Gambling Addict Trying to Start Over - Essay Example

A Gambling Addict Gambling is an addictive illness in which the is driven by an overwhelming , uncontrollable impulse to gamble. The impulse persists and progresses in intensity and urgency, consuming more and more of the individual’s time, energy and emotional and material resources. Ultimately, it invades, undermines and often destroys everything that is meaningful id a person’s life. This paper will seek to address the social concern that gambling addicts present to their livelihood and to those close to him as well as the steps that most often result to one being a compulsive gambler. Moreover, this paper will endeavour to correct popular myths and misconceptions which have been associated with gambling. In pursuance of this, it trails the life of Harry, a responsible family man who at first was an occasional gambler and together with his wife engaged in gambling for fun. however, after a couple of wins and exposure to several predisposing factors ended being a compulsive gambler and in the process causing a lot of pain to his family but subsequently being able to overcome the ugly addiction that gambling can turn out into being. Harry was a normal plain John, newly wed to his longtime girlfriend a few months now passed. He worked with behaviorally impaired adolescent boys. In this field, the support staff was dominated by males who usually had a background that included at some level, participation in competitive sports. Such men were supposedly more equipped to deal with the rough nature of clients involved. It was in this world that he was first introduced to the world of sports gambling. The circumstances were that a colleague would pick up a bookie sheet (a form containing a list of all the available games that could be bet on during a particular day) and bring it to work. Initially, he only looked at college and professional football that were played on the weekends. This, however, did not produce the winnings he imagined. His gambling eventually became a daily, if not a twice daily habit. A Popular belief is that gambling is a choice and therefore a result of a lack of willpower, on the contrary, gambling is a disease like any other and it can affect anyone, even those with strong moral character. In the beginning, Harry participated with his wife in the ‘fun’ of gambling. The very occasional wins were encouraging and euphoric. As he began to delve deeper into the gambling and more loses, however, as an occasional gambler would do, she got bored of the loses and began to see less pleasure in the hobby and ceased gambling all the same. In fact, she encouraged Harry to get out of the practice. But then the compulsion was too great for him, while she quit, Harry’s compulsion could not allow him. He was growing into a compulsive gambler, no longer being the one making the decision but the impulse of gambling. He began to spend a large portion of his salary on gambling, and this created a strain on the marriage. His wife was a certified teacher and made a considerable amount of money working with students who were emotionally and behaviorally impaired in a private educational setting. In one year, according to their tax returns, they earned nearly $60,000, nevertheless, they had to file for bankruptcy on several occasions. The bank account could not keep up with the mounting losses. This caused a strain in their financial lives and affected their relationship more and more. This was against the widely believed perception that addiction was a victimless activity, as on the contrary, the negative effects of the gambling problem trickle down to the immediate family of the addict and to those dear to him. Harry’s ambition in life became the same as other compulsive gamblers, to get his money back. He always believed that he was going to win big. Be persistent- that was his thought pattern. He was now in the second step in the evolution of gambling addiction, that’s the, losing phase. Harry was losing money and he was trying to recoup his loses by gambling even more. For a casual gambler, gambling is usually for the fun of it, the win or loss would put to an end to the matter for the day. However, for the compulsive addicted gambler, this usually is just the beginning. As soon as the outcome was determined -win or loss- harry would be racing out of the door to place his afternoon bet. If he lost, he was going to get it back through another bet, ‘be persistent’ was his favorite thought. If he won, he was going to make more money to make up for the past losses. It was an endless cycle, a trait distinctive with the second step towards addiction. The excitement of the game was his driving force. Many times after losing an afternoon game, he would rush off to the bookie joint with the intention of betting on the night games. It became increasingly difficult to suppress his emotional roller coaster from his wife. The mood swings were apparent. After hitting rock bottom, it was the wife and immediate family who suffered as much or even more. The wife as the responsible party in the relationship was left to hold the family together, financially as well as emotionally. As things began to collapse around him. He sought help from the local Gambling Anonymous group. At the gambling anonymous meeting, the group was made of unassuming-looking citizens. Due to their gambling problems, three were convicted of felony embezzlement, one for larceny another for armed robbery and more than three-quarters had committed or considered committing various crimes- all to feed their gambling addiction. Everyone had a bounced check, faced bankruptcy and at least contemplated suicide. More than half were recovering from multiple addictions. Additionally, two were homeless and another three had been mandated by the court to attend the meetings. One person was out on a pass from county jail and would be returning there at the end of the meeting. Next to this meeting there was a Gam-Anon meeting taking place where his wife and several wives, a mother and a live-in girlfriend of gambling addicts use the Twelve Step recovery program to learn about compulsive gambling, to heal and to offer support to one another. All these women shared a common bond, their lives had been devastated because someone they loved lost himself in gambling. The wife envied the spouses of addicts who were addicted to other forms of addiction such as sex, alcohol or food. At least the healing could begin as soon as the addiction is in remission, whereas in gambling, the financial damage could last a lifetime and beyond. However, after a short period of sobriety, he returned to gambling. It had simply become a part of his life which he couldn’t avoid. It was entrenched in his social contacts and easily accessible, making it very difficult for him to stop. Living became increasingly difficult. The embarrassment that accompanied him, although at times non-existent to him, it was always apparent to his family. Eviction, repossessions, cut off utilities, collection agencies and the daily concern of paying the bills became real to his family. A common cliche in Alcoholic Anonymous is that geographical relocation is not a cure, and as one adolescent counselor once said, “A drunk in South Dakota can as easily be drunk in Iowa.” This is probably true for most addictions. However, in Harry’s case, geographical relocation was his answer for a cure. He has ceased gambling for the last four years. His relationship with his wife has improved dramatically and he now has time to spend with his 4 year old son. He can now watch sports without feeling the need to bet on who will win – with the exception of an occasional $1 bet with his son. Cited Works Johnson, Irk . "More Casinos, More Players Who Lose it All." New York Times (25 September, 1995): A1. msnbc.com. Gambling Addict Trying To Start Over. 2011. 15 November 2011 . National Health Service. Gambling addiction. 02 September 2011. 15 November 2011 . Read More