Is Gambling addiction a silent killer?

[aioc]

I believe gambling addiction is a silent killer. There are no symptoms; you may see a healthy person, but deep within, they are suffering from depression and physical disabilities. They may look happy outside, but deep inside, they are lonely and helpless.

What makes it a silent killer they starts unnoticed until it's accumulated over the years, and all the symptoms appear after so many years of concealing it.

I have read reports of physically healthy people, but once they start gambling, no one notices the changes in their appearance until they suffer from a heart attack and manic depression.

What are the other symptoms that you can think of that will make gambling addiction a silent killer? Let's explore this so we can inform.

[mindrust]

It is not really that silent imo. The addicts I know of have one thing in common. They all seek to borrow money from anybody. It doesn’t matter whether they really know the person or not. It they have your number in their phone, sooner or later you will receive a call or a whatsapp message from these people and they always have an emergency going on which they need money for but in reality they need money to keep gambling.

These people can’t stay silent. Because when they run out of money, the only way there is left for them to keep playing is to borrow money. When they run out of all options, that’s where it gets really dangerous.

[Findingnemo]

Depression will have it's sign but not everyone may notice that but closed ones will definitely see a change in their behaviour but finding what is causing is almost impossible unless the person himself opens up that he is hurting himself over financial loss or whatever pushed him towards the addiction. Gambling isn't the real cause here but people who wants to hide something else with the help of gambling wins and success they are dreaming vausing this to happen over the time.

And severely depressed people will have self harming thoughts too so if someone is mentioning that they thought of like that then advice them to see a therapist as soon as possible.

[Sim_card]

I agree that it's a silent killer because addicted gamblers get depressed and abandoned which can lead to suicide. Imagine gamblers after losing big because they cannot face the shame from their actions since majority of them are not the owner of the money, they will think of committing suicide. The worse is if the addict did not accept the fact that he's addicted.

[Sammye3]

The most noticeable symptoms of addiction is the fact that these gamblers begin to think differently,  their thoughts fixated on gambling and no room for improvement or growth which limits their mindset to thinking that gambling is actually the only way.

On the long run, there would be behavioral changes that comes with talking to oneself and in some cases psychological issues. There was this friend of mine  who would rather borrow money to gamble than borrowing money to eat or solve critical issues,  because he sees gambling as the only way. Till date, he is still stuck at a place without any change or improvement even after several advises.

[crwth]

Well, it's probably what triggers it. It's mostly the person who chooses to gamble who is the silent killer for themselves. No one should blame gamble alone because the person chooses to do it. The losing could cause all the things that you said with the depression, deterioration, etc. but it's really about not being disciplined to stop.

There are symptoms that one can experience to see if they will get addicted, and there are criteria with it.

Here is a DOI for a paper for DSM-5 that shows gambling disorder.
DOI 10.1007/s40429-014-0026-7 - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26885470/

[rachael9385]

Gambling addiction can be a silent killer when it is not dealt with properly, what I mean by that is, if it continues to be something that you choose to cover up and allow to linger it would definitely be an issue to you. Stopping an addiction is not really easy but at the same time it is not impossible, if you put in consistent effort to make a change you will definitely be able to quit, it's a matter of decision.

[Grace333]

Why i consider gambling addiction to be a silent killer is because gambling addict would barely admit that they are addicted to gamble, and they decide to keep it as secret or away from their love ones until it gets to a point where they've totally lost control to addiction and that is when the result becomes obvious, their family begins to notice weird emotion changes and probably always short of funds. If only gambling addict can see the real picture of where they're heading to i don't think they'll like to continue but sometimes feels like you are one game away from becoming a millionaire and that's where the problem start.

[Charles-Tim]

What are the other symptoms that you can think of that will make gambling addiction a silent killer? Let's explore this so we can inform.

The first is to not be having adequate sleep just because of gambling addiction. Anyone that noticed this should stop gambling immediately or should find ways of sleeping at least 8 hours daily.

Another one that follows not having adequate sleep is the stress from the addiction. If gambling is not fun for you but your are getting exhausted just because you are gambling, it is better you stop gambling or reduce the time that you are gambling.

[Yorubek]

Addiction destroys life, as a result people gradually end up, the addict is constantly fidgeting, very few addicted people can make their lives beautiful again, most addicted people are destroyed over time. They understand that this work is not good, their beautiful life is being destroyed as a result of this work, but they have no way, they cannot solve it quickly even if they want to. I have seen that most addicted people want to be good, but they cannot do all the things that need to be done to be good, but they want to be good, which is never possible. Just wanting to be good, you cannot be good, this requires your own willpower, if the addicted person really wants to be good from the heart and leads his life according to the right direction, then it is possible to get free from addiction gradually, otherwise it is never possible.

[Su-asa]

I believe gambling addiction is a silent killer. There are no symptoms; you may see a healthy person, but deep within, they are suffering from depression and physical disabilities. They may look happy outside, but deep inside, they are lonely and helpless.

What makes it a silent killer they starts unnoticed until it's accumulated over the years, and all the symptoms appear after so many years of concealing it.

I have read reports of physically healthy people, but once they start gambling, no one notices the changes in their appearance until they suffer from a heart attack and manic depression.

What are the other symptoms that you can think of that will make gambling addiction a silent killer? Let's explore this so we can inform.

Based on my own perspectives, I believe the reason why gamble addiction looks like a silent killer just like you have said earlier is actually because the gambler keep it to himself. As a matter of fact, whether you are an addicted gambler or not, someone closer to you should be able to know about your gambling life how much you win and how much you are losing so that they can be able to help you if they noticed that guy are becoming too serious about gamble and also getting addicted to the game.

Although, it can only help if the both parties are not gamble selfishly. Another thing why gamblers who lose a lot of money are always depressed is because of greed, they gamble excessively because they want to win and recover their money, they stake huge amount because they believe if they win, they will also win big amount too.

However, gambling addiction can be a silent killer to some gamblers because when they start becoming addicted to gamble they didn't notice until it became worse. Some addicted gamblers even have the opportunity to stop be they refuse because of greed.

[shinratensei_]

A debt. it's the biggest killer for the gambling addiction. Many of suicidal cases in my environtment has always been starting from the debt. People gambling, then lose. They try to recover their lose by borrowing money and keep losing until they reach a state they can't pay their debt. They decide to end their live with the hope it can freely them from their debt.

[alastantiger]

I believe gambling addiction is a silent killer. There are no symptoms; you may see a healthy person, but deep within, they are suffering from depression and physical disabilities. They may look happy outside, but deep inside, they are lonely and helpless.

What makes it a silent killer they starts unnoticed until it's accumulated over the years, and all the symptoms appear after so many years of concealing it.

I have read reports of physically healthy people, but once they start gambling, no one notices the changes in their appearance until they suffer from a heart attack and manic depression.

What are the other symptoms that you can think of that will make gambling addiction a silent killer? Let's explore this so we can inform.

Gambling addiction is always silent to the addict but obviously his actions are public to everyone else. Alot of the times gambling addiction is silent cause even the victim most times out of either shame or shyness they refuse to communicate or confront the idea that they may be addicted. Depression is usually one of the giveaway for gaming addiction, even naturally happy people just end up being sad and overtime that becomes the natural state of the people.

A symptom of gambling addiction i can think of right now is increased anxiety level. Most addict if not all of them are always anxious, they barely trust anything again even their own emotions because they end up believing that anything they do doesn't work out, so they develop low self-esteem. another symptom of gambling addiction i can think of is irritability, anything little interaction and you see that upset and angry. When it comes to their emotions they just too violent with it.

[Asiska02]

Addicted gamblers always conceal that part of them until they can no more fund their bet again and begin to borrow or steal to bet, or even sell their belongings to bet. At every moment an addicted gambler see the next game as a chance to recover their lost money, so they risk big in it to recover big part of the their money lost to gambling or even half of it, thereby disobeying proper risk management and failing again. Depression comes after this when they have no any other means to fund their games again, that’s when the silencing inside of them started to grow and eventually kills them psychologically.

[khiholangkang]

I once read in a forum, I don't know which thread I wrote that someone had a heart disease, and the disease relapsed until he died after getting a big win, I remember reading it here exactly, and it is one of the physical defects that can cause someone to lose their life, for a normal level of addiction but when you have a disease that is physically easily triggered in an emotional outburst or happy can cause someone to be killed, blood, high and heart, or maybe there are others too?

[shawonngp]

Gambling addiction can undoubtedly be called a silent killer, because even a healthy person becomes addicted to gambling, he gradually becomes mentally disturbed, and there are many signs of a gambling addict that you can identify by looking at them, such as they borrow money from friends and relatives to gamble, their habits change a lot, they always prefer to be alone, And those who want to spend time gambling in free time. Excessive gambling addicts may attempt suicide at any time. Because they lose control over themselves. A healthy person can become addicted to gambling and drive himself to death. I have seen many such news stories.

[Smartprofit]

In my opinion, the term "silent killer" used in relation to gambling addiction is an exaggeration. Yes, gambling addiction is a major problem. 🙋 However, it's important to note that almost everyone suffers from some form of addiction.

There are simply socially acceptable types of addiction, and there are socially condemned types. For example, workaholism is a socially acceptable type of addiction. A person spends 14 hours a day at work, gets up early in the morning, leaves late at night, and still thinks about work at night. This greatly harms their health, but society doesn't condemn this type of addiction because it derives tangible benefits from such people. Also, excessive coffee consumption is encouraged by most people. For example, in my city, there's a veritable coffee cult... ☕A person with a paper coffee cup on a city street or in an office is a typical sight. It's also a common image in art and film. Meanwhile, excessive coffee consumption leads to hypertension, which is truly a "silent killer," without any exaggeration.

In my opinion, gambling addiction is dangerous, but it shouldn't be called a "silent killer." That's a very pretentious term. It's much more effective, in my opinion, to explain to people that gambling can't be a source of long-term income. It's just entertainment.

[cryptoaddictchie]

I believe gambling addiction is a silent killer. There are no symptoms; you may see a healthy person, but deep within, they are suffering from depression and physical disabilities. They may look happy outside, but deep inside, they are lonely and helpless.

What makes it a silent killer they starts unnoticed until it's accumulated over the years, and all the symptoms appear after so many years of concealing it.

I have read reports of physically healthy people, but once they start gambling, no one notices the changes in their appearance until they suffer from a heart attack and manic depression.

What are the other symptoms that you can think of that will make gambling addiction a silent killer? Let's explore this so we can inform?

You raise an important point, but calling gambling addiction a silent killer may unintentionally blur the line between documented effects and anecdotal outcomes. It might be stronger to focus on the observable behavioral, emotional, and social warning signs like financial secrecy, mood instability, isolation, and impaired judgment rather than linking it too directly to specific medical events without clear evidence. Framing it this way keeps the message credible, informative, and more effective for awareness and prevention. No one wants to be victimized bt addiction.

[Dareo]

To me, what makes gambling addiction a silent killer is the loss of control that one gradually experiences over he or she. In the beginning, people believe that everything is fine, I can stop anytime. But this confidence actually becomes the most dangerous. Another symptom is making an effort to conceal mental stress. People are behaving in a cheery manner, yet inside their minds, they are impulsively thinking of the money they lost and the next bet. Sleep problems, decrease of attention and distance from family also come slowly. Because these are not suddenly noticeable, gambling addiction can make silent damage to them for so many years.

[GiftedMAN]

I once read in a forum, I don't know which thread I wrote that someone had a heart disease, and the disease relapsed until he died after getting a big win, I remember reading it here exactly, and it is one of the physical defects that can cause someone to lose their life, for a normal level of addiction but when you have a disease that is physically easily triggered in an emotional outburst or happy can cause someone to be killed, blood, high and heart, or maybe there are others too?

Yeah I’ve come across that thread here too about a gambler who collapsed as a result of a heart attack after hitting a big win. This is very normal because people will some severe heart disease are advised to stay completely away from any activity that’ll startle them. Sometimes can good news can come as serious shock which can increase the blood pressure and affect the heart.