending it.

I think the reason why they say that gambling can be relaxing is due to that dopamine fix problem gamblers get when they spin a slot or spin the wheel at a roulette table. In this context, "relaxing" might be confused with "soothing" in the sense that the addict is scratching an itch. One thing I'd like to point out is that many of the symptoms from the OP are also common among gamers. The line between gambling and gaming has become incredibly blurred. https://www.nodepositdaily.com/features/differences-between-gambling-and-gaming/ has a cool piece on this phenomenon, but essentially the two are overlapping. It doesn't help that many games have paid loot boxes, which are nothing more than single reel slot machines.

I guess my point is that problem gambling symptoms will become extremely common among gamers as well. To me, that's a far larger issue, since the number of people playing video games far exceeds those who are gambling. Figuring out how to help such individuals should be a priority for all gambling regulators.

You don't really have to risk friendship there. You could either just invite him to go to a more productive habit like going fishing, hunting, or biking or sort of like that but don't go over to personal stuff like his addiction. Friends know what other friend like doing besides the problematic stuff.

Unless he is the one who starts the conversation about going to a psychiatrist, people often times when having no money at all are irritable and makes him more irate when if advised going to a psychiatrist.

Everything should have a limit and everything on this world would really turn out to be bad if you do it excessively this is why we should really be careful on dealing up with things and should really be in moderation or else you would really be experiencing up problem that you might not have able to experience into your own entire life.

Its true that there are people who aren't really that open enough or being showy in terms of their own personal problems specially that most of gamblers do really deny that they had already been addicted.

You would really be messing up yourself if you do tolerate that addiction that inside of you.You should be careful and be watchful towards your actions.

Well, gambling addiction is a mental disorder. So, the psychiatrist is the most relevant person to come to. Nobody seeks for a psychiatric help If they're in a sane mind.
You can't risk your friendship by telling him how worse he have been gambling lately and that he certainly needs to limit himself, but not in a persistent way. Just tell him once or twice, that's it. You can change someone If they aren't interested in changing themselves first. So, If he doesn't want to lessen on your first and second try then the least thing you could do is to watch him gradually becoming broke. That's the only he'll realize how worse he is. Learn the hard way.

Exactly, people with gambling addiction cannot be stop that easily it's like trying to stop smoke addiction. All they need is plenty of time to stop that's why there are people who can help them to stop that and those are the psychiatrists. Let them help themselves first if they really want to stop playing gambling because I believe it always start with ourselves on how to change.

He will realize it sooner if he continues to persists that's the hard way but let's just give them a chance to prove their own if you see them trying. I think we all know what it feels like to have an addiction in some things, right?

This also applies to other activities that you do. Like if your favorite habit is to eat, when you're under stress, you eat. When you are annoyed and you feel uncomfortable, you'll find a way to eat and crave. That's sort of stress eating and that's the same in gambling. It is a stress reliever for the others and they gamble as much as they want and the release of dopamine in our body triggers it more for us to gamble no matter what the situation is as long as you're feeling pleasured by doing it or you're finding it as a way to solve the current problem that you're dealing with.

Some of us when depressed don't eat at all but yes I've seen documentaries about obesity as a result of their depression. This is when they are rejected by a boyfriend or got bullied.

Gambling addiction is a major problem that is why most state's governments ban gambling even online gambling. A father with gambling problems always has issues and its not good for all the family members.

Number 1 should not be an option. But, surely, there must be a way for you to get to initiate a discussion about your friend's gambling problems without necessarily risking your friendship. You are friends, after all. Of course, you don't just directly tell him/her that he/she needs to go to a psychiatrist and have himself/herself checked up. As a matter of fact, I guess the first option is to try distract him/her from gambling. You might want to schedule different fun and interesting activities to divert his/her attention from going deep into gambling addiction.

Don't make it too complicated to do because there is always a good way to warn someone at the right time. Remember, never remind someone to change their bad habit that are considered bad in the general public such as gambling, stealing or other things that are against your religion and customs in public. It will only end up as an insult to him and you will never succeed and even you will have a new enemy who is none other than your friend.

You need to know that we all have mental disorders, it's just that we are on a different level with people who are called crazy because feeling of anxiety and restlessness are also symptom of a disturbed mental state. The level of gambling addiction experienced by your friend, it would not hurt you to suggest he go to a psychologist not to a psychiatrist who is identical with the disorder. That will give him some encouragement and motivation to make improvements to his mindset and gambling habit. However, before you do, make sure you are no longer a gambler.

Risk it. I mean, it isn't that hard of a decision to make if you truly are a friend, decisions about friends were never something that you actually wanted to benefit you, but rather benefit others instead. To hell with relationships, if that means the man you want to help (or woman) can get well or be healthy, you could stand to be the villain of their lives for eternity. That's what friends truly are. Now you would only truly do 1 if your friend was an ass, and you don't really consider him as one even.

if he breaks the friendship due to that, then there's nothing you can do anymore tbh. That's just how it goes. Whether they listen or not isn't your fault anymore, it's their own so don't try to wallow into pity due to that.

Risking it though seems like martyrdom in my opinion because you don't really have any bonds with them besides being a friend, I agree that you should risk it but there will come a time that you should set a boundary that you won't be doing this thing. Also the symptoms that you should worry about when someone is addicted is when they are harming others or themselves.

Personally I have been a long time ago somewhat related to only one of these points,I have been in a situation when life had not a meaning for me unless I used to go to Caesar Palace(local casino,not the big one everyone thinks about) and gamble there.There were some fascinating slot machines there as I didn't use online gambling that much back then.I used to go there even in 2 AM in the morning as it was a 24 h casino.I was unemployed back then but luckily for me I found a job which didn't let me that much time to go there anymore as I was getting tired during my daily job.The desire was big to continue and I only thought about the casino but after some time of not being able to go,I recovered from this serious illness and life was beautiful again.

I prefer the option number 2. Your friend will surely be offended if you asked him to go to a psychiatrist but if he realizes soon that you are right about their addiction in gambling, your friendship will return. I'd rather lose our friendship than watch them ruin their life because of gambling. He won't be that same friend anymore if he got addicted in gambling. We should break the stereotype that if someone goes to a psychiatrist, he automatically has a mental disorder.

My gambling addiction was similar to yours, I was very addicted to spot gambling in 2014, I played often which are offline but later migrated to online games for fast minute bet, I was very addicted, using data connection, my time and money, but the frequent gambling only lead me to lose more than I thought for years. But when I am working now and earning money elsewhere, I am not addicted again. I can even decide not to gamble for months if I like, I use the money I can afford now unlike before when it was a problem for me that I even sold my home theater and computer one time because of gambling.

theres a one sign that i think normal  .  this >
gambling can provide instant happiness if we are sad , hopless or experiencing other negativities in life  . dont comfront your friend yet if he is having this but dont wait when you saw other signs occuring on him . a friend will appreciate it if we care for them or warn them but we will get blame if we act late .

whats the problem with that ? gambling addiction is a mental disorder . we shouldnt be shy if we have illness

There is. At some point, people who gamble the money given by others can somewhat be humiliating. And I am certain that this person will feel awful to himself due to the fact that it's now his hard earned money he gamble to make some fun.

This is why people with gambling disorder tends to lie to their relatives and others to hide their compulsive behavior.

You should warn them and tell them about the symptoms so they can introspect what happened to them and they can solve the problem before it is too late. You do not need to afraid with your friendship because a good friend will always suggest the best for his best friends. He does not want to see them get a problem in the future and they want to take care each other.

Maybe you do not have to suggest them to visit a psychiatrist at first but you can tell them the situation that happened to them and let they think about that. If they still playing gambling, maybe you need to go with them and always warn them to stop gambling.

if you really care for him as a brother you should be honest about what you think about his disorder. things like this are always hard often ruin a friendship. if I were you I'd tell him what the problem is, suggest a solution, and volunteer that you'll be there for him. if he takes what you said personally and decided to distance himself to you it's his loss and not yours. you being afraid of what to say will not help him.

Gambling related disorders and gambling addiction is like any other addiction. It may start slowly, but it can build and grow into something very intense. Some people get into the habit of gambling for the thrill of the game and the thrill of winning money, but what this ultimately leads to is being addicted to something which is not to be taken lightly. In order to see if you are addicted to gambling, you need to look at all the clues. Many of these symptoms listed in the article can also be seen in other forms of addiction, for example, alcoholism or drug abuse.

addicts, in general, have the same habit, when he is not able to fulfill his desire then he will involve other people...

addiction to drugs, sex and gambling is an excruciating thing for sufferers. the sufferer has absolutely no control over himself so he tries hard to fulfill his opiate even though he has no money at all. when there is no way out at all then cheating, robbing, and pawning will be done just to gamble.

I have tried several times to distract him to get rid of the addiction, one of which is by trying to focus on other work, including when I tried to build an intense farm business with him, and at first he seemed very focused on work but after a week later I found him back in the gambling game with his other friends, and to be honest I even had an argument with one of his friends who again invited him to gamble.
Right now even his family is getting desperate for his habits and maybe right now I'm the only person who still cares about him. :'(

Obvious behavior of a person to determine if he/she is a gambling addict is spending more money for gambling. Selling personal things to earn money and gamble again. Some might do the ssme but they only gamble when they have money. This type of behavior can be change as you have to advice them and for worst gambling addict is to bring them to a rehabilitation center for rehab.

The article uses neutral formulations, it seems to me, whereas the op formulates them via the male pronoun, even though obviously gambling addiction isn't restricted to males. I also don't understand the part about a manic episode (and I don't see this one by the link the op provides as a source). Can you explain why it's one of the symptoms?
If you know someone who seems to have a problem with gambling, gently suggesting this person to get some help is probably something you should try. But pushing your friend towards going to a psychiatrist might not be a good idea.

It's true, the article is not gender-specific, but why am I focusing more on men, because from the survey data released by GambleAware, almost 57% of people who are addicted to gambling are men, and in this topic I focus on these symptoms to men because indeed my friend is a man, but I think we can all get these symptoms in everyone regardless of gender.
For the point of manic episodes, maybe I can say a little if a manic episode or in medical terms referred to as bipolar disorder (a person's mood increases suddenly and unnaturally) is one of the symptoms that puts you at risk for impulsive actions, and the emergence of a sudden desire to gamble arrived without dont care the regardless of place, time and situation when it happened.

"Responsible gamblers knows when to Stop" ...so if you cannot stop for any reason at all, then you have a problem. The same goes for any other activity or even food or alcohol. I know people who are addicted to "Exercise" .... because their brain gives off "feel good" endorphins when they exercise and they get addicted to that. (Doing too much exercise can also be harmful)

If you need to gamble to "fill" some need or to get some rush that you are not getting somewhere else, then you have to do some introspection to see if you have a problem and then get some help, if you do.  ;)

I will do number 2 to help my friend and risk the friendship because I do not want to see him get deeper into the gambling games. Maybe I can ask him to follow me to the psychiatrist and we can do that secretly so only we will know his problem. I think he will follow my suggestion, especially if he really appreciates our relationship. But before you ask him to the psychiatrist, you need to talk privately with him and tell him that you really care about him.

like what I'm experiencing right now, where addiction makes my friend who initially focused on crypto trading, only because he often experiences losses because he sees the same market as we know that is not friendly with this late profit.
a few days ago he came by offering a gambling site, I was surprised oh it turns out he has changed direction. and says the advantages of slot gambling, betting match scores and others.
I am silent, although sometimes I also like to gamble. but when you see other people profit. it affects our psychology and compels the heart to gamble again.
As a result, not a profit to be had, but a huge loss for three consecutive days.


It's hard to get rid of gambling addiction, to be honest I tried several solutions, but the temptation to gamble is still bigger.

Sounds like a gay story, but maybe it will work?! :D
From my experience nothing can truly change a dude except his love for his family, or a heavy trauma (usually involves both).

I was on and off gambling, it's not that I want to quit playing slots, but I have more and more things to do. I often work on weekend as well.
If you are busy, your cravings will naturally disappear as you utilize your brain for heavy activities. If you aren't that busy, consider joining a gym and get fucked there. But it's more difficult since working out isn't mandatory, and you will find a way to quit.

From one side your friend or relative will say 'just mind your business' don't worry about me, he will answer like that, that action is one of the characteristics of people who have experienced the worst gambling symptoms.

But you can still persuade him or advise / your friends, show examples of people who experience losses due to gambling, for example: show something bad to your friends about gambling that has been experienced by other people.
People who are already seriously addicted to the world of gambling, cannot be advised verbally, they will strike back with bad words, the best way is to show an example as I said above, it might be a little better to alert your friends.

Gambling addiction includes known gambling addiction or pathological gambling. These are the most characteristic of non-toxic addictions and carry a series of extremely serious consequences gambling addiction can cause a person to lose a lot of money causing financial loss to both himself and his family and or friends addictions often affect many areas of a person's life. The most effective treatment is extensive you also need to spend time with your family and have fun to cure this addiction.

People with severe gambling addiction wouldn't listen to personal advice anymore because they focus more on winning and targeting the prize that they want. They need to seek professional help because, to be honest, gambling addiction could ruin not just a single life but the family as a whole. If a person wants help, he should also try to help himself to control this type of addiction.

I also have some acquaintances and even my partner was once addicted to gambling.  As long as they have money, they can gamble as they wish.  I'm the one who handles our money so he asks and lets me know if he gambles.  At that time it was almost every day, every night, and they played until the morning, it's good and it doesn't happen again now, I just don't know if we're not together.  There is nothing good about gambling too much because you will neglect and miss a lot that you should have wasted on more worthwhile things.  You probably won't ruin your friendship right away if you talk to him about his condition.  You also don't need to tell him that he needs a psychiatrist right away.  Sometimes they also need to be talked to in-depth, maybe they just lack attention as well.  They can also be invited to other hobbies or activities.

There are polite manner to talking a Friend who is addicted to gambling into seeing a phychiatrist without having to hurt anyone's feelings. You can invite him or her for a drink or even a gambling tournament something you feel could entice him then you go ahead to invite a phychiatrist as well to the meeting venue. Most phychiatrist know how to engage them in discussions that would warrant them to seek for help. Going to as him to see a phychiatrist might cost you a whole lot even to the point of loosing him as a friend

as friends, of course it is not wrong if we try to change the bad nature of our friends and make them better, after all his family has asked me for help several times to advise him because his relationship with his family is a little less harmonious and as a friend of course I have done it but still his attitude changed only in a matter of days and then he returned to the bad habit.


someone who is addicted certainly has a hard heart like a stone, so when we advise him hard of course he will fight back, but when we advise him gently of course it will take a long time for him to accept the advice and even as humans we will feel bored to constantly advise others (whoever it is).
Right now I'm thinking if I will try to keep him away from some other friends who have a gambling habit, so that at least it can minimize his desire to continue gambling.

• The individual with the disorder feels the desire to gamble and uses more and more money to get the pleasure he craves.

• Finds himself agitated and annoyed when he tries to gamble less or halt altogether.

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This two got my attention most because many atimes when I go to a local gambling hall I tend to see some specific set of persons who are always at the hall. Most times I wonder how the cope without a job to backup their losses and also how the get constant funds to keep gambling over and over again even when the can barely feed themselves. It would really take a whole lot of effort to convince such persons because talking them into seeing a phychiatrist might some how sound rude except a more deplomatic approach is used to convince them against their wish.

Pretty solid list of symptoms you have gathered here op. Now coming back to your question, you must try to help your family or friend who are ahowing such symptoms. Definitely you will risk the friendship, but eventually you will help a life to get back on track.

If gambling is legal in your country, you must have a national helpline number to help fight gambling addiction. If not legal, then try to find some NGOs who work on such addiction. I understand the social taboo you are referring, so try to find the help which is not closer to your area. But the help must be provided.

Interesting points presented by this article. And it's important to note the individual can be considered an addicted one only if he shows at least 4 of the symptoms from the list. Sometimes we see someone very agitated, what lead us to conclude this person is an addicted gambler, but it may not be the case, so we have to be cautious to not judge people wrongly. Even because these analysis can be only accurately made by professionals, in this case psychiatrists. On the other hand, I think it worths to advise friends or relatives to seek for professional help if you are in doubt about them suffering from gambling addiction, doesn't matter if they will like your advice or not.

This is a good list of symptoms of being addicted to gambling, I myself even experienced or has some of it when I was still an addict. It would be a good thing to show these symptoms to an addict and make him realize that he need help to slow down or to remove his gambling addiction. Fixing these symptoms one at a time could help the gambler to remove his addiction since I cured myself by doing small things.

releasing someone from gambling addiction is not an easy thing and of course it takes quite a bit of extra patience to do it, moreover the desire to change this bad thing comes from one party (op) and not from the addict himself, so in my opinion it will be impossible to do if it is true the addict doesn't want to change himself right now.

On what particular category your friend falls under the listed symptoms you have mentioned?

Not because they are eager to continue gambling despite having a bad effect on them, doesn't mean they now completely fall to the worst effect of doing gambling. There are lots of gamblers who are behaving that way but still responsible for the other part of their life.

We can just do something depends on what level of addiction that your friend is currently in.

Any form of addiction whether in gambling or other means like drugs or anything in life would really be ending up unfortunate for you if you do really tolerate that one and its true that majority of gamblers doesnt really accept that theyre addicted and do still continue to play despite of the situation they are into.Of course the primary target or aim in life is to make more money via gambling which is the only fastest way to do so but also the fastest
way on losing your money in a short span of time.Lots would really get compromised if you do let that addiction control ones self.

The person who has an addiction or compulsive behavior through gambling won't listen because their body like the feeling of winning or the feeling of if I win which is not a healthy thinking anymore. They need to control their own feeling towards things that is temporary. And making money shouldn't be the first goal by risking it through gambling and I think they were fully aware the risk already but they still continue despite of warning and signs showing to them.

I haven't got any pleasure out of gambling, all that I've experienced out of gambling is shivering. Myself had the fear of losing money. Once after losing my mind keeps thinking about the loss I've experienced. This keeps me tempted to gamble and recover the losses. This is the reason why I keep on gambling and there is nothing as pleasure, maybe other gamblers have experienced it.

How so? :D
The point is that any psychological addiction is a deeply emotional problem, we can see it all over: fear, anger, thrill, frustration, etc. People with severe addiction get very cranky and easily annoyed, especially when all this is supplemented with financial problems.

So direct approach is not an option here, the same as trying to reach through the family. As it often happens (and the OP just said it somewhere in this thread), when there's a gambling addict in a family they just turn their backs and never try to really understand and be supportive, they think of such a person as of disgrace and nothing more.

So the closest will likely only make things worse by putting additional pressure and not being very helpful. Thus, for a friend to listen to you one needs to be first and foremost on his side.

Oh, it's amazing of you to really be concerned of him. I guess talking to the family about his situation with his friends would help. Many of them might have not understood how things are turning worse. But I guess it would be awkward if you're the one who will try to represent the family and gather his friends and discuss his gambling situation on his behalf. It would be best if a family member would do that.

It sounds as if the situation really calls for it, before things would grow even worse that a professional's intervention is necessary.

a person involved must have at least 4-6 of those behavior before categorizing as having a gambling disorder .

because all of those are normal attitude of gambler if they only have 1 o- 3 of those.

i admit that some of the mentioned i have in gambling but not literally mean that i will admit having disorder because i can still manage to control myself when it comes to gambling.

Basically I have seen some signs on him, so I decided if he is indeed suffering from gambling addiction now, at first I also did not realize it was him but after I read the article and tried to match the symptoms mentioned in the article with his behavior so far, and that makes me very sure if he is currently headed for a slump regardless of whether he admits it or not, someone who is addicted will not admit their behavior is bad and usually they will continue to be stuck in that bad if we as family or friends do not try to remind and help him out of this behavior.

You really need to rescue him before it is too late for him to realize. I think he will not realize his gambling addiction itself because he can not see clear about himself. Maybe you can distract his mind from thinking about gambling by doing something else such as ask him to join you to do work together or other things. But you do not need to force him to follow you and you can do that slowly without being suspicious about what you will do to him. If you need help from other people or his family, that will be great as more people can get more solutions.

^ This is the problem of the gamblers get worst in addiction because they don't open their problem to their family or to their close ones.
If you have a sign of addiction, much better to cure yourself of it rather than it's too late and probably you will be killed by so many people before you will realize that you are in the stage of addiction. Just the same as what I have read long time ago, a gambling addict kill many people in the casino, fire a high powered gun through casino staff and gamblers because he was lost everything, that is worst if you did not cure in addiction.

It also depends on which symptoms exist to determine whether a gambler is severely addicted or not.

I guess someone who feels the urge to gambling in his free time cannot be classified as an addicted gambler because we all have an interest towards a particular activity and gambling might be one of them especially for someone who is sort of an introvert. There is no problem in gambling when you are bored, in fact gambling is basically meant to be a time killer and a fun activity.

Some symptoms like cheating others to gamble might be a warning indeed and one needs to visit a psychologist if they are actually cheating or stealing money to gamble, whatever their intention might be.

Some disorders and symptoms of severe gambling addiction includes restlessness and the desire to borrow money when there is no money to play.others include imagining how much profit you would have made when you place huge amount of money on a particular game. Gambling addiction is a strong spirit that one cannot control.It is advisable to see a councellor.

If the gambling-addicted person is your friend or the one you care about, then, without doubt, you should tell him/her and not just watch. If you watch him, its not far different from watching how your friend dies and not trying anything to escape him/her. That's why I think: Together we stand - Divided we fall.

I know how that feels, people in my area think that only Schizophrenics, psychopaths, Insanes and the people in similar mental disorder list goes to the psychiatrist while it's not true in reality.
In the USA, if your child has an attention deficit, you should visit a psychiatrist. In my country, if you have attention deficit, that means you are just lazy, untalented, useless. 90% of doctors have no idea what is ADD/ADHD and the rest of 10% think it exists but you have to change your behavior, non medical support available.

So yeah, people lack education and that's why they think so... It's a shame in society... Ahh, that's so bad!

Without a doubt, you should do everything to help him/her and what doesn't depend on you, it won't be your fault.

Btw right now, there are free online resources that can help gambling-addicted persons. There are even Facebook groups where some certified psychologists give a free help hand to similar people.
Betsson even pays some money out of it's pocket to help gambling addicted people. Sounds crazy from casino but yeah, they really do!

This is basically what happens with almost every gambler, not just the ones who are addicted but casual ones too, they will lose some amount and then want to win it back so badly that they decide to deposit funds that were not meant to be gambled in the first place.

Some even take loans to gamble and would be even ready to pay a 10-15% return within a few days which shows the desperation they have towards gambling. That is the reason why most of the gamblers you see spend the coins they earn via bounties or campaigns towards the gambling site itself.

Really some of the points I was able to relate with myself but I am not addicted to gambling, just a regular gambler, and such articles and threads keep me in check.

Ok, since you ignore my question on the previous page, I can't give you an advice for a supposed approach.

In my case, I do have lots of friend who are addicted in gambling but remained responsible in the real world. I'm not just talking about few pennies here as these friends of mine, I consider them as a hardcore gambler at any gambling type.

Now on your part, you are the only one who knows the right thing to do for your friend since you know that person more compare to us. Try to think of a way how to "save" your friend that is now slowly turning into sh*t.

Those are some of the most accurate points I have ever read about a gambler's mentality. I have been for some reason among gamblers all the time, be it online or offline and somehow despite most of them being close to me and have a gambling problem, I have managed to remain clean and not gamble more than a few times a week.

If you actually care for the person, you should choose this option because it might destroy your relation for the time being but once he realizes how much of a help you did without caring for yourself, the relation will have even more depth than before.

I dont know why there are some gamblers who have to reach at this point, they are very irresponsible to themselves. Especially when it comes to borrowing money because they are desperate to have a profit in gambling and the last is becomes worst is that when gamblers because a theft because of an addiction that can't even be controlled by the gambler.

Are they haven't oriented themselves and possibly aware of the outcome or these people who had gambling symptoms of severe gambling addiction are very desperate to win.

When one get addicted to gambling, is always difficult to get out of it. Yes, majority of them go into borrowing money from people, with the mindset that they will win and probably pay back the money they borrowed, but they end up losing. They hardly control themselves, because they are addicted to that behavior of gambling. While many also take Gambling as a means of Livelihood, which is also bad.

Greed and Chasing up Losses!

These are the primary things on why people been really pushed through play gambling no matter what.Gambling business wouldnt really be that much profitable if people wont really be having this kind of behavior and this is why gambling is really a profitable business because of these stuffs.
Once addiction do really have control over you then it is something which is really hard to resist and really hard to solve out on your own.
You would really be experiencing hardships on taking control back everything in terms of self awareness.

True! lots of gambling addicted person keeps barrowing money in hope that they'll able to win back those losses that they have.

Again it's true! gamblers who have too much engagements counts the possible earnings before starting the game.



It's difficult to resist especially when you already have the addiction inside you, seeking for help after realizing the problem

may help you a lot to fixed this from your mindset.

Base on my experience when I see people playing into casual gambling or even in casino gambling they are the man of focus you cannot disturb them or talk to them until the game is running the only thing you can talk with them when the game before it starts and when the games end but mostly still you can't talk with them because they are in-game. Some of the behaviour I saw is they easily irritated with their environment depends on the situation of course if they are winning still there's on a mood to having fan but if they are not better to step back in a meantime.  Once a gambler already win a game they want to urge win more and if they lose they want to chase back their losses these are just the situations I merely saw.

Maybe they need to change their mindset from borrowing money from other people can help them to win back their losses. They will not have those changes because they need to consider the lucky factor inside the gambling itself. If they realize that luck will not come to them in the previous game, they should stop playing gambling instead borrow money from the others. But we know that addicted people to gambling will hard to tell to stop gambling as they want to continue playing gambling.

Some gambling addictions is even worse that these stated symptoms that affects the general being of the gamblers both financially, psychologically and spiritually in a way that all what the op will be thinking is more or less gambling.
I was once a victim that almost got eaten by gambling addiction. All I was thinking then is to gamble with bigger funds so that i can recover all my lost money which is always difficult to recover. I was able to overcome the addiction by moving of my environment,  getting a new friends which significantly reduced my interest in gambling.

have you read the OP? surely not because all you mentioned are already put in the OP's list . you are only secondary to tell those disorders.
and if you have not experienced to be addicted then you have no right to give those statistics because that's only purely speculative.
I have not one of the past addict but i know some people that close to me becomes one at their life.

Things people do for their enjoyment.

So do gamblers consciously know that the have a gambling problem and choose to deliberately ignore it or they unknowingly  continue with the toxic gambling habits without reading the signs in front of them 🤔

How does it get to be a gambling disorder 🤔

This case depends on the high or low determination you have, the higher the determination, the easier it will be to quit and vice versa.
I have experienced something like this in the past but fortunately for me, even though I borrowed money to gamble but I was still able to pay it off on time and sometimes faster, this happens for online and offline gambling.
You only need to give advice or remind him, because then you will not risk friendship. Giving a little input will mean a lot to him compared to just being silent, so do your best because it is also for the common good. Taking him to a psychiatrist is the final option if all subtle means don't work for him but yeah, I don't think it's a solution because at least you can still invite him to do activities or find other things to do until he forgets about gambling.

I doubt that they will know if they have a gambling problem because gambling can give them interest and pleasure in playing many gambling games. They can forget about how long they are already playing gambling, which can become toxic and addiction sooner or later. Without realizing how to prevent playing gambling too often, they will still play and they will not listen to others if those people warn and suggest they stop gambling. Maybe it will not be a gambling disorder for the gambler itself, but for people who know the gambler better, it will look like something wrong already happened to that person, so they need to warn him to realize that.

If you are really concerned with your friend’s condition and future, I suggest that you take the initiative to have some actions done. It won’t be easy for sure, especially the convincing part. But make sure to always be there for your friend throughout the process. And what you’ve mentioned that people in your place thinks that going to psychiatrist is seen and interpreted as related to having mental disorders is just the stigma, which is the least you should be concerned about.

I'm just waiting for the right conditions and time to talk about it, because I don't think it's an easy thing to talk about something sensitive and related to what he likes so far, actually it's easy for me to talk about it frankly but considering his irritable nature and have a high temper, of course I have to really think of a really good idea so as not to affect the friendship that has existed for a long time.
Actually, it's not the stigma from other people that prevents me from taking him to a psychiatrist, but maybe he will think that I think he's crazy, so of course he will be offended and think  if all this time his own friend had thought he was crazy.

I think most gamblers will try to defend/rationalize their addiction by saying that it purely gives them entertainment. I mean, it is relatively hard to argue with someone who is suffering from addiction, especially if they do not know that they are the ones experiencing it.

This is primarily the reason on why having a good support system can really tell you if you are a gambling addict or not. People around you would start to notice and they would do anything in their power to fix the situation. While I also understand that change must really comes within, but having to know that you have someone or somebody that probably cares for you would most likely help in the process.

A psychiatrist can't really help your friend in that case. The mental condition of your friend is related to gambling, not within the natural causes.

Refer to an institution that provides assistance to those who are currently or almost falling now on the negative effect of doing gambling. Search for some around your area. That institution is already used to giving guidance and that was their expertise.

It's now up to you how will you convince him.

Gambling addiction is a serious problem because it is not just your life that is affected but also the people around you, your family, and friends. If you know someone suffering from it, talking to them may not fully help them with their addiction, but still it helps. I know how it feels how to be addicted to something, sometimes the more you try to avoid it, the more you crave for it. It takes time to withdraw from something and it is not an overnight process.

These lists for me are the clear indication if the gambler is already addicted to gambling.

Such behaviors are not normal if you're just playing to entertain yourself or for satisfaction. Addiction is not easy to break and needs attention and if worse, professional help is necessary.

Thus if you know that you have some of these indications, better refrain yourself from playing and think if you're still in the right track that has control when you gamble and has limitation to avoid becoming addicted.

Still, the end of the day it depends on the capabilities of the player or the gambler because in some instance some gambler knows the risk management they are dealing with the game they set a limitation if they think they already enough with the designated amount of profit or losses they have. Some player still continuously playing because they want to pay back their losses or even meet their quota and still losing the game this is a common mistake of them the reason why they always get more losses.

Of course, that is normal if they defend themselves by saying they are not addicted to gambling. We can see many people will deny that thing, even if they are not truly right with their conditions. Maybe we do not need to argue with them because that will not easy to explain the details about their addiction. We can try to use the other way and maybe we can give them an example that can open their mind and eyes that we only want to show them about their addiction.

I am sure people around will see clearly what is happening to them. If they really care, they will approach that person and talk personally. The change must be done, but they can change slowly because it is hard to stop directly from their habit if they already did that a long time ago. We need to give them time to do it slowly.

A lot better than a friend asking for money from you and when you don't, argues that you aren't a true friend and some random bs. Also, a boundary that you wouldn't risk it? What? isn't that just an empty relationship? Might as well just break it off if I do say so for myself. It's pretty stupid to let a friendship remain if it was just taken into face value. And man, you would wait for people to hurt themselves and others before trying to fix a desperate gambler? Now that's just wrong ngl.

The former is simply a player, the latter is a gambler. Players aren't a problem, gamblers are.

Gambling addiction is a serious problem, personal relationships can be messed up if not treated
addiction never makes the sufferer happy, it will only slowly destroy

I've seen people addicted to gambling, alcohol and drugs divorced from their partners
if you see your neighbor or closest person is addicted to gambling then scold him, don't care if he is angry at you

I find it hard to believe that people could go to the extent of cheating and stealing for his gambling addiction. I've been happy putting bets in games and sports but it never came to me to steal for it. Maybe in video game rentals when I was a kid. Yeah, I'd steal for it but with just coins of pesos.

A rehabilitation procedure maybe a good answer for this if he have not taken the addiction too far. A vacation without smartphones or laptops, just a prepaid phone for emergencies may also be a good idea. I'd set it up if you were that close of a friend and maybe even take care of expenses. Let him calm down for a week, talk about it for a while without exaggerating the details.

Those two disorders are very common this cut across every addicted gambler a spirit will keep on pushing them to continue to or keep on gambling so as to recoup all the losses whereas the gambler will continue to lose until all the account is rekt even to the extent of going to borrow more money to fund the account.
Another scenario is when a gambler had decided to stop gambling the same spirit will assure him of wining big or win back after another trial this will linger on uncontrollably and endlessly until all fund is lost, these are big issues related to addicted gamblers it takes a great courage and persuasion plus counseling to discourage such an addicted gambler, some of them are having the mindset of wining a jackpot or huge win before quitting which is very uncertain based on the fact that all the funds loss must will be recovered someday.[/list]

Better risk your friendship by telling him straightforward that he is a compulsive gambler and he needs help from a professional, or you will regret your whole life by not telling him so before it's to late do the right thing even if it hurts your friendship, a true friend cares and telling him this means you care. 

In my opinion, it will be very difficult to convince a friend to make an appointment with a psychiatrist.  

Gambling addicts tend to deny their gambling addiction.  In some countries, people who are registered with a psychiatrist face social discrimination.  Therefore, your friend might get scared.  

Your friend may lose confidence in you.  In my opinion, in this situation, it is advisable to organize an exciting lifestyle for your friend.  For example, to introduce him to a charming beauty with big elastic boobs.

Or jump with a parachute.

I have no friends who are very much into gambling but if I do have I will take the risk of explaining to him by a heart to heart talk , he can disagree and deny but at least I let him know that I am fully aware of his habit and I make a stand that I don't want him to stay that way, you have to tell him right away, even if it means losing each other.

I think the same as you because he will refuse to go to the psychiatrist and will not see a problem with him. Maybe you can ask your friend to tell him the whole story to see if you can give suggestions or find a solution for him without going to the psychiatrist. Yes, the social discrimination will be there but maybe you can hide that problem from other people so only you and your friend know about that.

I also think so, it's better for us to risk friendship than to see our own friends break down in their bad habits, after all if a friend is angry I think we can do something later that can indeed improve the relationship but of course it will be hard to see someone who it's close to us doing bad things that harm himself, so I think it's better that we tell the truth now than we have to watch him go down and I'm sure that gradually he will realize the bad deeds he has done all this time and can understand if what we are doing do is for his own good.

I hate friends who are an addict on gambling because as a responsible gambler myself I have seen how gambling can ruin one man's future and reputation, I will them him right away to stop and get professional help if he doesn't listen then it's no use to continue our friendship, I hate to see a friend ruining his life because of gambling.

We, as their friends, need to remind them not to play gambling too often and explain how dangerous it is for a long time. A friend must do that for their friend because we do not want to see them become an addicted person to gambling. And if somehow, they have trouble gambling, we need to help them get out from gambling as soon as possible before something worst happens to them. If they still want to play gambling, we must remain them to be responsible gamblers and if it is necessary, we can stay beside them and watch their playing gambling so we can tell them that is enough to playing gambling.

As a friend then its up to us on doing our part and its just right that you would really be giving out some reminders about on the activity that they've been doing.Even though im not really that a fan of getting involved into someones business specially if its their money had been used.

But since you do show off some concern on your friend then its not really bad to take some try on giving out some advice and they might listen on what you had said.Addiction is something that cant really be easily
get rid off.

When you do saw that your friend or even yourself is falling gradually into addiction then its better to be wise on taking some break on playing or get engaging with gambling.If you dont like to experience
some possible unfortunate situations in your life then better quit or stop for a while.

It's hard to stay on their side and keep them reminding about their gambling habit if they don't listen to you at all. Sometimes these addicted friends get annoyed to us when we remind them, they tell us that it is their money that they are spending so we shouldn't interfere with their gambling. They don't hear and realized what we are saying to them when their habit gets worse so for me when this happens it is still better to consult a specialist to assist our friend to get out of his gambling addiction.

The best way to avoid getting addiction from this type of game, it is by never playing it. Cuz, once we got involved in gambling, soon or later, it'll be our regular habit and unconsciously we will rely on it to pass the day. Once we got addicted, it will be hard to cure. Even for those who said that they can control the game, there will be something that will lead them to the addiction part. So, its better not to try to gamble otherwise, the chances for us to be addicted will be there.

The excessive playing in gambling is the major symptom of this disease. A certain addicted person will always prioritize playing gambling above anything else no matter how much he'll spend and lose on it, just to feed his desire to satisfy and infuriates himself because things doesn't always go with his plan.

Now, the very hard part on it is convincing them to get treated, because they won't admit that they are addicted. Take note, in order to solve a problem, you need to admit that there's one. So without their cooperation, they won't get better, instead they'll get in the worst case scenario.

If indeed playing gambling interferes with our daily activities, it has also become a symptom of addiction. Because indeed people who are addicted
must play gambling excessively and prioritize gambling over other things. If we feel that gambling is a priority, it's not a good thing, because without
us knowing it we are addicted. Therefore it is necessary to control when playing gambling, so that we can limit ourselves when playing gambling.
I agree without self-awareness, it is difficult to cure addiction, sometimes people who are addicted do not feel themselves addicted.

In overall look, consulting with psychiatrists may not be preferred by most part of the world but if we teach about the importance of such consultation then probably we can get rid off those misconceptions about psychiatrists. Psychiatrists also doctors and curing alone is not a doctor's duty but prevention as well.

In my opinion, all gamblers are prone to get addicted severely over the time hence we do not need to spot out any symptom or behavior disorder. I mean if you are into gambling then most probably you will get addicted any time soon. Just quitting gambling alone will protect us.

Most of the listed symptoms are pretty observable but the problem is that not a lot of people know that it's actually a symptom of addiction and that they just think it as something. This is actually thread because I think that not a lot of people know how to deal or identify an addiction when they see one so they disregard it and see it when it's already too late.

On number 1. can you go on a friendship with him seeing he is ruining his life, not what people are going to say but what you are going to tell to yourself and what kind of friendship you are giving to him, letting him do this to himself.

On Number 2. friends do fall part if it is going to fall apart come out with a clean conscience that you have done it because you are a friend not because you let him, self destruct, don't think about the mental disorder side, just think about your friendship and what is right.

Very valuable thread.

I think that people have to realise that certain personalities are especially prone to impulse gambling. That's why it is so important to have stop losses when you are playing, make sure that you align your mindset with treating gambling as an entertainment venue rather than a profit making venture, and request voluntary self-exclusion.

I've seen many intelligent people who were chasing their losses or trying to gain quick profits and lose it all - it's not worth it.

If he's your real friend, you wont leave him that way instead you'll help him until he recovers. Sometimes, people are too weak to control themselves and that's why some friends or your family can help you on making yourself better again. I do witness some addict in gambling, and his friends continues to motivate him and encourage him not to gamble anymore, then it works to him. It's hard to dictate someone in the casinos because you didn't know that guy so I think it wont work if you are not connected with that gambler.

Even if they already know yet they deny to respond because they are starting to patronizing gambling and rely their future in luck.

which means gamblers becomes addicted because of their own laziness and stupidity .

Now, this is just blaming the wrong party tbh. He already tried to help, if the friend doesn't acknowledge it, then that's his fault. Changing doesn't only come from the persuasion of others, it also comes from one's own realization, it comes from both sides. Now if one side doesn't want to change, there's nothing you can do, and it's also your own choice if you want to continue or not. Asking the words "if he's your real friend" is just something that induces guilt towards one party, and not really what he actually wants, basically taking advantage of his feelings.

Especially in gambling. Gamblers should be responsible for their own selves since this industry takes advantage of you basically if your mindset is weak. You choosing to enter then succumbing to it is your own fault, and heck you should even thank your friend for even trying to help you. If they left you, not really their fault tbh, it's just yours.

What's important here is that people around the person showing symptoms are aware of it, it doesn't need to be the one inflicted to know, they will deny it no matter what, you know the phrase about the one's who suffer is the last to know that they suffer?

If we can talk clearly and be honest with them about the risk of playing gambling, they will accept and follow our suggestion. If they are getting deeper from gambling, we need to pull them out from gambling with many things because we do not want to see our friends become addicted to gambling. We can tell many cases out there that they can face if they have a gambling addiction.

Maybe I will ask him to follow me to travel to someplace or invite him to do something else because as a friend, at least, we know what they like, so we can use it to drag him out from gambling. Maybe asking for help from the other closest friends or family members will necessary to help him.

Mmm, it is. But that is what we should do when we see they're using a long time playing gambling. Even if they get addicted for a small, they will still listen to us because a friendship will give trust to each other. If they feel annoyed with us, that is normal because they want to play what they want, but we should always remind them not to get deep into playing gambling if that is a gambling game. It needs more effort from us to show them that we really care to them to listen to us, and I believe that they will listen and follow us because of our friendship.

Lol if you are a true friend then you will Keep on telling him and will help him get through the situation . it is their Mistake to become an addict but don't let them suffer all their life because of that mistake.
instead lets help them to realize what they are missing and how can they change life tp goodness .

Actually even if they already see the effect yet they will deny because of love in gambling . and also if they have no person around them to let them show life outside of addiction .
they are only focusing in what they can win but now on what they are losing.

If you truly love your friend in deep problem like any form of addiction, you need to help him seek professional medical attention rather than advising him because your friend have crossed that limit once you identify them as addicted and it will ruin himself and the rest of the lives around him, so rather than avoiding them it is best to help him out.

You don't need to hate them instantly, first you have to warn them about the effects of their addiction and how they can cure it, if they doesn't care, then just simply ignore them and avoid to prevent yourself on being addictive as well, because having friends like them really isn't a good thing.

What I mean is a avoid them when they are playing gambling, but if you guys are just hanging out to have some bonding, I guess there's nothing to worry about that. You don't need to end your friendship or your relationship to them, respect their choices and make your own too.

That is always is the case.
One might not admit they're a gambling addict and ignore the symptoms because they think they're doing it normally.
Most of these guys don't want to listen to advices, because again they think it's still normal. Suffering may not be felt during the process of addiction, it will be felt on the latter part of addiction. That's the same reason why they're the last to know that they're already suffering from mental illness.

No amount of advices can change someone, unless they want to help themselves.

There are some of my friends who are addicted to gambling, but they consider themselves normal. Sometimes people who are addicted to gambling
do need the help of others to wake them up. Usually as long as there are no financial and life problems, those who are addicted do not realize they
are addicted to gambling. The difficult thing is to wake up people who are addicted to gambling, I tried to advise several times my friends who are
addicted to gambling, but they didn't listen to me. So in the end there are some people who are addicted to gambling have to go through the hard way
to wake them up.

the worst part is that most of them always say:

" I'm just going to play today, when I win a lot of money I'll stop..."

they lose money and continue to gamble, then they lose money and continue to gamble, and there comes a day when they win a lot of money, but they don't stop playing, they gamble with all the money and lose everything.

well games are a good thing if people know how to control themselves

Of course no one is going to admit, admittance to something that isn't good or moral is going to be difficult because society tells us that we shouldn't do this and that. Advice is useless to this people because what we really need to do is to do the action first and then have them slowly accept it themselves, they will come to terms with their addiction during the therapy.

Do you know what's even worst with that mentality? The thing is that, let's consider two scenarios in such times:

You lose: Obviously you will have frustration and you want to win it back while knowing the hole is now bigger.

You win: You recover your loss and you are ready to leave but you will feel like how easy it was to win money and it isn't the right time to leave because my luck has finally started to shine and I should not be leaving at such a lucky timing.

Both the situations are equally dangerous because the mindset to earn money from gambling is the real problem here.

Simply saying that if you do really mind about making "money or profit" then no matter what what condition or situation you are in neither you are losing or winning you would really be having that classic reasoning

when losing then you do have that recovering losses kind of mindset and when you do win then you would be having that lucky feeling which would make you continue to play or simply tells

that you wont be having any option but do end up on playing unless if you do have the good control of yourself then these things wont really be happening.

Addiction is something can be mold up depending on whats youre intention towards gambling and if you do look on profiting way then you would most likely end up into this path.

Gamblers don't have to admit their addiction in front of anyone else. They just need to realize within themselves and that should be usually enough for one to understand that their gambling is no more fun for them and has become addictive and costing them more than it should.

I have been suffering from a light gambling addiction in past and I know that feeling, it's hard to stop and talk about it with others because gambling isn't something I am comfortable talking about with anyone but what took me out of this problem was a day off from gambling and for me, it was forced because we had some internet issues and I finally got time to realize that my problem was starting to get serious. Thankfully I was able to stop and minimize it at the right time, I gamble now but rarely and occasionally when I am tired or have nothing else to do.

Both situations caused by the big hole in the gambler's mindset, we all fall into these traps. Gambler buys three bonus rounds in a row and he loses half of the bankroll but the urge to chase losses is the gate to both endings. This example is not actual if the gambler has no problem fun money and he thinks gambling a way to spend spare time. For second category gamblers, they will keep chasing with the idea of "it will pay back all losses in a single big hit" which is very very dangerous. This kind of gambling addiction can lead to robbing or taking a loan to recover the previous losses but we all know the end of the story.

Advices will not be taken the people who are already addicted unless something too bas will help or they will realize that all their assets , property and even love ones are gone then thats the only time they will be able to do it. Sometimes those who are already addicted meed to feels the lose more on more so they will not feel the excitement of winning. Where in sometimes winning only happens to the cool headed people who didn't get themselves too much trouble.