When should you consider yourself an addict

[panjul07]

Q.
When should you consider yourself an addict?

A.
When you cannot stop even when you are losing a lot of money
When not gambling you cannot stop thinking about the next wager
When you have gotten to the point of borrowing money to fuel the habit
When you are hiding the amount of spending from your family and friends
When it has started to affect your behaviour and mental state in negative ways

The problem is also that not everyone can read the signs or are even willing to acknowledge
those signs until it becomes too late.

That's the point because most addicts will not aware about the situation or even they will try to deny it by saying to themselves that they are still on the right track.
So basically considering ourselves as an addict is something hard to do because of the denial that we have, usually addicts will fully realize it when the worst thing come.
If we have a partner, s/he can help us to control our gambling habit so once s/he notice that we do something too much then s/he can give a warning.

[DaNNy001]

Spending 30 or even 50% of the earnings can be considered as reckless, but when the person realizes that he is spending more money than he should and he tries stopping it but he just can't break his habit that is why we can consider him as an addict.

Good point, when one can't seem to recover or come out of a certain pattern of gambling it means that he has become addicted to it..
if I start gambling in a certain way that seems irresponsible to me it is easy for me to tell myself that I won't repeat it again and stop immediately...because I'm not addicted there is no issue in stopping..I think the actual problem is discipline, lot of players lack self control

[Slow death]

Spending 30 or even 50% of the earnings can be considered as reckless, but when the person realizes that he is spending more money than he should and he tries stopping it but he just can't break his habit that is why we can consider him as an addict.

Good point, when one can't seem to recover or come out of a certain pattern of gambling it means that he has become addicted to it..
if I start gambling in a certain way that seems irresponsible to me it is easy for me to tell myself that I won't repeat it again and stop immediately...because I'm not addicted there is no issue in stopping..I think the actual problem is discipline, lot of players lack self control

The point isn't whether a person uses 30% or 50% of their salary or other source of income; a gambling addiction can't be achieved by using only 30% or 50% of their income. They will use everything, even if it's money to pay bills, even if it's company money and not their own. That's why addiction is considered an illness, because the person loses all self-control. I've never seen a person addicted to gambling who can only gamble with 30% or 50% of their income. That person shouldn't be considered addicted to gambling, but rather an irresponsible person who still maintains their sanity.

[Orpichukwu]

I think you should consider yourself a gambler when you take the quiz and it gives you an answer. But the real answer to that question is dependent on the person. If you spend all your free time at a casino and never loss(which is impossible) when you have a baby at home would be considered an addict because you could be doing something like raising your kid but you are gambling

And even the person who is gambling while they are supposed to be using their time for something useful at home is still considered a gambler, but 'addicted' is attached to its title because they are no longer in control of their time but are only thinking about how to feed their gambling urge.

[Byebyebtc]

A friend of mine was in an argument with me about when someone should consider himself as an addict, I said if anyone is losing 30 percent or more of his monthly income on gambling, that he is an addict but my friend said no.

He is not affected by gambling but I do not like the way he is losing money on gambling but he said he is not using more than 50% of his monthly salary to gamble and my mouth was wide opened when I heard it.

Your friend is not just an addict he is also a reckless gambler as well the fact that 50% of his monthly salary goes to gambling is enough proof that he can not stay with out gambling,
And that is literally the definition of gambling doing something you can not stay without as a result causing harm to the individual.
And the loss that he is facing is the harm that follows his actions. A gambling addict finds it hard to accept the fact that he or she is addicted to gambling, so that is the reason why he will argue with you

[Accardo]

And that is literally the definition of gambling doing something you can not stay without as a result causing harm to the individual.
And the loss that he is facing is the harm that follows his actions. A gambling addict finds it hard to accept the fact that he or she is addicted to gambling, so that is the reason why he will argue with you.

Let not forgo in a hurry the impact this conversations make on prospective problem players regarding their sudden finanancial disputes. It saves one more life to hold valuable talks with friends in conditions as this, and refrain from countervailing conversations like arguments, which may lead to losing a friend to isolation, slow follow up helps in bringing back this victim next time for more talks. This is a kind of psychological first aid, that stands valid in the absence of a clinical therapist.

[Tmoonz]

I think you should consider yourself a gambler when you take the quiz and it gives you an answer. But the real answer to that question is dependent on the person. If you spend all your free time at a casino and never loss(which is impossible) when you have a baby at home would be considered an addict because you could be doing something like raising your kid but you are gambling

And even the person who is gambling while they are supposed to be using their time for something useful at home is still considered a gambler, but 'addicted' is attached to its title because they are no longer in control of their time but are only thinking about how to feed their gambling urge.

This is true and deep kind of bitter truth that a lot are victims of unknowingly to them that they are becoming addictive to gambling at the point they are postponing what might be most important to do at a point in time just to satisfy their gambling urge, though not on a regular I think am also a victim of this and it is not good to be frank, there are several ways one can actually fall in to the trap of being addictive to gambling including what is being stated above. It is important that we keep a close watch on our self so that we don't overly do things wrongly unaware or unknowingly to us.

[passwordnow]

If I start spending my whole salary and other source of income to sportsbet, that's when I'll start to admit that I am already addicted. But thank goodness, I've got to hold myself and still able to control with how much I bet. Even if I'm going into losing streak, my bets were budgeted and that's not going to hurt much my bankroll and pocket. But if I start going to be in that result, I am budgeting and lowering down my bets instead of the casual ones that I can bet for as many as I can but due to losses, I need to calm a bit down and bet lesser.

[tread93]

A friend of mine was in an argument with me about when someone should consider himself as an addict, I said if anyone is losing 30 percent or more of his monthly income on gambling, that he is an addict but my friend said no.

He is not affected by gambling but I do not like the way he is losing money on gambling but he said he is not using more than 50% of his monthly salary to gamble and my mouth was wide opened when I heard it.

I guess by definition an addict would be something who is doing something and cannot stop even if they tried to. So if your friend is consistently putting up 30% of his income to gamble he is 100% addicted. Could you just imagine if instead they played a smarter gsmble and invested it and grew their money? They could not run the risk of losing all of their money but instead even open up and create a gambling fund for themselves! Then they could satisfy all their addiction in a risk free environment that allows them to only soil their gains if lost and not their income. Food for thought!

[Franctoshi]

A friend of mine was in an argument with me about when someone should consider himself as an addict, I said if anyone is losing 30 percent or more of his monthly income on gambling, that he is an addict but my friend said no.

He is not affected by gambling but I do not like the way he is losing money on gambling but he said he is not using more than 50% of his monthly salary to gamble and my mouth was wide opened when I heard it.

If you're losing money, 30% -50% of your income that one is tied greed and not gambling addiction, when addiction has come into play is when you can no longer spend a day without gambling, every little money that comes to your hand you gamble it away, you no longer control how you gamble, you see yourself playing virtual games, slot, and aviator crash game from morning to night without giving yourself a brief of space.

[Proty]

A friend of mine was in an argument with me about when someone should consider himself as an addict, I said if anyone is losing 30 percent or more of his monthly income on gambling, that he is an addict but my friend said no.

He is not affected by gambling but I do not like the way he is losing money on gambling but he said he is not using more than 50% of his monthly salary to gamble and my mouth was wide opened when I heard it.

I guess by definition an addict would be something who is doing something and cannot stop even if they tried to. So if your friend is consistently putting up 30% of his income to gamble he is 100% addicted. Could you just imagine if instead they played a smarter gsmble and invested it and grew their money? They could not run the risk of losing all of their money but instead even open up and create a gambling fund for themselves! Then they could satisfy all their addiction in a risk free environment that allows them to only soil their gains if lost and not their income. Food for thought!

Addiction shouldn't just be about the percentage of ones income used during gambling. It is how often we do gamble, there are those that can stay a day without gambling. This is pure sign of gambling addiction. A gambler can used 30% of his or her income to gamble in a day and the rest of the  week,month and decide not to be gambling again, such a gambler is not addicted to gambling.

[Ultegra134]

The point isn't whether a person uses 30% or 50% of their salary or other source of income; a gambling addiction can't be achieved by using only 30% or 50% of their income. They will use everything, even if it's money to pay bills, even if it's company money and not their own. That's why addiction is considered an illness, because the person loses all self-control. I've never seen a person addicted to gambling who can only gamble with 30% or 50% of their income. That person shouldn't be considered addicted to gambling, but rather an irresponsible person who still maintains their sanity.

That's true, 30% of your salary isn't huge if we compare it with cases of addicts wasting their whole salaries and then going ahead and borrowing money from others to continue gambling. There's isn't a certain percentage or range that automatically makes you an addict. If you're aiming to use an X amount of money and you end up using four times as much, then you're likely to be or become an addict. Doing it once or twice doesn't automatically make you one, but you're setting the grounds for it.

If gambling takes up more money than you initially planned, more time and or causes issues in your daily life, you're an addict.

[junder]

That's the point because most addicts will not aware about the situation or even they will try to deny it by saying to themselves that they are still on the right track.
So basically considering ourselves as an addict is something hard to do because of the denial that we have, usually addicts will fully realize it when the worst thing come.
If we have a partner, s/he can help us to control our gambling habit so once s/he notice that we do something too much then s/he can give a warning.

You're right, considering yourself an addict is quite difficult. I myself was addicted to brutal gambling, desperately seeking ways to continue just for the sake of winning big. Now, I only gamble on weekends, within my own limits, and sometimes I don't gamble at all for a week, but I don't know if I'm addicted or not. But the important thing is that I continue to gamble healthily, because I don't experience major losses, don't engage in reckless behavior, and I have excellent self-control.

[wiss19]

If you try to stop and fail, that's the addiction. I personally stopped drinking sodas for example because of my health issues, and I tried to stop but I also sort of failed at the same time.

What I mean is that I do not drink any sugar soda anymore, things most famously known as Coca cola or Pepsi for example, those type of drinks are banned for my health issue and if I drink them I would get in serious trouble medically, but I did not stop drinking mineral water stuff, they are not soda technically, but they do have fruit in it, and fruits have sugar in them, it's less harmful, so I am fine, but I need to limit it. I could have just quite it all together and only drink water for example, but I failed. So if you also fail, in stopping gambling, then you are addicted.

[Obulis]

Gambling with a different mindset to win and spending carelessly can be different from addiction, addiction is when a gambler can’t resist the pressure that comes with gambling to an extend taking loan etc. losing control sounds worse and inappropriate for any gambling but, spending much on betting is also not beneficial, yet different from addiction. Spending carelessly can also result to addiction definitely but, when a gambler is well knowledgeable about gambling practice I believe addiction is no longer a problem, all what such person needs is financial control on how to plan a good budget.

Not in anyway undermining all the efforts made to throw light to this matter.
Very crystal clear how that there's no definite definition of gambling addiction or addicted gambler!
Because somehow, "gambling with the mindset to win and spending carelessly" is usually associated with addicted gambler and sometimes womanizing is usually the careless spending of won amount by addicted gamblers.

[hedgeh0g]

That's the point because most addicts will not aware about the situation or even they will try to deny it by saying to themselves that they are still on the right track.
So basically considering ourselves as an addict is something hard to do because of the denial that we have, usually addicts will fully realize it when the worst thing come.
If we have a partner, s/he can help us to control our gambling habit so once s/he notice that we do something too much then s/he can give a warning.

You're right, considering yourself an addict is quite difficult. I myself was addicted to brutal gambling, desperately seeking ways to continue just for the sake of winning big. Now, I only gamble on weekends, within my own limits, and sometimes I don't gamble at all for a week, but I don't know if I'm addicted or not. But the important thing is that I continue to gamble healthily, because I don't experience major losses, don't engage in reckless behavior, and I have excellent self-control.

Self-control is what will help us avoid losing more than we should. Entering the game and setting limits on our losses is an extremely important and sensible decision, as even professional gamblers do it. They understand that if they don't do this and fall into a losing streak, they'll want to win it back right then and there, and each subsequent bet will push them to new lows. I don't want to have to wonder what to do when I lose a lot; it's better to limit myself like they do and not become addicted to gambling.

[khiholangkang]

I consider myself an addict when I start to realize I'm spending too much money, spending too much time gambling, and engaging in other addictive behaviors. Fortunately, I've always recognized this before I've reached a full-blown addiction, meaning I'm aware of my behavior when it begins to resemble that of an addict.

Many people don't easily recognize when they're addicted. This is simply because their minds are not open and they focus on the gamble they must win, and then they think about recouping their losses every day, until their money is gone and they can't gamble as usual. This leads to the realization that they're addicted.

[OgNasty]

I've always heard that you know you are entering addict territory when something is very obviously messing up your life but you continue to do it anyway.  Getting fired for gambling at work, losing all your money, hurting relationships...  Definitely addiction.

[silpersurfer]

It is not about the percentage of money lost, but rather how much of our lives that gambling begins to take over. And to be perfectly honest, those signs do start to manifest as soon as we begin to cross the most important basic line- only gambling with money that we can afford to lose.

I decide to spend the money I have on betting rather than fulfill my own needs. When basic needs, such as food, bills, and any other family obligations that need to be fulfilled start being neglected for gambling, then it has moved from being a mere hobby. It is a misplaced priority, and this is the point at which most people do not realize that their behavior is starting to become addictive.

And most clearly, when I choose to go to the casino instead of going to work, the impact has already entered a more serious area: work, responsibilities, and even the future.So, it's not the numbers that make someone an addict, but when gambling begins to replace needs, obligations, and common sense.

[chigo]

A friend of mine was in an argument with me about when someone should consider himself as an addict, I said if anyone is losing 30 percent or more of his monthly income on gambling, that he is an addict but my friend said no.

He is not affected by gambling but I do not like the way he is losing money on gambling but he said he is not using more than 50% of his monthly salary to gamble and my mouth was wide opened when I heard it.

I also have a friend who even has debts due to the gambling he does, every month he spends hundreds of dollars of his salary just to gamble, yesterday he got a jackpot, and I think he hasn't returned the capital loss, but as a friend I can't say much because the level of his addiction is quite severe, I can only advise and sometimes make myself an example that I have never been a gambling addict, even though I play actively.