What does gambling addiction feel like?

Interesting question & probably very different for everyone! For me, the long term pull was greed...The thought of easy money dragging me back time & time again, despite knowing the likely outcome was going to be the complete opposite to what I hoped to achieve not to mention the personal anguish/disappointment caused by my lack of control!

This is not the general consensus however & reading posts will give you some answers to this!

day@atime posts a lot of educated information about this addiction & duncanmac's recovery diary is first hand experience of a long & successful battle against it!

Good luck with your research & don't ever let yourself be drawn into it!

it feels like c**P!!. it starts with a brilliant feeling of a win and easy money. that first "hit" has us hooked. we are commonly miserable in other aspects of our life and your right, that gambling offers escapism. after that first rush we go back for more. wanting that feeling of a win again and as odaat says it is also greed. much like a crack addict will never beat that first feeling of their first drug, gamblers dont either. we chase that feeling of winning which ends in more losses. it gets us in so much debt with no access to credit that we see no other option but to continue to gamble and chase what we have lost or a at least try and win enough to survive. we end up where our brains dont know how to say no to a gamble. we simply cant stop. we are addicted. yet we despise ourselves for it and reach a point like me where we want to stop x

it feels like a drug high to me,the build up and excitement before the first bet,the possibility of that big win that'll turn it all around,its not really greed for me i play for the feelings i get not the money as i know i can't ever win i spend a lot of my time depressed i have serious ups and downs but when im betting i am constantly on the knife edge of success and failure i walk that tightrope of winning big or losing it all and that nervous energy and anxiety can be released in a rush when that last goal goes in to finish the accumulator giving me a lift and making me feel great,its a little stupid really because to prolong those feelings i continue to gamble until its all gone,every time. i do this repeatedly and never seem to learn, as any gambler knows the odds are stacked against you,if you play for ever you always lose its why there is a zero on a roulette table that slight edge in the bookies favour means you cant win if you contiue to play.