Compulsive gambling is a serious addiction that can affect anyone, from any walk of life. But it does not have to be a life sentence. You can escape the grips of gambling and walk away, resuming your life, free from the addiction. You do not have to live your life in this iron grip, there is another way.
Before you can escape the grips of compulsive gambling, you need to understand it. So many people think that a gambling problem is about the money, that the addict is money hungry or greedy. It’s so much more than that, and in my self-help guide I’ll open your eyes to what your gambling problem is really all about and how you can escape it.
Nobody sets out to become a compulsive gambler. No one thinks that it can ever happen to them. After that first trip to the casino, race track, or video lottery terminal, nobody thinks that they will become addicted to it and risk everything they have in order to feed their addiction.
The following story, illustrates just how easy, and how innocently compulsive gambling can begin:
It started very simply, as it often does, but Susan soon found her self in a cycle of compulsive gambling that would ultimately jeopardize the life that she had worked so hard to build.
After an evening of fun, and gambling with her girlfriends, Susan left the casino with $500 in her pocket and a feeling of exhilaration! A week later as her wedding anniversary approached, she hit the casino again to have a repeat performance of the week before in order to buy her husband a nice present. This time, luck was not with her, and Susan walked out disheartened, scared and with $2000 less than when she walked in.
It’s an all too common story; perhaps you recognize parts of your own story in Susan’s tale? The simple, almost innocent introduction to gambling? The strong desire to repeat the winning performance, and feel the high again? There is a unique story for everyone who becomes addicted to gambling, but throughout all the stories, there are a few common threads that ring true.