Is compulsive gambling an illness

Its clear DaveUK that you are on here with the best intentions

You are trying to help people who have been in a similar position as yourself and that's to be admired

Its very hard to explain Compulsive gambling illness to someone who doesn't have it. Same as I may struggle to understand alcoholism.

I hope we all keep well and get better in time

There is certainly lots of help out in here and in the wider world.

Thanks for your honesty DaveUK

Triangle

Doesn't matter what it is, its a vice, its an escape from reality, a subsitute for something missing in our lives, its a highly addictive drug, its not the money its just the warm feeling we get or got from occasionally winning.

I like that Richy - like most things that are bad or potentially bad for us they are attractive and that's why the urges and desires never really go away.

However like most things bad for us they end in misery so we have to say no and choose the right path. Can be difficult but the ending is much better for us.

Good post.

Dave

Like many mental health disorders there are tabboos in society over it and many people still judge a sufferer negatively despite claiming not to. How many alcoholics admit to it at first, probably very few until it becomes public knowledge by getting caught drink driving or drunk at work or similar? Same with depression, if sufferers are in a good spell they are more unlikely to tell people they have it but next day they could hit rock bottom and need to reach out for help. CG tends to be kept under wraps by each of us far more than other problems, on outside we carry on as normal while it and the consequences eat away at us.

I wouldn't class it a direct illness but a means to trigger many psychological and emotional effects that make us all feel so bad and post on here for help, support etc.

Dave your to the point attitude is ok, from my perspective, my only problem with it is I'm jealous of the straightforward success route for you. I share and agree with all your points and for most of the time also channel the anger at wasting the time and money but when the demons take over and I slip,when winning I do say I have a problem, shouldn't be doing this and want to stop but I don't think there's a single CG who can successfully do it as how can anyone in life turn round after getting more money than they previously had (often in quick time for doing relatively little). It's why total abstinence is the only way to keep it at bay.

In that respect it's very similar to drugs. Many addicts in recovery know it's ruined their lives, want to stop and keep the routes to temptation away but when they slip and have a hit they still know it's bad they've caved in but while effects of the drug are working their outward emotions are buoyant. Gambling does exactly the same.

I messed up yesterday but reading this today has given me renewed incentives to get back on track.

M.E.

I think it's a chicken v. egg situation. Do we gamble because we are anxious/depressed and suffering from a mental illness, or are we suffering from anxiety/depression mental illness BECAUSE we gamble?

I'm not qualified to speak on the truth. But it's an inconvenient truth that as a species a lot of us drink/gamble/drug because it's FUN and feels good.

George Bernard Shaw said 'Humans can only deal with reality in small doses, and most of us lead lives of quiet desperation'.

Going online to bet, or a night out in the casino, or a snort/hit/smoke, shot of whiskey is a release from the grinding mundainity of our lives. Fair enough - it works well enough for millions in UK.

But there are some of us who can't just keep it real and bet/drink/smoke in a 'healthy' fashion. When it comes to gambling on roulette I'm certainly one of them. I don't understand, and I don't have the money for expensive therapy to understand it either. So I just don't do it anymore. I still get urges, but they diminish with each month of abstaining.

It's true that the way society is these days everyone is looking for a label or excuse to blame for their sh*te lives or lack of self-control when it comes to releasing the pressure, It bugs the c**P out of me personally.

BUT, sometimes people just don't have the willpower to stop their addiction. These people should be privately pitied but publicly helped. Compassion for those weaker than us is surely one of the greatest things we can learn in life? I'm trying, and most times fail, to be compassionate.

Molehole

What a great topic 🙂

I believe it takes a CG to understand a CG.

I have the upmost respect for other CG who are winning the battle and refraining from placing a bet. (JamesP comes to mind)

I've battled this addiction the last 10 yrs. I ask myself... Why do I enjoy doing that thing that hurts me the most? Why do I enjoy risking it all on the spin of a wheel or the turn of a card? I will always lose control and gamble recklessly with no fear of my actions until my last dollar is gone.

I know I have an illness and accept I can't cure it on my own. I need the right barriers in place along with a support group.

Best wishes to you all x

Very interesting topic/debate that i think deseves being bumped up for new users to read.

Just reading back through some old posts as I am a newbie.

I don't think CG is an illness. I feel personally like a sort of "temporary madness" took over me BUT I was still in control of myself, I could have stopped and I chose to keep making those deposits. So I am 100% to blame.

Having said that I think that it is irresponsible of online casinos etc to a) accept multiple deposits in a very short time frame, b) allow you to cancel withdrawals so easily and c) to bombard you with offers and bonuses, even when you are self-excluded!

So while I accept I made the decisions to deposit and I lost the money through my own actions, I think the set up of the gambling industry makes it far too easy and in fact encourages people to lose large amounts of money.

Of course it's not an illness in the true sense of the word, nor is it a disease. These are comfortable labels so we can excuse our behaviour. But that doesn't mean it's any less real or damaging to those of us who can't control our actions. I gambled because I enjoyed how it made me feel when I won. Hated how it felt when I lost and usually came on here to moan about it, but when I won, you wouldn't see me posting here? Hmmm strange temporary illness?!!

Personally, I could bet all day on sports if I cared enough. The most I ever do is a £20 footie accumulator which I 99/100 lose. But it gives me a little buzz to sit in the pub with mates and watch the match. All sociable and "normal". HOWEVER... Give me a bottle of wine alone in my apartment with a laptop and a roulette wheel then BAM!!!! All my control, judgement, reason goes out the window and I've spent thousands, in all honesty probably tens of thousands.

Why?!

Is it because I'm suffering from an illness? If so, I'd like to get a pill or some vaporub to cure me!!!

Is it a mental illness? Maybe. But it's a very strange one if so. I don't like excuses, and labels even less. I think an uncomfortable truth is that I gamble because I'm a bored and greedy, lonely and miserable human being. The buzz I get from roulette when my number comes in is very similar to great s*x. But when I see an unbelievably beautiful woman on the street even though I feel a primeaval desire to ravish her, an uncontrollable compulsion to rape her in that moment like a caveman. Nope. Why not? Because I have self-control. And I reckon 99.9999% of compulsive gamblers would agree with that too! (thank god! 😉

So it's an excuse to say I'm a compulsive gambler it's an "illness", not my fault I can't control myself. Yes you CAN - you choose not to.

Molehole.

I'm on the side of it not being an illness to be honest. We all could have chosen to stop long before we did, we just chose not to by borrowing more and chasing ever increasing losses.

An odd sensation I used to get was a sense of overwhelming relief once I'd blown all my money and maxed out my credit cards for the month. I knew then that as I had no money left at all I couldn't waste anything else until the next payday and that made me feel very calm - but on that next payday I'd blow it all again then repeat again for a couple of decades.
I'd say it's a combination of self destruction, greed and idiocy as far as I was concerned.

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We have all heard about or know people who have had cancer. Some unfortunately, very early on in their lives. Through no fault of their own they contracted this disease. Their genes were wired differently to a so-called average person. They were predisposed to this disease.

I believe that our CG brains react differently to the gambling stymulis. That we are predisposed to this addiction, or a similar one that affects the part of the brain that is stimulated. Win or lose, I would always get a buzz.

So, for us the rule is...I must not have that 1st bet. I can do everything else, and live a relatively happy life.

Best wishes