by Jerry "Jet" Whittaker

May 29, 2007

Pathological Gambling

Gambling as we all know is betting. Betting is usually done to earn money within a short period of time. Conventionally Gambling is defined as earning money by betting or gambling or wagering. The betting is not always done for money. Sometimes betting is done on the things that have a material value. The result of these games is not certain. The winner can be anyone.

Many Gamblers come across a disease called as pathological gambling. This disease can not only devastate the Gambler but also the members in relation to it. These people may be his family members, his friends, his office mates, etc. It is accepted as the disorder of impulse control by the American Psychiatric Association in the year 1980.

There are three phases of gambling addiction. They are the winning phase, the loosing phase and the desperation phase. The winning phase is a phase in which the gambler experiences a big win or a series of wins. This leaves the gambler with a unreasonable optimism. He feels that he will always win. Because of this feeling the gambler increases the amount of bets.

The second is the loosing phase. The loosing phase is a phase in which the gambler always feels proud of the wins that he has had in the winning phase. The gambler starts borrowing money at every point of time from his friends, officemates or relatives, may it be legally or illegally. The gamblers start lying to the friends and families. They become more irritable and restless. At this stage the gamblers are unable to pay off the debts. There family life also becomes unhappy.

The desperation phase is a phase in which the gambler feels ashamed of the act. He starts blaming his families and friends. At this point of time the gambler can engage him in illegal acts to finance the game. In this phase the gambler loses all his hopes. He is accompanied with suicidal thoughts and attempts. This can also result him in a emotional breakdown.

It is not only the gambler who gets affected because of the gambling activity but also the family members of the gambler. As the gambler goes through this phase he spends less time with his family. He also uses all the family’s money on gambling. After finishing off the bank balance they also try to steal money of the family members. The pathological gambler is a problem at the workplace even. At the workplace he may not be able to concentrate on the projects. This can result in employee theft or other illegal activities. Thus pathological gambling is a dangerous addiction and can lead to destroy the gambler along with his family and the workplace. 

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