QUESTIO:How to help a friend stop gambling addiction before he gets in too deep?

[Rinsend]

So you see, i have a very close friend(also a neighbor) and he is obviously getting addicted into gambling online and is losing a lot of money in the process, i have posted already about what drives a gambler to still gamble even when they lost a lot already and i had a lot of great answers which led me to a conclusion that the things that drive a gambler to do such things is the thrill that the uncertainty of an outcome of a gamble can give and greed.
Now what i wanna know next is how can i stop someone getting more and more addicted to gambling? I wanna help my friend because we have been through a lot together and I don't want to just sit back and watch him ruin his life like those other people i know.

Please share your thoughts.
 thanks.

I think you do not have to bother yourself to be able to stop someone to gamble,
because basically if he is smart enough to pay attention to every gambling he is playing.
he will be a success in gambling, although at the beginning he lost a lot.
and if he is stupid he will stop gambling by himself.
and of course by leaving a lot of debt

[1714783919]

1714783919

[Palmholder]

   Let him to see someone who lost everything by gambling, who lost his home and his friends, his family and his ability to survive. Then propose him to change his addiction to other one which does not lead to such horrible results. A lot of people are addicted to something but many of them are doing fine with it. Some people addicted to sex, to travels, to marijuana for example. Ken Kesey told he is smoking old man, and look at him, his life is great.
   Even better for him to get some good hobbie, collect something, make bicycles etc. Open his eyes I mean, noone wants to die suffering at the edge of the road.
   Or maybe his fate is to face poverty? Some people can not change themselves before it happens

[haroldtee]

This is a nice topic, I think the best way to help him stop before he gets in too deep is to show him the realities of gambling. Tell him and convince him that indeed you can profit from gambling but at what cost? The profits will never out weigh the losses that you will incur by gambling and trying to profit. Losses should just remain losses, and chasing them will always be a bad idea.

I have really been here and it is not that easy as most people see it. It was very hard helping a friend of mine to really face that reality and until he was ready to face it himself before I could be of much help. One thing is for them to accept first that they need help and the only way I was able to do that after this, is by first letting him understand how much he could have saved if he did not get too addicted in the first place and how he just have to forget the past, forget about luck or trying to recover what is lost and then starting afresh.

With that, I made sure he gets so occupied by finding him a new hobby (that is very important) and rather than gambling, I had to look for other interesting things for us to do as fun in our spare time together so as to gradually fade off those impulse. This took about 8 months and really, that was when I realized that addiction is a very bad thing. Now, he is doing well and now sees gambling as a plague in his life.

[Juggy777]

So you see, i have a very close friend(also a neighbor) and he is obviously getting addicted into gambling online and is losing a lot of money in the process, i have posted already about what drives a gambler to still gamble even when they lost a lot already and i had a lot of great answers which led me to a conclusion that the things that drive a gambler to do such things is the thrill that the uncertainty of an outcome of a gamble can give and greed.
Now what i wanna know next is how can i stop someone getting more and more addicted to gambling? I wanna help my friend because we have been through a lot together and I don't want to just sit back and watch him ruin his life like those other people i know.

Please share your thoughts.
 thanks.

You're seriously a very nice gambler, and I understand from your query that's he's getting way to deep, well you need to first sit with him and speak with him, try and see what's making him gamble, it could be a pure passion, heartbreak, something that's happened. Try and explain him the consequences if he goes to deep, show him stories of past gambler's, try and speak with him to lock his funds with a trusted person and undertake counselling if needed.

[katinko]

This is hard to stop one people to gamble if he/she already addicted but this is not yet late you can help your friend to stop gambling just keep him busy, since your friends have lots of money just ask him to go out of town just her/his time consumed in other things do not let him/her to have free time and i think it will help to avoid gambling.

[siti25]

Take him on vacation, get him busy, remind him that he is addicted and must stop soon. Slow down, you can not force him because he will not like that. Never speak more than just remind him. He will listen to your words if you are his friend. You also have to be patient because things like this can not be done quickly.

[coinplus]

This is a nice topic, I think the best way to help him stop before he gets in too deep is to show him the realities of gambling. Tell him and convince him that indeed you can profit from gambling but at what cost? The profits will never out weigh the losses that you will incur by gambling and trying to profit. Losses should just remain losses, and chasing them will always be a bad idea.

Gambling is obviously not something anyone can help others get through easily except they are willing to get help themselves. It is not about being smart, it is just the mindset that makes most people allow the gambling impulse get over them and once it does, it is always hard to recover from it except they challenge themselves to stop. There is no successful gambling and the only thing that can make you ever successful is luck or the ability to control yourself and classify it as just fun which still does not make you successful as you may be bound to lose or even lose everything if care is not taken.

[Aikidoka]

It is not easy to help someone who is already addicted. He just needs to get convince so he gives it up for good. You cannot just force him to stop gambling. You will just fulfill your duty as a friend. First, you should advise him and draws him the drawbacks of gambling addiction.

Second, you should keep an eye on him and support him when he is about to make a mistake. If he does not listen to you, then let him do what he wants until he finds himself chained. Only then will he realize his mistake and only then will you stand by his side. That's what friends are for.

[MinerHQ]

Take him on vacation, get him busy, remind him that he is addicted and must stop soon. Slow down, you can not force him because he will not like that. Never speak more than just remind him. He will listen to your words if you are his friend. You also have to be patient because things like this can not be done quickly.

Firstly you need to check whether your friend is willing to come out of this habit or not because if he don't want then very difficult to do it. But he says yes then you can do it. Just short vacation may not help for a fully addicted gambler because they may again start after the vacation. I think you also need their family members help because you can't watch him always so you need to get their family help to keep him busy with other things and monitor him when he sits in front of a computer for few months until he forgets about it.

[hani1929]

Its simple explain to him that gambling is on 50/50 winning chance. He can lost all his money  it can ruin his life.

[PokerFace3]

So you see, i have a very close friend(also a neighbor) and he is obviously getting addicted into gambling online and is losing a lot of money in the process, i have posted already about what drives a gambler to still gamble even when they lost a lot already and i had a lot of great answers which led me to a conclusion that the things that drive a gambler to do such things is the thrill that the uncertainty of an outcome of a gamble can give and greed.
Now what i wanna know next is how can i stop someone getting more and more addicted to gambling? I wanna help my friend because we have been through a lot together and I don't want to just sit back and watch him ruin his life like those other people i know.

Please share your thoughts.
 thanks.

I think you do not have to bother yourself to be able to stop someone to gamble,
because basically if he is smart enough to pay attention to every gambling he is playing.
he will be a success in gambling, although at the beginning he lost a lot.
and if he is stupid he will stop gambling by himself.
and of course by leaving a lot of debt

Someone who is already in that moment is obviously not going to see anything bad in what they are doing even if they really want to admit it. No matter how you show them those who have lost so much in gambling, the impulse will still keep bringing them back and that is where it really gets bad.

I feel the best just like you have said is to compel such people into getting a new hobby which can really help them to gradually stop their gambling habit as they get more occupied but everything still balls down to the mind state.

[Bitinity]

Its simple explain to him that gambling is on 50/50 winning chance. He can lost all his money  it can ruin his life.

I'm sure all gambler knows about it already. Only stupid gamblers who think that they would never got lose while gambling. So telling them about it is just useless, to stop gambling should be started from the gambler not from others around. If the gambler really wants to stop then there will be a way to stop but if the gambler is not really serious to stop then it will be very hard to stop.

[lienfaye]

Encourage him to stop playing by doing other activities like playing basketball or any sports he is interested in.

If that didnt work better ask him to seek professional help before he become addicted because when that happens it will be hard to get away and it can lead to many unwanted situations.

As a friend being someone to talk to is a big help to overcome his current problem so dont be tired to understand what hes been going through.

[mondobitcoin]

It's true, because gamble addiction can be a diseas
I have many friends that can spend all the salary in the slot machines..
Try to speak with him, and maybe he need more sociable life

[God Fist]

I'd try to incite him to join some kind of activity whether a social or a sport activity to fill out his free time and keep him busy from thinking or practicing gambling . I would also try to make him not use a computer or a smartphone so he won't be able to gamble on any website and be with him whenever i can so he won't go to land based casinos .

[emberbekas]

So you see, i have a very close friend(also a neighbor) and he is obviously getting addicted into gambling online and is losing a lot of money in the process, i have posted already about what drives a gambler to still gamble even when they lost a lot already and i had a lot of great answers which led me to a conclusion that the things that drive a gambler to do such things is the thrill that the uncertainty of an outcome of a gamble can give and greed.
Now what i wanna know next is how can i stop someone getting more and more addicted to gambling? I wanna help my friend because we have been through a lot together and I don't want to just sit back and watch him ruin his life like those other people i know.

Please share your thoughts.
 thanks.

If you really want to help him, then you must be willing to spend a lot of time with him. You must prevent him when he will touch the gambling-related items and try to invite him to do other more useful activities.

[carlisle1]

So you see, i have a very close friend(also a neighbor) and he is obviously getting addicted into gambling online and is losing a lot of money in the process, i have posted already about what drives a gambler to still gamble even when they lost a lot already and i had a lot of great answers which led me to a conclusion that the things that drive a gambler to do such things is the thrill that the uncertainty of an outcome of a gamble can give and greed.
Now what i wanna know next is how can i stop someone getting more and more addicted to gambling? I wanna help my friend because we have been through a lot together and I don't want to just sit back and watch him ruin his life like those other people i know.

Please share your thoughts.
 thanks.

well you have just said that your CLOSE friend,so it only means that in a sense he will listen to you.and might respect your advices and concerns.

Heres one great thing how to help him,since your a close friend,you know something or more special thing about him,most of all what makes him happy and his interests in life.i knew some gambler that get into addicted becoz of frustrations,greed and eagerness..so what you do is BE WITH HIM,GO WITH HIM IN HIS INTEREST.LET HIM FEEL THAT NOT ONLY GAMBLING CAN GIVE HIM SATISFACTION IN LIFE..that the world is wide and has more to offer him..

[buyinbtc]

So you see, i have a very close friend(also a neighbor) and he is obviously getting addicted into gambling online and is losing a lot of money in the process, i have posted already about what drives a gambler to still gamble even when they lost a lot already and i had a lot of great answers which led me to a conclusion that the things that drive a gambler to do such things is the thrill that the uncertainty of an outcome of a gamble can give and greed.
Now what i wanna know next is how can i stop someone getting more and more addicted to gambling? I wanna help my friend because we have been through a lot together and I don't want to just sit back and watch him ruin his life like those other people i know.

Please share your thoughts.
 thanks.

He knows that you know about his problem? If yes then you should talk about this to him and if he still wants to gamble just try to keep his minds away from gambling. Go to a bar together, play computer games or just do whatever you both like to do as friends. This will distract him from gambling so he will gamble less. If this won't work and he will still gamble, try to explain all the bad things that might happen if he won't stop gambling this much, like loss of friends family and house and so on.

[FasTroy]

To help a friend to stop gambling addiction, you should first have a good knowledge about it, and why he got addicted first, because if you know a lot, you will have a great arguments to allow him ti quit this addiction, but it's not easy, you should talk about the negative effects of addiction in short and long terms, and persuade him slowly to quit it.

[milewilda]

So you see, i have a very close friend(also a neighbor) and he is obviously getting addicted into gambling online and is losing a lot of money in the process, i have posted already about what drives a gambler to still gamble even when they lost a lot already and i had a lot of great answers which led me to a conclusion that the things that drive a gambler to do such things is the thrill that the uncertainty of an outcome of a gamble can give and greed.
Now what i wanna know next is how can i stop someone getting more and more addicted to gambling? I wanna help my friend because we have been through a lot together and I don't want to just sit back and watch him ruin his life like those other people i know.

Please share your thoughts.
 thanks.

He knows that you know about his problem? If yes then you should talk about this to him and if he still wants to gamble just try to keep his minds away from gambling. Go to a bar together, play computer games or just do whatever you both like to do as friends. This will distract him from gambling so he will gamble less. If this won't work and he will still gamble, try to explain all the bad things that might happen if he won't stop gambling this much, like loss of friends family and house and so on.

An addicted gambler would not really listen already to his friend specially when the addiction is already severe which some to a point on where he almost compromise everything. As a friend we would really be concern on the possible things happen ahead because we are really aware that it would happen if he would decide to continue such addiction.