Blaming others, especially one’s partner, is a way that problem gamblers can avoid taking responsibility for their actions as a problem player — including actions necessary to address the gambling problem.
Gamblers enable each other. People often encourage others to engage in the same bad behaviors they enjoy. They do so in order to convince themselves that the behavior is acceptable because others are doing it. In this way, conformity to the group becomes a justification for petty misdeeds.
Problem gamblers can appear as irresponsible individuals – even if they are not – because, during episodes of problem gambling, they are in a compromised, uncontrollable mindset, which can cause them to engage in actions or risks that they normally would not.
Even individuals who have a long history of responsible behaviour are susceptible to developing a problem with gambling. Most people are able to play the occasional game of chance and not become hooked, but when gaming causes financial damage, interferes with their job or school, or causes conflicts with their family or friends, gambling becomes a serious problem.
Compulsive Gambling Is Easy to Spot – But It Happens Late
Once gambling becomes compulsive, even in spite of the financial consequences, a dependence becomes easier to spot. The addiction to gambling begins to take over a person’s life; a person addicted to gambling cannot necessarily control his or her behavior in regard to the game. Often, people who are closest to an individual who has a gaming addiction are affected by the effects of their players’ behaviors. A person addicted to gambling might believe that he or she is the only person that may suffer from his or her addiction, however, that is not the case.
People who are addicted to gambling might turn to alcohol to soothe their nerves when gambling, or when going without for an extended period of time. Similar to individuals addicted to drugs and alcohol, individuals who are addicted to gambling will show symptoms of withdrawal when going without gambling for a prolonged period. Gambling addiction may also cause increased drinking or smoking, as addicted individuals are more likely to turn to drugs or alcohol in order to deal with the effects of their addiction.
Potentially because of the similar reactions that drinking alcohol and playing games cause in the brain, a person addicted to one has an increased risk of developing a dependency to the other. The way that the two reactions may be stacking up against one another, as well as the popularity of alcohol at casinos, makes the possibility of alcoholism and gaming addiction being co-occurring disorders all the more likely.
Drinking Exacerbates Gamblers’ Behaviors
The loss of inhibitions caused by drinking can also result in reckless gambling behaviors, which can only escalate as time goes by. Too much time spent playing games can also cause relationships and legal problems, job loss, mental health issues including depression and anxiety, and even suicide. Depression, stress, substance abuse, or anxiety can all cause problems with gambling, and they are made worse with compulsive gambling.
Like all addictions, problematic gambling negatively affects an individual’s family, work, and friendships. A person who has problems with gaming will eventually have relationships with their job, friends, or in their extended family frayed. As a problem gambler’s relationships and finances worsen, the stress may trigger an anxiety disorder or depression.
An uncontrollable urge to gamble is a very serious problem in an individual’s life, and it can have very severe consequences for their health, financial stability, and home life. If you are a compulsive gambler, you cannot control your urge to gamble, even when it has negative consequences for yourself or those around you. An individual gets the same effects from gambling that another person would from drinking, taking tranquilizers, or taking cocaine.
Tips for Recognizing Compulsive Gambling
To identify if gambling is compulsive, one must first identify if gambling behaviors are controlled. Whether a condition is called compulsive gambling or gambling addiction, identifying if someone’s gambling behaviors are dangerous may prove challenging.
Gambling addiction may be harder to detect than other addictions, but understanding the signs and symptoms may help you recognize if someone has a problem with gambling. An addiction specialist can diagnose compulsive gambling and help with getting the much-needed treatment.
Helping a person with gambling problems may seem difficult, particularly when the person who has the problem does not appear to recognize that his or her gambling is problematic. A person addicted to gambling might initially become a great revenue stream for the casino, but many eventually become indebted with large amounts that they cannot repay. Bailing out a problem player from their debts can actually make matters worse, by allowing their gambling problems to continue.
As much as you might want to, and as hard as it is to see the effects, you cannot force someone to stop gambling. The final way that spouses enable gambling is to become either directly or indirectly involved with the problem.
If You Love Them, then Punish Them for Their Bad Behavior
If you are covering up for your husband in these ways and others, you are just deflecting the natural consequences of his gambling, and implicitly giving the go-ahead to more destructive behaviors. Cover-ups may also take the form of rescues, like taking over your husband’s household duties and responsibilities or providing money for his gambling debts. On the indirect side, it is also possible to facilitate your husbands addiction by simply taking gaming-related telephone messages or otherwise making it easier for him to gamble.
Furthermore, an addicted spouse’s lack of interest in anything but gaming will compound this diminishing closeness over time. A gambling addict’s spouse can suffer from a traumatic condition, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which may arise from exposure to domestic violence or emotional abuse. When the patient uses one form of gambling in an effort to finance a second, like a sports betting player trying to make money for playing cards, there is a widespread belief that his or her gambling behaviour has developed to problematic or pathological levels.
Environmental factors and personality traits–a large gambling winning in the last year, companions who gamble regularly, impulsivity, and depression–can also promote the development of gambling problems. Just as people addicted to alcohol can experience negative symptoms after abstaining from drinking for some time, so too can problematic withdrawal from gambling — some symptoms of which may include headaches, insomnia, and even anxiety.