Addiction Is Addiction
Take it from Duane, a member of the recovery community:
“If you have an addictive personality, gambling is just like doing drugs. I’d go to a Keno hall or a casino and say to myself, ‘I’ll just try out for $40,’ but then spend all I had in my pocket, and then take out my credit card and drop another $500. And honestly, I can’t even say that you can go out and gamble and not end up hooked on drugs again. You’re doing the same thing and getting the same results, every time. I knew that that would destroy my life. That’s when I got help for the gambling, and things got a lot better.”
Substances and Gambling: Related Risks
If you or a loved one ever had a problem with drugs or alcohol, gambling may be the same problem waiting to happen. Like substance misuse, gambling can:
- Make you feel depressed, angry or desperate
- Hurt your family
- Get you in legal trouble and set you and your loved ones back financially
- Lead to the loss of your job or your home
That’s why it’s important to understand the risk and recognize the signs of problem gambling—and find the help available to you.
You’re Not Alone
Don’t take a chance on gambling. Reaching out for help is a big step, and we encourage you to seek support for yourself or your loved ones as soon as possible.
Answer these questions to see if you or a loved one may have a gambling problem.
Have you or a loved one ever....
- Felt that you needed to gamble with increasing amounts of money in order to achieve the desired excitement?
- Felt restless or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop gambling?
- Made repeated unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop gambling?
- Often felt preoccupied with gambling (e.g., having persistent thoughts of reliving past gambling experiences, handicapping or planning the next venture, thinking of ways to get money with which to gamble)?
- Gambled often when feeling distressed (e.g., helpless, guilty, anxious, depressed)?
- After losing money gambling, returned another day to get even (“chasing” one’s losses)?
- Lied frequently to conceal the extent of involvement with gambling?
- Jeopardized or lost a significant relationship, job, or educational or career opportunity because of gambling?
- Had to rely on others to provide money to relieve desperate financial situations caused by gambling?
If you answered “yes” to one or more questions, then you should consider taking a closer look at your gambling and reaching out for help.
Talk to a Loved One About Problem Gambling
If someone you love has a history of substance misuse, they are particularly vulnerable to problem gambling. That’s why you might want to talk to them about how dangerous gambling can be to their recovery – and how quickly addiction can happen.
Use downtime, like driving in the car together or waiting at an appointment. Take advantage of everyday moments to start the conversation: a news story about gambling, a TV show, or something that happened in your community. You can ask, “What do you think about gambling?” to get started.
Simply talking to your loved ones can help them. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Emphasize the danger problem gambling poses to their recovery.
- Gambling can be just as addictive as drugs or alcohol.
- Gambling can hurt you and your family, just like drugs or alcohol.
- Remind them that you care
- Tell them: “I care about you and want you to be safe and healthy.”
- Make them feel as comfortable as possible about being honest with you
- Offset feelings of insecurity and doubt by offering a lot of positive comments
It could take a few conversations to have an impact, but you will make a difference.
Personal Stories About Problem Gambling
Stories from members of the recovery community. Their names have been changed, but their stories are real.
“Robert”
I never thought I had a gambling problem, I thought it was more of an enjoyment. But when you lose $15,000 on a single weekend in Vegas, you know there’s something wrong. That outdid when I was using heroin – that’s how bad I felt. You go in with your head up, you come out and your head’s down, and then you continue going back and taking chances. That’s a problem.
I am still in recovery from addiction. I go to meetings, and I also go to different schools and talk to kids about getting high, and how peer pressure and boredom can make you a victim – whether it’s gambling, whether it’s drugs. All that stuff has an impact on your life – I wish I’d listened to my mother a little more closely!
If I met someone at a Narcotics Anonymous meeting and they told me they’re going to a casino, I would tell them: be careful, because gambling is another form of addiction. I wouldn’t tell them “don’t do it,” because that sometimes makes people want to do it even more. But they need to know it’s another form of addiction. You’ve got to take care of yourself.
“Duane”
I’m a person in recovery. What that means is that I haven’t had the need to use a mind-altering substance since 2010. I did develop some severe problems gambling, though. That’s what they call a secondary addiction: when you deal with your drug problem, but get hooked on things that aren’t illegal, like drinking and gambling.
And let me tell you, gambling just took off with me. I’d go to a Keno hall or a casino, and I’d say to myself, “I’ll just try out $40,” but then I’d spend all that I had in my pocket, and then take out my credit card and drop another $500. I can remember what it was like to do drugs, and gambling was the same for me. I’m playing games, rushing, scratching, all discombobulated. I was just gone. I have a nice house now, a family, a good job, and I realized that gambling was like putting rock on the pipe and pulling it. And I knew that that would destroy my life. That’s when I got help for the gambling, and things got a lot better.
If someone in recovery asks me about gambling, I would tell them that when you have an addictive personality, it’s just like doing drugs. You’re getting in debt, maxing out your cards, doing the same thing and getting the same results, every time. And honestly, I can’t even say that you can go out and gamble and not end up hooked on drugs again. Because that the way it was for me –it all went together.
“Frank”
I came to Boston to go to school. When I went back to my hometown in California, I ended up living in the methamphetamine capital of the country at the time. My whole family was involved with meth. There was a casino there, too, and meth and gambling went hand in hand. We owned a piece of property, and because everyone was getting high and going to the casino, nobody was paying the mortgage. So we lost something that had been in my family for 50 years.
All along, I knew that drugs and gambling were tearing my family apart, but it wasn’t until it all came to a head that I did something about it. My son was killed, and I realized that it happened because the whole lifestyle – drugs, gambling, taking big risks, they’d become normal in our house. That’s when I knew that needed to change.
With the new casinos opening, all I have to say is: addiction is addiction. You can be as addicted to gambling as you are to drugs. And the thing is, even if you win, chances are you’ll use the money on drugs. So if you win, you lose.
“Walter”
I developed a drug addiction problem when I was living in North Carolina, but I was also playing cards and gambling, and I encountered a lot of difficult situations and hostility. By 2015 I was exhausted, living in an abandoned building, so I went to a church and asked for help. They gave me a bus ticket to come back to Boston. Today, I’m in recovery and life is acceptable and quite an adventure.
Gambling started for me like my drug addiction – progressively. I knew I had a problem for a while. Even after I ended up homeless, I would take whatever money I had and put it into a scratch ticket. I got very desperate and I was in a great deal of pain. I borrowed money and neglected the consequences of not paying it back. I got into fights, lost good friends, girlfriends. I didn’t realize it at first, but eventually I learned that gambling is just as aggressive, just as cunning as drugs. It gives you the same euphoria, the same high as drugs. And when you get started, it’s like potato chips: you can’t have just one.
If someone in recovery asks me about going to a casino, I would say that the answer is within them. Why do they want to go there? I’d tell them to be mindful that people like us, people in recovery, we’re easily distracted from our path. And I’d say to them: stay safe.