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THIS IS THE SITUATION: You are undergoing treatment for gambling addiction for two months already and only your family knows it, then one day one of your long-time buddies who you used to accompany to gamble in casinos wants to treat you for a night in a casino, and you have not seen each other for a very long time and he just want to reminisce old times.
Will you turn him down or agree to go to the casino for old time's sake.

I don't think it's a good idea to go to a casino in that case, as a friend will probably talk you into gambling for a while and the two months you've spent on treatment will have been wasted. You can explain your situation to your friend and make an appointment somewhere else where you can also have a good time, like a strip bar, a cafe, etc. There are actually a lot of options.

Obviously yes, why risk all the progress I made in 2 months fighting my addiction for a single night out? The risk of getting hooked again is too big in my opinion. I haven't experienced gambling addiction myself or among my close friends, all my information I got is from reading online. What I read is that the hardest step is to try and break the addiction by getting help. Taking treatment is the right way to recovery and requires hard work and determination. There can be relapse during the recovery, but good friends should help us rather than be a temptation. If he really is a long term friend than I would tell him of my problems and I am sure he wouldn't try to convince to still go with him. I think going for a nice dinner and some beers would be a good alternative to catch up and talk about old times.

If this happens to me then i will never agree to go to the casino for old time sake. Because if I go to the casino again, the gambling addiction will attack me again.  And I will forget about that 2 month treatment and start gambling again. So I think if the decision is made to quit gambling then it is always better to avoid gambling. Otherwise it will never be possible quit gambling.

He is your friend, you do not have to keep him away from knowing the truth about you, gambling become problematic for you to the extent your family got involved and you are undergoing a gambling treatment. Before family members do know that someone is gambling, the person would have been obviously affected financially.

You have to let your friend know that. There are other places you can meet like an eartery, a restaurant, a recreation center or other mind pleasing places, that would be the best to do.

If you are undergoing a psychological or medical treatment along, you can tell your consultant or therapist about it, if it is a good idea or not. But I believe he would tell you what I am telling you now. Best to fully stay away from gambling to fully recover yourself from gambling addiction.

You have to be true to yourself and to your friend if you don't feel that this is the right time to go to a casino then tell your friend about your situation and maybe sharing your experience with your treatment will make your friend give up or moderate gambling if he too is also addicted to gambling, if he is a good friend he will understand and support you all the way, there are other ways to spend time together like drinking or watch a game, but not gambling while you are in therapy.

I am not addicted to gambling so I probably am giving a biased answer, but I would turn that down politely and explain the situation to the best of my abilities.

But for addicted gamblers going through rehabilitation, it can be tough and I can understand the sentiment behind this too. One can always offer something else in return, like having a coffee at a old times joint instead of gambling. Taking such a decision is a mature and a bold step towards consolidating that you are a changed man.

But I guess the ideal situations are not always going to work out, so fingers crossed.

If im still in a process to avoid being addicted with gambling and then i will reject him. In fact that even if you are only doing it for a night and that would be affecting your process to avoid being addicted in gambling. In my opinion if you didn't wanna be addicted with gambling and then stay away from your friend or you can talk with him slowly and im sure that if he will understand with what you have said above.

My answer would be yes because if I will not turn him down, I will just waste the times that I've tried to heal. Trying to heal from gambling addiction takes a lot of courage and it needs total dedication. I will just explain to that old friend what I've been going through. No need for me to feel shame because if he's a real friend, he will understand my situation.
Changing for the better needs a lot of sacrifices and you should be willing to give up the things that will push you to gamble again.

It actually depends on how committed I am to my rehabilitation. If I am just doing it because my family members are forcing me to do so, I will be easily influenced to go gambling again, especially with my long-time-buddies.

But if I am serious, I am sure, I will not be influenced to do otherwise. I will not waste the effort I have put into it, even with my old-time buddies. And I am sure, they would understand and respect my decision.

There are other things we can do too if they want to spend some time with me. I am sure if they want to reminisce about old times, we can do it without me getting in the way of my treatment.

Human need a social interaction which you will need a friend, but you're shouldn't forget no one will help you when you're in fucked up situation or in hard time, they will not help you. This mean it's your life, where you're have full control about your decision and you're have freedom to choose. Learn how to reject someone offer and should always accept it, do you think your old friend will help you to take rehabilitation if your addiction still not recovered 100%?

It's hard to turn down a friend but your situation is different you are in a healing period and there should be no interruption in that healing process, tell the truth to your friend and let him have the fact about your situation, I'm sure if he is a real friend he will even cancel the invitation and wish you well on your therapy, it's hard to undergo on a therapy you must be totally healed before you try to gamble, because by then you will have a new mindset and definition of gambling.

Honestly, it's better to politely decline the invitation if situation will only keep me addicted, a friend will understand if we explain current situation. If he doesn't understand how to be a good a friend, indeed we need friends but the priority is ourselves. I learned from my previous experience that a good friend will only come to support his friend, not bring him down to addicted again.

I will turn down my old buddy, we can decide to meet elsewhere, but not in the casino. Chilling in a casino with him will be dangerous for the treatment I am undergoing which I have already giving as long as 8 weeks, a sign of seriousness... It will be stupid of me to try to ruin it. My family will be disappointed, and that's not a good example to set... I also will be disappointed in myself for seeing a temptation in front and not dodging it. My buddy will understand if he is matured in reasoning.

There's a nice way to decline his invitation. If I will turn him down, that doesn't mean that I'm pushing him away and breaking the friendship that we had. I will tell him exactly why I have to decline his invitation politely. I will also suggest having at least a coffee or lunch out for us to bond again. There are still other ways for us to reminisce about the old times. I will value my treatment first.

Better say no in that situation, just keep it straight and you no need to explain anything all you need is to follow what you have been doing because you think that it may harm you in someway. There are lot of other places to hangout with friends so casino is not the only place for reunion and such things.

I will reject it and tell the truth that I am on medication for gambling addiction. I don't want what I'm doing to be in vain because I've been at the bottom of gambling and don't want to go back there. As an old friend, he should have seen how I gambled and maybe he also knew that I was addicted to gambling. But if he can't accept it, I understand and will let him go alone because I don't want to lose money on gambling. But I would advise him not to gamble at the casino and rather stay at my house to discuss various things. Did this happen to you, @OP?

If I am being treated I would be doing my family a disservice and if he is a true friend he will understand that I absolutely cannot betray the family.
Seeing friends is a nice thing, but then the friend goes off on his way and your family is always there to help you.
In short, for one night, I would not betray their trust.

This actually happened to me but in my case, it was not gambling but some kind of work that I cannot do anymore. What I did was, I accompany him to do some stuff that was good for him and constantly reminded him about the day we were good friends even when we don't do such work and he finally realized that I cannot join him anymore when going to that place and he respects my decision without having any hard feeling about me. Sometimes you can't be direct to the people when things got rough, you need some strategy to make them understand your side of the story.

This is an easy no. If he truly is my friend, he will understand that what I'm doing not only benefits me but also those around me. If he insisted in taking me into a gambling house, then he should understand that he crossed a line and I'm ready to forget that friendship until he realizes his actions. We can still hang out and do some other stuff and not necessarily gambling, and a true friend will respect the decision of his/her friend even if it means that some of the things before will not be applicable anymore.

Since I'm hypothetically under treatment I can't go to casinos in any hypothesis, otherwise I'm going against the treatment I'm strictly following for months already. I can't lose the progress made and I can't disappoint my family in first place. Those are the mainly goals and priorities in life.

If that long-time buddy is really my friend and want to see me, he will understand my situation, so we can schedule another kind of appointment in another place which doesn't involve betting. A friendship can't exist only in gambling environments, right?

A true buddy can understand if you say NO, and explain why, no ifs no buts.

It's not difficult to say that you are currently in treatment. What's the use being treated if you will just accept the invitation for "another round" in a casino, it doesn't make sense  to me.

There isn't any need to abandon my gambling addiction treatment to answer an old friend who is trying to pull me back to the same problem I am trying to quit, it's better I let him know that I am undergoing a rehabilitation procedure as result of gambling addiction, meanwhile I will prefers seeking an alternative place that has nothing to do with gambling where we can meet apart from visiting casino for reminiscing our old times, for a gambling addict to be undergoing such a treatment means it has gotten to a critical situation that needed a quick remedy or solution.

Of course turn him down. And if he knew about your gambling addiction then he also is a terrible friend for trying to sabotage your healing process. As far as friendship goes, that man is no friend to you and you should stay away from him, as he is toxic to your mental health.

However since you mentioned that only your family knows it, in this case you should tell your friend what you are going through. If he is supportive then that is a good friend. If he still tries to convince you to gamble again then keep away from him.

You are the only one in control. There will be temptation from all sides. Hopefully you can ignore that temptation and go about your day.

Good luck.

As I understand it, if you do not often see a so-called friend, it means that you have lost common interests and he moved from the category of friends to acquaintances. So I don't think it makes sense to give up your goals for the sake of seeing this person. Of course it is your business but if I had a gambling addiction and struggled with it I would avoid visiting gambling houses by all means. 

It depends on my current situation but most likely, I would turn down his offer.

Imagine being treated for only two (2) months from gambling addiction. This part is very crucial given the fact that the withdrawal symptoms would kick in. I should refuse any temptation that would let me doubt my decision from undergoing rehabilitation in the first place. Even if my friend used to accompany me during my gambling days, he should know that being treated for addiction is a serious matter that he should respect.

Regardless of what my friend would feel, I would turn down his offer and focus on my self-development and growth. Like the famous said, prevention is always better than cure!

I didn't quite understand. Did this situation really happen to you, or is it a hypothetical situation modeling?

Of course, if a player is being treated for gambling addiction, then visiting any casino is contraindicated for him, even with a friend, and without him. Therefore, I would refuse this offer of a friend, but this is not a reason to turn down this friend. The reason may arise later, after I explain to him about my treatment and the complete cessation of gambling. It will be necessary to watch and evaluate his reaction to this and behavior. If a friend treats my problem with understanding and doesn't persuade me to visit the casino, then the relationship with him will not change.

I don't think there will be any major adverse effects on treatment for one day. If I have self control I can take it easily. Who doesn't have any self control  they may have problem in treatment . But going with an old friend for a day does not seem to be a bad thing because it's only for the entertainment purposes.

Personally, I will turn him down as I already manage to divert my attention away from any gambling activities, a quick flashback to what I already forget will bring everything back and it will risk all the efforts of myself and my family who are supporting me to this journey, If he's really a true friend of mind he will understand my situation and maybe he will support me and we will do other things together away from any gambling activities.

That's how I will handle if this kind of situation comes up, I will think for the best and never to look back.

Addiction is a serious problem that needed to remove from your daily system.

So why not tell your friend that you are in the process of getting treated for gambling addiction and may not be able to join him in the casino?
If the friend is a sincere one, he will surely not mind it and will appreciate your decision of getting rid of your gambling addiction.

On the other hand, if you go to the gambling casino to remember the old time, all your treatment will be in vain and you might have to start controlling yourself all over again.

If he is my friend I would have no problem to be honest and tell him that I am going through rehabilitation, i would even thank him for the invitation and suggest to go and do other things which do not involve gambling. This is not about turning down my friend, it would be about not to disappoint my family which I apprecitate.Family is important, more important than having a good night in a casino.

Having  a nice time with a good old friend is an unforgettable experience that one can cherish for a lifetime. But you are fighting a more important fight against addiction. It is important not to loose all the gains you have made for just a night of fun because there is every tendency that you might become addicted just for that one night mistake. I would explain my condition to him and if he is insisting that I should come, then he might not have good intentions for him. But as a true friend I know he would understand and we can meet somewhere else.

If you are at the stage where you need treatment for a gambling addiction, then it is not something casual and have become a serious burden to your life. If that purpose was a genuine friend then you should be able to share that fact with them and they would easily be able to change the location to a more suitable place. Casinos are not the only place that you can have fun and catch up with someone, so it really is a bit of a boring question. If that old friend does not see the reason why you should avoid that location, then maybe it is time to move on or at least tell them you're not feeling ready so might need to delay it until some later date.

I agree with you, if you manage to confess to him that you became a gambling addict and you can't go back to any casinos, he will never force you if he is a true friend. But it's better to ask for a self-exclusion from the casinos close to where you are living to avoid this kind of situation. It's the more efficient way to be sure to not come back into a casino again.

if it's just for entertainment and is still in the treatment or therapy period, of course it will trigger addiction again and it's useless to take treatment. an example of a drug user who is addicted and tries to stop by taking medication, then a friend comes to use it a little more. Of course it will return to its addiction. at least give space or distance to not touch the things that make him addicted, get rid of it first. if you just want to remember, of course it's just a story. People with extreme gambling addiction are very difficult to treat, need a lot of support.

I will refuse and turn his invitation down.  If he is a true friend he will understand my case.  It is not easy to admit gambling addiction and undergo treatment.  If  I accept the invitation, a relapse may happen so I need to be careful.  Besides, I bet he will understand my situation if I tell him.  We can enjoy our meeting in another way.

A treat for a night! Hell Yes!  This doesn't come very often.  ;D  Oh wait, you're undergoing treatment.
Its all up to you so I say don't be too hard, treat yourself for a night and pat yourself in the back. Quitting gambling can't be done in instantly, just like nicotine addiction, its done gradually and sometimes they start with chewing gum or ecigar.

But if you have to say No, then say it.  Just offer something else for you and your friend to do for the night to catch up.

Now we turn the question back, when you want to come at the invitation why do you undergo treatment to stop gambling :D
Actually, if it is true that you are serious about gambling you will not care about things like this because it can indirectly make you return to your addiction and the treatment that is carried out will be very useless.

Just change "casino" to "heroin" and everything will be even more funny  ;D JOKE

To the main point: I would try to change activity with him. I doubt that people can have only one interest in their life, so you can tell your friend not to go to casino, but to the bar or something like that. If he really value you, he will accept your idea. If not - means he's not a friend for you.

exactly! just be upfront about what you're going thru. he will understand if he is indeed your friend. he may even suggest not to go there anymore. and if you are serious about changing your lifestyle, you will turn down your friend's offer. there are so many other activities that you can bond with. gambling is not the only thing that you can spend your quality time with. just think of your family also who are hoping that you will change for the betterment of yourself.

Turning him down will be doing you a favour and not turning him down will be doing him a favour, and this is not just an ordinary favour, but a favour that has to do with your health and his/her fun.. so with health and few minutes fun, which do you think more important? Because as for me, i will choose over my health for any fun, because for the fact that such person is undergoing treatment for gambling addiction, it will be best such person avoid any gambling sites for health improvement

Not only turn him down, but I will also kick him out of the house if he insists after I told him everything about my treatment  ;D. He is not being considerate if he insists on tagging me along to a casino.
We can still have a good time with a bottle of beer to reminisce about times when we were together playing at a casino.  He is just wanting to reminisce something in the past, that is nothing compared to the treatment that can shape my future.

if he's your real old friend. If this is just a "hobby friend" and you meet him at casino, chances that he will go in some other place are very low. Sometimes this happens ; different people have one same interest but without it they can't communicate.

But again, in any case you should avoid casino if you don't want to get addicted again

Depends on you.

If you do want to cherish out those old time of yours with your friend and afraid on losing him or would affect your friendship then you would really be sacrificing yourself towards addiction once again
which we know that it could potentially bring devastation with your entire life.

If you do mind off about solving your addiction problems then it would be common sense that you would really be ignoring or refuse on what your friend is offering but
of course you should refuse on most respectable way and not on being harsh or tell him about your true condition and he might able to understand
and would agree into your decision.

Which is the more important, your mental stability or catching up with an old friend?
I get it that true friendship is something out of this world and the vibe he might need at that momentwould be one that is only found in doing something you both had the most fun in but, a good friend would understand what it is you are going through if you are willing to explain. You could play catch up by discussing about those good old days too and view it for a thing at the time.
The reminds me, is gambling truly the only fun thing yaw ever did together?
Reminiscing on an old bad habit could only bring back the fun thing about it and you would be right back where you started. I'll kick out with an excuse.

Relapse is dangerous. It can erase all the months of handwork you and your therapist have done to keep you off gambling. I truly believe that a friend is one you can tell the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of your to and will feel that you will be judged, mocked or laughed at. My friend would understand what I am dealing with and may likely suggest that we go play soccer or video game instead. However, if my explanations falls on deaf ears, I would have to cut-off such a person. He or she is not fit to be called my friend.

No.
-/These types of real life situations, which generate that question you ask, depend on the circumstances in which they happen and on the individuality of each person.

In any case, let's go to the practical example; if he's a true friend, then he should know it, that means he's not the kind of friend you need to be around.

One of the things that I have seen and for which if one has experience or knows someone who has lived through a situation of addiction, any type, is isolation, it is something really complex to explain but I could say that it is what should happen to avoid those kinds of situations that the OP just mentioned.

It is believed that isolating him in places like his home or that of a family member works, but in fact he must find places that offer this service, some are paid but others are offered by existing NGOs or foundations./-

You would really be going from the start or square one if you do really make yourself do involved on gambling once again and after all the months that you've been trying out to heal yourself would really be coming to

waste and we know that professional help or therapy isnt really cheap on these type of cases which means that it wont really be that a good idea on wasting up unless if you do have lots of money then starting

over wont really be that much of a problem but if you do mind to resolved out your addiction then just like on what others been saying that you would really be refusing your friends offer.

Turn him down, it's not that bad to tell him that you're changing and it's the only way to not get back on what you use to be. You can still try to reminisce old times without gambling  in the table, there are plenty of ways to get in touch. I'd rather say a moderate drink will be enough to reminisce those days with him.