Is it only me thinking this or is the hole gambling thing just exploding right now?

Hi

Yes I have always said this problem has gone exponential because it has so obviously been massively deregulated 

The misery and confusion from new people on this site is only the tip of the iceberg. There does seem to be far more people desperately asking for help.

You mention billions in turnover so that's a clear indicator of the huge tax revenue the government make. They are not giving that up anytime soon which gets to the heart of the matter

It disgusts me but I don't really have the words anymore to describe this monumental scam that nobody is really protected from.

The banks are just starting to show interest in protecting themselves from claims of negligence. In my view they are currently shunning their professional responsibility to protect people. I like to think a day of reckoning will come but it seems the whole financial world from the government down are in on this and nobody is rocking the boat.

I See programmes about anti gambling lobbying.......relatives of gambling suicides and they seem to be getting very little or getting nowhere 

I have never seen any protection for gambling addiction on the High Street.....the advertising is plain misleading and the words used are just within the letter of the law if you squint hard enough and bend reality to suit

A message on a screen for 30 seconds or their little yellow boxes about fun stopping are pathetic in the face of this.....Worse still the gambling dens know that in my considered opinion.

I don't know what the next stage of this is. At what stage do they stop ignoring what a gambling addiction is and the tragedy it causes?

All I know is that I'm gamble free and trying to help others. If I can help some people it's great but the overall problem seems insurmountable unless big things change 

Best wishes to everyone on the forum

Well.

Cigarettes became somewhat regulated when the big companies got sued by cancer patients who blamed them. If some scientist can figure out that gambling is harmful or creates lasting damage (wich it does) then the gambling suppliers can be sued as well. Problem is that they have an army of legal teams working for them so no lawyer dares to challenge them in court.

Until that happens they will be business as usual I guess.

well yes cigarettes are another example of an extremely harmful vice but still on sale in huge quantities.

When you think about it you couldnt make it up..... inhaling smoke and carcinogens into the lungs for a nicotine fix which is then protected by those addicts to it...... ie leave our ciggys alone... Got to die of something etc etc..... government raking in the tax money

I know the medical profession has been looking at gambling and there are reports about its pschological effects. The gambling dens because I refuse to call it an "industry" must know how addictive it is and indeed thats the money making model they aim for

The cost of living crisis is going to push more people down the gambling path

I know its very harmful and you know its harmful but an army of lawyers will defend it by saying we are trying to take away old Joes fun.

As I said I dont see large steps being made to protect people..... perhaps its one small step at a time but I see a government who consider all of us as acceptable casualties

I suppose we have to take any regulation we can get.... the banks seem to be showing a slight interest in gambling transactions and some steps have been made with credit cards but mainly because they are worried about defaults

as I said it seems insurmountable and maybe i should get more involved with lobbying groups who know how dangerous it is

its got to be taken seriously with some sort of health warning and the truth about what they are pushing. Gambling is a drug addiction but I can see an army of lawyers telling me its not like substance abuse

anyway best wishes to everyone and keep gamble free

Hi

The addictions and obsessions were a form of me escaping how I felt with in myself.

The addictions and obsessions indicated that I was emotionally vulnerable.

In time I would understand that addictions and obsessions were just the symptoms that I could not heal my pains, I could not face my fears, I could not help myself from reacting in unhealthy ways to my frustrations, I could not cope with feeling lonely and isolated, and I could not help feeling bored and not productive.

Each time went back to my unhealthy habits I understood I was hurting myself even more.

In the recovery program I understood that I felt like the addictions controlled me, at least that is how it felt to me.

In the recovery program I understood that the recovery program could not stop me gambling, that had to be my daily choice.

In the recovery program I understood that the recovery program could not make me do some thing I did not want to do.

Yes once I started to stop being focused on the gambling and money lost I could focus more on what my needs were, what my wants were and what my goals were.

I stopped living in the past and got my a*s focused on today, 

I started to focus on my needs my wants and what my goals were.

By writing them down I was more focused on those healthy things in my daily life.

I started to give deeper therapies.

I could not articulate what my feelings and emotions were in healthy ways.

The pains of my past gave me fears I did not understand or that I could cope with.

I am a non religious person, yet I gained faith in recovery myself and my family.

In sharing in therapies I would identify myself in other people, both the healthy and unhealthy.

For me the the gambling addiction a very unhealthy habit and was a form of escape and self destruction.

Today understand the adrenaline highs were not happiness, but were fear based issues.

Today I am honest and accountable to myself, I am moving away from some very unhealthy habits.

I am 29 years clean of gambling, I am over 20 years clean of smoking,  I am over 20 years clean of drinking tea or coffee, and I am clean of getting drunk.

But more importantly I am s till healing the hurt inner child in me and my fears are at an all time low compared with most of my life.

I am able to set healthy boundaries today.

I am able to live for today only.

I am able to learn from my unhealthy habits and have healthy habits today.

Love and peace to every one.

Dave L

AKA Dave Of Beckenham UK

It is interesting to get the feedback and thank you for that. I do not believe that things can stay static in the industry for ever. There is only a limited time for them before some reality comes back to hit them. They have managed to polarise society with all their money. Most people can not understand the addiction and the industries constant programing by advertising keeps the murkier side at bay. 

We know that for any individual changes to come you as a human have created a new neural pathway that forms you to think differently about an earlier problem. This creation of neural pathways is very difficult to create just like that. It is a completely new state of mind that has to be formed in the person to create a new way of thinking. So changing your state has been created up to now either by trauma, therapy, hypnosis, will power and profound loss. I think we will at some stage have some type of new technology developed that can create that change much faster. We are easily addicted and if industry as a whole needs us to buy new developed goods and services that are superior to older goods and services they will need easy ways making us think differently about them. Creating new neural pathways will solve that problem fast so at some stage in my life time we will see such a device/s. Ethical or not that could solve all problem gambling overnight.

Thank you for reading.

There is another way to look at it though - gambling as a problem has never been more highlighted than it is currently. That is surely a good change.

When I first gambled back in the 80's and for many years after there was not even recognition as gambling being a possible problem. It was all just 'choice'. 

I'd be wary about comparing to smoking though - that is obviously harmful to everyone, and every time they smoke. I don't think that could be argued for gambling, even if we wanted to.

1300 smokers die every day in the US. 

1920 die every day around the world from gambling.

They are both dangerous and addictive. The worst part of it is that the smoking got lifted in the public eye back in the 70s.

Gambling has had a much longer road. But you are right we should be thankful people are looking a bit differently at it. We should be hopeful for some advertising regulation on it in the next 5 to 10 years.

Best

C

Posted by: @c43h

1300 smokers die every day in the US. 

1920 die every day around the world from gambling.

They are both dangerous and addictive. The worst part of it is that the smoking got lifted in the public eye back in the 70s.

Gambling has had a much longer road. But you are right we should be thankful people are looking a bit differently at it. We should be hopeful for some advertising regulation on it in the next 5 to 10 years.

 

Best

C

 

 

Dangerous for some yes, but arguing gambling is harmful for all will never be accepted because it basically isn't true. Many people gamble perfectly safely.

And many people smoke until they are very old without it killing them but that is still considered dangerous. I am not saying ban it. I want it to be more understood because IF we can understand addiction better we will find a better and faster way of changing it. That goes for all addictions.  We are well on the way. I have seen a lot of the science on understanding our behaviour better. A couple of more years and we should see some change that will benefit us all.

Have a good weekend!

@c43h For sure, we're moving towards much better protection from gambling for younger people these days. I wish I'd been protected when I was younger.

The advertising is a problem, and still needs reducing for gambling.

@johnmac 

Hi

Understanding how vulnerable we were are are now we understand we can protect our self today.

By protecting our self today we start to heal from the pains of the past.

The advertising is just a business it is not personal.

You can make healthier choices today for your self.

Love and peace to every one.

Dave L

AKA Dave Of Beckenham UK

Hi

We start to understand how many unhealthy habits we have today.

We take every unhealthy habit and change it in to healthy habits today. 

By doing this is an expression of how much we value our self today.

Love and peace to every one.

Dave L

AKA Dave Of Beckenham UK

Hi

Every time I smoked indicated how little I respected myself.

By giving up all unhealthy habits shows that I respect myself.

Love and peace to every one.

Dave L

AKA Dave Of Beckenham UK

To the admin of the site:

Gambling Industry Arrangements for Funding Research, Education and Treatment (RET) to Minimise Gambling Harm in the UK

All gambling businesses licensed by the UK Gambling Commission are required to contribute towards Research, Education and Treatment (RET) to minimise gambling harms as a condition of their licence to operate gambling activities.

The amount a gambling operator must contribute is not specified, but is typically between 0.1% and 1% of Gross Gaming Yield (GGY) – i.e. what their business makes from gambling activities each year. The majority of RET activities across Great Britain are therefore funded either directly or indirectly via the gambling industry.

Many operators choose to donate their contributions to GambleAware, and they use these funds to commission Research, Prevention and Treatment (previously Research, Education and Treatment, or ‘RET’). Others choose alternative approaches, such as direct donations to organisations seen to be delivering activities to minimise gambling harms. All recipients of this funding are required to be on an approved provider list published by the Gambling Commission, and GamCare is pleased to be on this list.

so my post was correct and deleted ? gambling companies support your efforts.