At what point does entertainment become Addiction.

[Cityhunter34]

Most people start gambling for entertainment, fun or to try their luck but as time goes on, some people begin to spend more money and time than they expected to. Once you start hiding your gambling activities, start chasing losses, take loan to gamble or feel restless when you don’t gamble, it is a sign that gambling is now more than entertainment. The truth is that addiction does not just happen overnight. It’s start little by little until  it starts affecting your finance, relationships, and peace of mind. So my question now is. How can a person know if  he or she is still gambling for entertainment or if addiction has Started taking control over them.

This is very simple to understand. It's not a new thing anymore, because gambling addiction normally starts when you don't know how to stop and call it a day. Gambling for entertainment simply means that you are not going above your limit. Even if you lose the game, you would be able to control yourself without a second thought.

It has been said several times that gambling involves more losses than wins, so gamblers shouldn't take it as a source of income. It only becomes a big deal when you don't have discipline and self-control.

[Cryptohygenic]

Once you start hiding your gambling activities, start chasing losses, take loan to gamble or feel restless when you don’t gamble, it is a sign that gambling is now more than entertainment.

That is a very clear truth of these characters being signals to gambling addiction.
There had been this saying from others here that those becoming addicted know their implications until it begin shake their finances or when their behaviours begin to be a concern to their families or love ones.
Meanwhile, if only you could admit that your conscience also gets tough troubling during when begin to hide how often you bets that is not the usual, then that is back sign of nurturing your addiction because you are aware that people must complain about the force you have adopted lately.

[Nrcewker]

How can a person know if  he or she is still gambling for entertainment or if addiction has Started taking control over them.

First of all, no addicted gambler will admit that they are addicted to gambling. Secondly, I have only seen rich people gamble for entertainment. Middle-class people usually gamble to try their luck and improve their fortunes. However, when luck is not on their side and they end up losing all the money they have, they often stop gambling.

If, after reaching that point, someone plans to gamble again by taking loans, robbing others, or engaging in scams, then those are definite signs of addiction. I have seen many people completely ruin their lives because of gambling addiction. Therefore, it is better to gamble responsibly and within limits.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

@OP, I don't know if you have come across this topic When does gambling turn from entertainment to addiction? but I do think your post is like a prerequisite of that thread, there were many thoughts shared on that topic which also covers the question you asked here. Also, I think you already answered your question yourself, to know when entertainment has turn to addiction is the moment you realize that you are now taking loans just to fulfill your urge. You have uncontrollably urge for gambling and can do anything just to gamble, then entertainment has turn to addiction.

[rachael9385]

Every gambler is aware and conscious when gambling starts moving from fun to addiction and one sign is when they feel the need to gamble consistently even if they know that they should not be gambling at that particular time, they lose control over themselves and seize to have any form of restraints, this shows it has become a dependency issue.

[Exitoral]

We seem to measure addiction when it comes to how much money we spend. That's not the case. People can still be addicted to it and use less money. So with this, addiction comes when you have no control over when it stops regardless of the money involved.
Now addiction affects people differently; some can have anxiety often, and the only way out for them is gambling. There are different ones too. For me, the real addiction comes when you start seeing the consequences rather than the amount of time spent gambling.
Funny enough, no single individual can independently say they are addicted. If you ask them, they will say, "I am not addicted." Just human nature. Can't admit to something that is glaring right in front of their eyes.

[Nwada001]

So my question now is. How can a person know if  he or she is still gambling for entertainment or if addiction has Started taking control over them.

As soon as you notice you have been spending more time and money than usual, that's a clear sign that you are no longer gambling under the right condition and should be adjusted, and if you can't figure it out yourself, allow people who are close to you to have a little assessment and tell you how your gambling is going, and when some unusual pattern is noticed, try to put a stop to it before it gets deeper; it's when the little changes are ignored that it grows to a big addiction problem.

[Findingnemo]

When you make it as a regular habit then over a period of time you are not dictating how much time you spend on it rather the activity is what pushes your decisions. So be it money, or just an escape from the reality or you just enjoy the gambling, whatever the reason for someone to gamble it should be under their control and when it slides out of their control then it is an addiction.

[KiaKia]

Normally I get bored after an hour on a casino, even with other things that I spend time on when I am free, movies on the other part depends on the story line and other things, video games also, but out of them all I spent less time with gambling.

You can't be a responsible gambler if you don't have time limit for gambling, it can be fun and entertaining but if you spend too much time on gambling you will slowly lose yourself and your focus..

You will end up risking more money than you used to, and that's where you will start cashing losses because you have risked money that you aren't ready to lose on gambling.

[Cryptomultiplier]

Normally I get bored after an hour on a casino, even with other things that I spend time on when I am free, movies on the other part depends on the story line and other things, video games also, but out of them all I spent less time with gambling.

You can't be a responsible gambler if you don't have time limit for gambling, it can be fun and entertaining but if you spend too much time on gambling you will slowly lose yourself and your focus..

You will end up risking more money than you used to, and that's where you will start cashing losses because you have risked money that you aren't ready to lose on gambling.

I will like to believe that there's a similarity in the way nicotine addiction feels and the way gambling addiction feels, because once it starts becoming a craving, a longing, just for the immediate dopamine effect, it is of course an addiction and should be quickly noticed and limited in every possible way, because it is not just an entertainment anymore, it has become more like a food that one just can't get enough of.
Avoiding triggers is helpful, speaking to professional counselor is also helpful and the best is trying to replace such a habit with a better fun and entertaining activity that one forgets about gambling in entirety or has a control over it.

[Yorubek]

Most people start gambling for entertainment, fun or to try their luck but as time goes on, some people begin to spend more money and time than they expected to. Once you start hiding your gambling activities, start chasing losses, take loan to gamble or feel restless when you don’t gamble, it is a sign that gambling is now more than entertainment. The truth is that addiction does not just happen overnight. It’s start little by little until  it starts affecting your finance, relationships, and peace of mind. So my question now is. How can a person know if  he or she is still gambling for entertainment or if addiction has Started taking control over them.

We initially start gambling with the mentality of entertainment, but when we gain money, our greed or emotion increases a lot. We get out of the mentality of entertainment and start gambling aggressively in the hope of getting rich quickly. Again, when we face financial losses, we start gambling aggressively with the mentality of getting back the lost money quickly without taking time or taking the right decision with patience, which is absolutely not right. Although the main purpose of gambling is right in the beginning, it gradually transforms into the main purpose of making money and then the gambler gradually becomes addicted to gambling. Therefore, it is always good to be aware control greed or emotion and gamble only with the money that you can afford to lose for the main purpose of entertainment.

[Awaklara]

It seems like the topic of addiction has already been discussed quite a lot here. The beginning of addiction might not actually be noticed by the gambler themselves. Or there might be denial in admitting that they have started to get addicted.
If you gamble for entertainment, it means you only do it when you need some fun. If your gambling activity starts to become more frequent and interferes with your time for other activities, it means you’re starting to prioritize gambling over other things. I think that’s the beginning, although I’m sure there are gamblers who do gamble quite often but still consciously manage their budget well.

[aoluain]

Most people start gambling for entertainment, fun or to try their luck but as time goes on, some people begin to spend more money and time than they expected to. Once you start hiding your gambling activities, start chasing losses, take loan to gamble or feel restless when you don’t gamble, it is a sign that gambling is now more than entertainment. The truth is that addiction does not just happen overnight. It’s start little by little until  it starts affecting your finance, relationships, and peace of mind. So my question now is. How can a person know if  he or she is still gambling for entertainment or if addiction has Started taking control over them.

You have answered the question before the question was even asked!

Anyone who finds themselves in a position where they think they are in too deep to simply walk
away and are chasing losses with money they cannot afford to lose then they are addicted.

Those who have lost everything and are using borrowed money is addicted and/or desperate

Anyone who cannot go at least a day without making a bet is addicted.

Sadly there are many people who cannot even see that they are addicted and dont recognise
the signs until is much too late.

[Filicius]

@OP, I don't know if you have come across this topic When does gambling turn from entertainment to addiction? but I do think your post is like a prerequisite of that thread, there were many thoughts shared on that topic which also covers the question you asked here. Also, I think you already answered your question yourself, to know when entertainment has turn to addiction is the moment you realize that you are now taking loans just to fulfill your urge. You have uncontrollably urge for gambling and can do anything just to gamble, then entertainment has turn to addiction.

Thanks for sharing this other topic, the truth is that the conversation is quite similar and could all be put together in a single thread. But I am not so clear about the point at which one becomes an addict, and it has been seen how there are different opinions on the matter. The moment you mention is a clear point in which one already has problems, but the problem may have started before he realises it, or before he starts taking loans. Those are the results of having fallen into an addiction, but I think that moment comes before.

[Asiska02]

Most people start gambling for entertainment, fun or to try their luck but as time goes on, some people begin to spend more money and time than they expected to. Once you start hiding your gambling activities, start chasing losses, take loan to gamble or feel restless when you don’t gamble, it is a sign that gambling is now more than entertainment. The truth is that addiction does not just happen overnight. It’s start little by little until  it starts affecting your finance, relationships, and peace of mind. So my question now is. How can a person know if  he or she is still gambling for entertainment or if addiction has Started taking control over them.

Gambling for entertainment is just not what many people call it actually. But it is more of a disguise of not actually showing themselves to admit that they already addicted to it. This is the case for most people, but only few people really gamble for entertainment. With the fast rise of the gambling industry, it can be attributed to the fact that the monetary incentives attached to it after a win is what draws more people into the game and not just doing it for the fun they derive from it.

As long as money is involved, when you begin to lose them, it’ll get to a point that you’ll start feeling the losses getting much and you would want to try and win them back, that’s when everything begins to fall apart and can’t even know if you’re into it for the fun or for the money. In the long run, gambling gets people more addicted than it brings the fun to the people, it all depends on the gambler and how they handle their emotions towards the gambling decisions.

[Obim34]

So my question now is. How can a person know if  he or she is still gambling for entertainment or if addiction has Started taking control over them.

As soon there are noticeable changes, that affects your standard of living, it can be financially, emotionally, time management, and otherwise, these changes must negatively affect you, that is when and how you know that what should be sourced as entertainment, is on the verge of ruining you.

Most times, addiction looks like a sincere mistake, until it keeps repeating, out of control and difficult to end, some times, the person on the verge of becoming addicted don't notice this changes, until it falls on them or eternal help comes in.

[Zadicar]

Most people start gambling for entertainment, fun or to try their luck but as time goes on, some people begin to spend more money and time than they expected to. Once you start hiding your gambling activities, start chasing losses, take loan to gamble or feel restless when you don’t gamble, it is a sign that gambling is now more than entertainment. The truth is that addiction does not just happen overnight. It’s start little by little until  it starts affecting your finance, relationships, and peace of mind. So my question now is. How can a person know if  he or she is still gambling for entertainment or if addiction has Started taking control over them.

On the moment that you had already that spending up the amount that you cant afford to lose, like on life savings or taking up some loan then its a solid sign already that you are addicted to gambling and this should really be stopped before anything would get worst. It would be that impossible that you cant really be able to determine on what are the actions that you are doing. It is really just that up to your actions on what you should gonna do because on the moment that you do tolerate out that such action then sooner or later you would really be having those regrets considering that once your financial situation or status being that affected by gambling because you have lost it all, then recovery would really be that so hard. You wont really be potentially losing up the chance of recovery, you do also have the chance on losing up your family or simply everything.

[GIF-JOBS]

When you can maintain your limits well, that is, when you can accept losses and stop gambling, and when you can stop gambling while being satisfied with small wins, then you will understand that your expectations are right and you are playing only for fun.

But when you continue to play for bigger wins even after winning, and at the same time when you become desperate to recover losses and start gambling uncontrollably, then you will understand that you are moving towards addiction to gambling, even becoming addicted.

This is the easiest way for me.

[iv4n]

The truth is that addiction does not just happen overnight. It’s start little by little until  it starts affecting your finance, relationships, and peace of mind. So my question now is. How can a person know if  he or she is still gambling for entertainment or if addiction has Started taking control over them.

You answered your own question... It starts little by little, but once it starts affecting your finances, relationships, and above all, your peace of mind, you are in trouble...

It's all fun & games as long as it doesn't disrupt other life activities... And if it's opposite, you need to rethink it...Simple as that!

[bangjoe]

Most people start gambling for entertainment, fun or to try their luck but as time goes on, some people begin to spend more money and time than they expected to. Once you start hiding your gambling activities, start chasing losses, take loan to gamble or feel restless when you don’t gamble, it is a sign that gambling is now more than entertainment. The truth is that addiction does not just happen overnight. It’s start little by little until  it starts affecting your finance, relationships, and peace of mind. So my question now is. How can a person know if  he or she is still gambling for entertainment or if addiction has Started taking control over them.

Entertainment always happens when you feel bored, there is no other activity, that's where you start to entertain you in gambling, if someone has been gambling at work or at a time when they should not be gambling, it can be a symptom of addiction, and also when using money beyond the limit that has been prepared or also using excessive time to gamble then it can be said that he is immersed in the game and can be said to be in addiction.