Signs of compulsive gambling

[Fortify]

Many times we are in a situation and we do not not realize the intensity of the problem. One such case is compulsive gambling. In simple words, it means that you are unable to control the urge to get involved with gambling even after understanding the potential harms associated with it.

Here are some signs of compulsive gambling :

1) Gambling related thoughts are always in your mind even when you are working on other activities

2) You keep increasing the gambling related money with each game

3) You try to gamble more in attempt to recover loss

4) Ignoring other important work like job just for gambling

Would you like to add to these signs ? Have you ever found yourself trapped in this situation and how did you get rid of this ?

Much like any sort of compulsive behavior, the original reason and the joy that they give people is often long gone by the time it becomes a problem. Essentially it becomes a habitual act that illogically takes over reason in the brain and people simply do it because that's what they did yesterday. If you keep repeating an activity then your brain starts to hardwire your daily routine around it and other parts of the day can even become an inconvenience like you've described. Generally people go gambling because they have the idea that they can take a short cut to make a lot of money, then they can get trapped by all the enticing behavior and psychology that the casinos have mastered over the years.

[South Park]

Additionally one of the things that creates compulsive gambling is the mentality of some gamblers believing that they could get rich through gambling and this believe system push them to occupy their mindset with gambling thoughts or strategies on how to make big and better wins which end up making them obsessed with it that it tears them apart at every loss.

The keyword is being obsessed on the thinking that they will eventually get rich in gambling.  Normal gambler do have some mentality that they can get rich if they got lucky especially in lottery.  I do not think that there is problem on that as long as they have control in their gambling activity.  Being obsessed does the trick since being in an obsessed condition removes the rational thinking of a normal mind.  They will do anything just to make their obsession come true and in gambling, it means they will gamble all they have to take chance of getting rich which somehow triggers compulsive gambling.

There is a difference between having the natural desire of winning which we all have and being obsessed with it, the obsession part is what gets people in trouble as when they do not win instead of simply accepting as part of the results they could get and move on, they think they are owed a win and they try their luck once again and again until they win, and in the case of the lottery a person could spend all their life playing and never win it.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Additionally one of the things that creates compulsive gambling is the mentality of some gamblers believing that they could get rich through gambling and this believe system push them to occupy their mindset with gambling thoughts or strategies on how to make big and better wins which end up making them obsessed with it that it tears them apart at every loss.

The keyword is being obsessed on the thinking that they will eventually get rich in gambling.  Normal gambler do have some mentality that they can get rich if they got lucky especially in lottery.  I do not think that there is problem on that as long as they have control in their gambling activity.  Being obsessed does the trick since being in an obsessed condition removes the rational thinking of a normal mind.  They will do anything just to make their obsession come true and in gambling, it means they will gamble all they have to take chance of getting rich which somehow triggers compulsive gambling.

There is a difference between having the natural desire of winning which we all have and being obsessed with it, the obsession part is what gets people in trouble as when they do not win instead of simply accepting as part of the results they could get and move on, they think they are owed a win and they try their luck once again and again until they win, and in the case of the lottery a person could spend all their life playing and never win it.

In other words, what you are talking about is chasing after losses, i do agree with you, too much of everything in life is bad, and that also includes the desire to win or succeed, when the desire becomes too much, it turns into desperation, and when one is desperate, such individual can go to any length to get what they want, not minding whether what they are doing is right or wrong.
Desperation for things have landed many to prison, some have been meet with early death while some gamblers who were desperate for a win are now wallowing in chronic gambling addiction with no ability to help themselves, this is for those that maybe realized that they are addicted  though.
So it is very important that we watch it when the desire to achieve things or some kind of result hit up, never allow yourself to become desperate, desperation is what drives gamblers into chasing after their losses. 

[alastantiger]

There are numerous signs of compulsive gambling, and they are easy to spot. The OP and other users have mentioned some very obvious signs, Just to add to what has already been said, compulsive gamblers use gambling as a coping mechanism or as an escape route from reality. For example, a compulsive gambler would turn to gambling to cushion the effects of a loss. It may be the loss of a significant other, a spouse, a parent, or a relationship. If you ever feel this way, please seek help.

[Hispo]

-snip-

Just to add with this one, I don't think that the phrase "increases the likelihood" can be applied here because I believe that whenever you're gambling and you don't know how to control your urge on it, it's a 100% sure that you're relationship with your family will be affected.

Actually, I did not want to say it happens on the 100% of the cases because out there in the world there will be always special cases and I did not want to generalize. Regardless of that detail, I can agree on what you have said.

Sometimes, people forget how valuable is family until they cannot be there anymore to help. Same with money, people can take their savings for granted specially if it is money that was inherited.

[Betwrong]

Number one sign for me is spending more then you intended to or should ever risk on the game.   Having an allocated budget for anything is a positive over blind spending, so perhaps not having a bad habit of spending all your cash available on that one day can help prevent any negative chain of something leading to compulsive gambling.
   Risking it all might be a common thing but if it leaves a person without anything left for food and other essentials even if they are ok later that week, I'd say thats a dangerous road to be walking down.  To rely purely on the gamble result is too extreme and puts the player in a position they are no longer in control.   Forget the risk, this attitude imo will lead to greater losses and poor gameplay it wont lead to a winning strategy imo.

"Risking it all" has been romanticized for centuries in theaters, books and later in movies and TV series. And I forgot to mention video games. It certainly romanticized there as well. I don't know what the right word, "hate"?, for describing what I feel about those authors who have made "Risking it all" attitude attractive to so many people, and although I don't want to hate anyone, I'm afraid that's the right word.

[Pierre 2]

I think people with this type on syndrome always develop some kind of denial along with it. If you tell them they are damaging themselves they reply "no i rarely gamble". If you tell them they are wasting their money, they reply "its just unimportant amount". Its very hard to heal this type of people with usual methods. Isolation is probably necessary. I think better honest social life can fix these issues. Gambling in itself can be fun thing if you do it with caution.

[Fredomago]

I think people with this type on syndrome always develop some kind of denial along with it. If you tell them they are damaging themselves they reply "no i rarely gamble". If you tell them they are wasting their money, they reply "its just unimportant amount". Its very hard to heal this type of people with usual methods. Isolation is probably necessary. I think better honest social life can fix these issues. Gambling in itself can be fun thing if you do it with caution.

Something that really happening when a person is unable to control their emotions, setting limitations and knowing how to control is a good prevention to a potential addiction. If you know how to work with both time and money, you'll be able to avoid losing a lot. But, if you are always losing and you are unable to control the amount of money that you are using, it's already a sign that you are falling to this addiction, better to observe yourself and try to analyze, maybe you are in deniable stage but in reality you are already engaging too much.

A better solution is to admit, then accept, the help that can be done to you. Gambling is addicting if you can't handle things the right way.

[ethereumhunter]

It is not always easy for the outside world to recognize certain signs. If you don't know if someone is involved in gambling, how do you make the link between signaling and gambling? In the winter, for example, many people don't go outside anyway and you hardly see each other. At work you see each other every day, but you don't want to interfere too much with other people and certainly not with their private lives. Addressing someone about gambling behavior can be confrontational and this can also lead to angry, irritated reactions from the gambler.

It may be difficult to know if our friend has a gambling addiction, especially if we are not close to that person. But there should be signs we can identify just from their movements or a feeling of anxiety often shown by that person. But if it is our co-worker, it won't be easy to recognize the signs because we can't see them as often as possible, especially when we've returned home. But at least if he's our close friend, we can tell the signs. But those addicted to gambling may not know or feel anything is wrong with it.

Gambling was so difficult even a few years ago but now that it is very easy. Earlier it was easy to detect a gambler but now it is very difficult to do so. There is no scope to identify. When they gamble online at home, there is no sign of it. Many times they lose but try to hide that fact from everyone. But it is visible from the face of those who are addicted to gambling. I have also seen many gamblers who cannot identify themselves as an addicted gambler after being addicted to gambling.

That is why the number of addicted gamblers has increased, along with the various conveniences that gamblers can get to gamble from anywhere. Maybe they won't become addicted to gambling right away but if they don't learn to control themselves, there's a possibility that they will get addicted to gambling after a while playing gambling. We can only recognize people addicted to gambling if we are beside them all the time and see what they are doing so that we can only tell them if they have a gambling addiction. And it's not easy because they will think we have violated their privacy.

It is not always easy for the outside world to recognize certain signs. If you don't know if someone is involved in gambling, how do you make the link between signaling and gambling? In the winter, for example, many people don't go outside anyway and you hardly see each other. At work you see each other every day, but you don't want to interfere too much with other people and certainly not with their private lives. Addressing someone about gambling behavior can be confrontational and this can also lead to angry, irritated reactions from the gambler.

It may be difficult to know if our friend has a gambling addiction, especially if we are not close to that person. But there should be signs we can identify just from their movements or a feeling of anxiety often shown by that person. But if it is our co-worker, it won't be easy to recognize the signs because we can't see them as often as possible, especially when we've returned home. But at least if he's our close friend, we can tell the signs. But those addicted to gambling may not know or feel anything is wrong with it.

It should actually be pretty easy imo. Never ask the person themselves, they'd most likely just deny it all the time, instead, look at the people surrounding the person and ask them instead. Ask them if he's been having a depressed atmosphere, if he's asking/taking on debts, if he's always frustrated, anything weird or odd that would make him seem or look crazy. They best know what's up. Even if you were a friend, I doubt you'd be the person closest to him all the time, it should be his/her work mates or family instead.

We can do that if we get to know the people around that person closely to identify whether our friend has a gambling addiction or whether he can still gamble wisely. But most of us wouldn't because we don't know his family well. And when there is a report from his family, we will try to help him but sometimes it's too late because our friend has continued to experience gambling addiction.

[Silberman]

I think people with this type on syndrome always develop some kind of denial along with it. If you tell them they are damaging themselves they reply "no i rarely gamble". If you tell them they are wasting their money, they reply "its just unimportant amount". Its very hard to heal this type of people with usual methods. Isolation is probably necessary. I think better honest social life can fix these issues. Gambling in itself can be fun thing if you do it with caution.

It is a self-defense mechanism, if they were to admit they were addicted then they will have to take responsibility for their actions, the damage they are causing to their family and the long road ahead of them to leave their addiction behind, things are so rough that instead of accepting the facts they prefer to deny everything, but the more they refuse to accept the reality the more difficult their situation gets, which explains why the first step any person which is addicted needs to take is to accept they are addicted.