- 10 Signs Of Gambling Addiction
- Signs And Symptoms Of A Gambling Addiction
- Consequences Of Gambling Addiction
If you think you or your loved one may be suffering from a gambling addiction, call to talk about the signs of a gambling addiction and your individual situation. Emotional Symptoms of Excessive Gambling. Excessive gambling often causes a multitude of emotional symptoms, including anxiety, depression, and even suicidal thoughts and tendencies. In extreme situations, these thoughts may lead a gambler to.
Did you know that gambling addiction symptoms are terrifyingly like those experienced by people addicted to hard drugs like cocaine or heroin?
- The Controversy of Gambling Addiction. Like other behavioral addictions, gambling addiction is a controversial idea. Many experts balk at the idea that gambling can constitute an addiction, believing that there has to be a psychoactive substance that produces symptoms, such as physical tolerance and withdrawal, for an activity to be a true.
- What is gambling addiction? For the most part, gambling in moderation is a socially acceptable behavior. Gambling addiction is another story. If left untreated, a gambling addiction can negatively.
- Symptoms of Gambling Addiction Like all addictions, gambling addiction happens on a continuum. Its signature characteristics are similar to substance addiction, too: increasing preoccupation with the “drug” of choice, experiencing an emotional response to gambling and behavior that has a detrimental impact on finances, job and/or relationships.
This is because the same centers of the brain – the pleasure centers – are activated, no matter what the addiction source may be.
These frightening symptoms include a medley of items from mood swings to compulsive lying, sociopathy to illegal pursuits.
The symptoms of an addiction to gambling are terrifying and have the potential to slowly encompass every part of your life, and they do so by getting rid of anything not related to gambling.
Every other thing – including work, school, friends, hobbies, personal hygiene, and family – become unimportant as your very body itself turns against you, forcing the addicted person to seek out their next high as priority above all else.
Contents
1. Gambling addiction leads to mood swings
One of the most noticeable gambling addiction symptoms are the mood swings.
These happen for two reasons.
The first (and perhaps most obvious) is that people with addictions experience withdrawal symptoms when they are forced to go too long without fulfilling whatever gives them their high.
Mood swings are one of the most common withdrawal symptoms, often occurring simultaneously with shaking, itching, and panic attacks.
The second reason an individual with a gambling addiction may experience mood swings is that they are on an emotional roller coaster.
Gambling brings an adrenaline rush that sends players sky high.
When the rush is over, however, the adrenaline leaves their bodies and they experience a very hard let down that has them seeking to bring themselves up once more.
2. Gambling addiction affects daily interactions and general modus operandi
When a person experiences an addiction to gambling their daily lives are typically affected in noticeable ways.
They may start to avoid interactions they would previously have sought out.
They will avoid dating, friends, lifelong hobbies, overtime at work, or anything that may take away from time which could be spent gambling.
At work or school, they may stop playful banter or casual conversations they would normally have engaged in, instead appearing withdrawn or lost in their own thoughts.
This is due to the fact their thoughts are focused solely on when they will next be able to get their high, which does not leave much room for concentration on anything else.
Read more about gambling addiction: gambling addiction signs, gambling addiction causes, gambling addiction risks, gambling addiction treatment, and gambling addiction effects.
3. Gambling addiction leaves one very single minded
An addicted mind is a one-track mind.
It is a mind focused exclusively on when it will be able to experience the adrenaline rush of gambling once more.
This leaves no room for other thoughts, which can cause significant issues in a person’s life.
Notable events like birthdays, anniversaries, or even work project’s due dates are forgotten.
Eventually an addicted individual will be unable to remember the day of the week or even what month it is.
One day runs directly into another one in a whirlwind of late nights spent gambling and mornings spent recovering from them.
4. Gambling addiction limits healthy social interactions
Social interactions have been psychologically proven to be beneficial for not only our mental health, but our physical health as well.
How old to gamble in a casino. Multiple studies have shown that people who spend time with their friends at least once a week are both happier and live longer.
Gambling, unfortunately, limits the amount of these healthy social interactions you can have.
Without them, people may end up being anxious, depressed, suicidal, sick more often due to a lowered immune system, generally more stressed out, and overall less healthy than prior to their addiction when they made time for their personal relationships.
5. Gambling addiction encourages criminal behaviors
10 Signs Of Gambling Addiction
A gambling addiction can cost a LOT of money.
When a person’s money runs out, they often turn to their friends, family members, neighbors, or even coworkers for the money which gambling requires.
Eventually, however, nobody is willing to lend anymore money because those debts almost always go unpaid – because paying them back would take away from the funds you could potentially use for gambling.
Once all other outlets are no longer available, many individuals will turn towards illegal activities to fund their addiction.
Once faced with the possibility of being unable to gamble, addicted persons will panic and become willing to do anything which funds their obsession.
Common illegal activities which may be engaged in might include: becoming involved with a criminal organization, stealing, dealing drugs, robbing people or vehicles, stripping, or prostitution.
6. Gambling addiction breaks relationships
With room for nothing else in your life besides gambling, your relationship soon starts to crumble away.
Your partner, no matter how devoted, can only take so much before they reach their breaking point and leave.
Your partner needs at least a little bit of your time and effort to stay happy within the relationship.
The compulsive lying, angry outbursts, and more which appear as gambling addiction symptoms may quickly prove to be too much for even the strongest relationships to withstand.
Although we speak primarily of intimate relationships, know that gambling addiction has the potential to break relationships of any caliber.
It has the potential to destroy your relationship with friends, parents, siblings, children, and anyone else whom you have a connection with.
7. Gambling addiction turns people into thieves
A person with a gambling addiction may soon find they have sticky fingers.
They may develop a tendency to pocket valuable items they find around people’s homes when they visit so they can pawn it off for more money to fuel their addiction.
They may even be so desperate to get that next adrenaline rush that they rob stores or begin breaking into vehicles left unattended in parking lots of driveways.
Desperation can turn a good person with strong morals into a thief as they continue farther down into the depths of gambling addiction.
Eventually people will no longer allow the obsessed individual into their homes for fear of more items coming up ‘missing’.
8. Gambling addiction leads to severe depression
The reason gambling is so addictive is that it causes an adrenaline rush.
This rush is huge when you win, but even occurs to a smaller degree while waiting for the roulette wheel to spin or that last poker card to be flipped over.
It can be exhilarating to watch as the horse or dog you chose to win slowly inches their way to the front of the group.
Unfortunately, what goes up must always come down.
Individuals with a gambling addiction come down hard when the adrenaline leaves their bodies, or their bets turn out to be losses.
Months of these extreme highs and lows can lead to severe depression, where a person feels sad, empty, and worn down after each long night spent gambling.
If allowed to become bad enough, depression can even lead to thoughts of suicide.
9. Gambling addiction makes people into compulsive liars
People with addictions are not able to think properly, and they will go to great lengths to ensure they are able to make it to their next gambling session.
One gambling addiction symptom that proves this is the way people slowly begin to turn into compulsive liars.
It starts with a little white lie about where your final $20 went.
Then you begin to lie about where you’ve been all night, because you don’t want anyone to know that you were once again out gambling.
Then you lie about paying back funds borrowed, or the illegal activities used to fuel your addiction.
Eventually, the lying becomes a habit and you lie about things where it is unnecessary.
10. Gambling addiction goes hand in hand with alcohol and drug abuse
An addictive personality means that someone is more prone to become addicted to something than other people.
Most individuals with an addiction of any form (including gambling) have these addictive personalities, and it puts them at serious risk for developing yet more addictions.
Gambling, for example, goes hand in hand with both alcohol and drug abuse.
With clouded judgement you begin drinking while sitting at the slot machines, and after months of doing this you find that alcohol is now something your body says it needs.
Your new friends all start doing drugs one night, and you join in.
It becomes a ritual to snort cocaine before each night’s adventures because it makes you awake.
It takes no time to form this new addiction.
11. Gambling addiction leads to illusions of grandeur
The thrill of gambling, even for casual users not addicted, is the win.
When a person wins they feel special.
They feel on top of the world, and seemingly nothing can bring them down.
The average person knows those wins are few and far between.
The addicted person will believe these wins will come far more often than they do.
They will have illusions of grandeur where they win the big jackpot and are able to afford all of life’s luxuries.
They will pay for a new million-dollar home and brand-new, shiny sports car with their winnings.
For the addicted personality, tonight is always the night they will win huge, no matter how many nights they have meandered their way home penniless instead.
12. Gambling addiction creates symptoms similar to sociopathy
A sociopath is defined as person who is prone to a lack of consciousness, while also exhibiting behaviors that are incredibly antisocial.
These sociopathic behaviors are prominent in individuals suffering from gambling addiction.
The addicted person will begin to stop any relationships or social encounters that do not directly relate to their gambling.
![Symptoms Of A Gambling Addiction Symptoms Of A Gambling Addiction](https://betenemy.com/wp-content/uploads/symptoms-gambling-addiction.png)
Socializations are limited to those people with whom they gamble.
At the same time, they will be unable to feel concern for others, including those that they lie to or steal from.
This occurs because the gambling takes over their mindset, not allowing them to think anything is worthwhile except their addiction.
They fail to realize how their actions will affect those around them.
13. Gambling addiction impacts the emotive centers of the brain (the parts that process and make sense of emotions)
This gambling addiction symptom has to do with the fact that your brain is chemically altered and rewired due to the addiction.
It prioritizes anything to do with gambling as more important than others, and eventually this leads to it being the only important thing in your life.
The emotive centers of the brain will only have capabilities of being activated when what you are doing is gambling.
Only this will bring about joy, excitement, or fulfillment.
Simultaneously, you will react needlessly with anger, resentment, or sadness when in situations not pertaining to gambling or when someone worried about your situation suggests you get help.
14. Gambling addiction leads to permanent neurological conditioning (the brain functions normally only when gambling)
In the previous item we talked about how your brain becomes wired differently or chemically altered when addicted to gambling.
This results in a permanent shift in the way your brain operates.
This is the reason behind the adage “once an addict, always an addict“.
Although recovery is always possible with determination and vast amounts of effort, you may feel small inklings of desires to gamble even ten years in the future.
Recovery, therefore, focuses on teaching you how to deal with these desires in a way that doesn’t feed them.
Signs And Symptoms Of A Gambling Addiction
15. Gambling addiction leads to antisocial behavior
With gambling addiction encompassing your entire life there doesn’t leave much room for anything else.
A person with this problem will soon begin developing antisocial behaviors where they avoid the people and places they once enjoyed in lieu of time at the casino or race track.
They will bail on their weekly night out with friends or cancel plans for date night with their significant other.
They will miss family get-togethers and leave their children’s games or recitals early.
Farther into the addiction they will begin to avoid people who they owe money, no matter how important those individuals were to them prior to the beginning of their addiction.
Last updated: 10/25/2018
Author: Addictions.com Medical Review
Author: Addictions.com Medical Review
Reading Time: 4minutes
Compulsive gambling is often referred to as a “silent killer” simply because an addiction to gambling does not always readily stand out. The signs of gambling addiction are often overlooked as something else such as a desire to play games, an urge to win money or anything but a compulsive disorder that is out of control. Often times, the desire to gamble is so strong and the addiction is so serious that severe personal and social consequences, even death, can result.
It may be difficult to recognize the signs of gambling addiction for one reason or another. According to the US National Library of Medicine, chronic gamblers often lead seemingly normal lives but in the background, there is a serious problem at hand. Eventually, the addiction will cause destructive outcomes and there will be no mistaking the signs of gambling addiction; at that point, the biggest concern will be where to find help.
1. Obsession with Gambling
Stealing in order to gamble is a sign of addiction.
One of the most common signs of gambling addiction is the obsession that comes with it. Gambling addicts are obsessed with gambling and may be preoccupied with gambling to a point in which they don’t care about anything else. Compulsive thoughts about gambling or gambling obsessively to a point in which it causes other problems in your life are just a few of the common signs of gambling addiction.
2. Unable to Stop Gambling
Have you tried to quit gambling, made an honest commitment to quit and failed? If you are unable to stop gambling despite your desire to do so, you could be a gambling addict. The inability to quit even when you want to is one of many signs of gambling addiction that most addicts tend to immediately overlook or write off as something else.
3. Gambling Despite Consequences
Has gambling caused problems in your life such as financial difficulties, loss of a job or relationship problems? Many addicts and their loved ones tend to overlook even the most prominent signs of gambling addiction such as those which are present when excessive gambling is causing consequences in life and yet the individual continues to gamble anyway.
4. Psychological Withdrawal when NOT Gambling
Sometimes, the signs of gambling addiction are very similar to the signs of other addictions such as a drug or alcohol addiction. Psychologically, when a gambling addict is not gambling, he or she may be irritable, depressed or restless. These are all signs of emotional withdrawal which results when an addict is obsessed with gambling and has a perceived “need” to gamble in order to be happy.
5. Gambling to Improve Happiness
Do you or does someone you know seemingly gamble in order to be happy or have fun? If gambling is a necessary component of your happiness or elevated mood, there’s a good chance that gambling addiction is to blame. This is one of many commonly overlooked signs of gambling addiction that both addicts and those who are close to them tend to mistake for some other problem. Gambling to mask problems, feel happy or otherwise improve your emotions is a sure sign that there is a bigger problem at hand.
6. Stealing or Otherwise Breaking the Law to Gamble
An addict will often break the law in order to have the money that they need to gamble or to recover their losses. Stealing, committing fraud or otherwise breaking the law to fuel the habit are all signs of gambling addiction that should not be overlooked and which could lead to greater consequences including jail time or probation.
7. Denying that there is a Problem
Denial is a common sign of addiction and to state that there is not a problem when there really is happens to be common ground amongst addicts. If you suspect that a loved one has a gambling problem and you have hard evidence to back it up yet he or she continues to deny the problem, it could be time to seek professional help.
8. Financial Problems
Consequences Of Gambling Addiction
![Causes Causes](https://addictionresource.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Everything-You-Should-Know-About-Gambling-Addiction-968_.jpg)
One of the most prevalent signs of gambling addiction is financial problems that result from the compulsive gambling disorder. A friend may all off a sudden have problems with his or her personal finances or they may ask to borrow money often. Compulsive gamblers depend on others to provide them with money either to gamble or to pay expenses because they lost their money gambling.
9. Mood Swings
Compulsive gambling, especially when the gambling takes place as part of a double life in which friends and family are unaware, can lead to excessive mood swings. Mood swings are often overlooked or mistaken for upset that is not the result of the addiction but most often, mood swings are one of the signs of gambling addiction that should be spotted early on.
10. Hiding Gambling Behavior
As compulsive gambling progresses, and the addict comes under scrutiny from his or her friends or family members, it is not uncommon for the addict to begin hiding gambling behaviors. Hiding the behavior is one of the more common signs of gambling addiction and also one that’s really hard for outsiders to spot because they don’t know what’s going on—but for the addict, recognizing that it’s wrong to hide behaviors from loved ones is a step in the right direction when it comes to finding help for a compulsive gambling disorder.