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Gambling addicts do not want to accept reality, they are immature, they run away to the world of dreams. They can lose a fortune by playing poker, roulette, or using "slot machines" - "slots". But compulsive gamblers are not only casino regulars, they are also those who obsessively play lottery tickets, audioteles or send contest text messages.
Anna claims thataddictiontogamblingis in her blood. Her grandfather let the family fortune on "ponies" - betting on races in Służewiec in Warsaw. One of the foreign cousins, whatever he earns, will soon pass in thecasino . Her illness started innocently. She was sitting with the child at home on a childcare leave and was trying to figure out how to improve the family's poor financial situation.
The innocent beginnings of a future gambling addiction
She once hit a TV channel with interactive competitions for viewers. - God, these questions are so simple. All you have to do is call, she thought. And she called. Once she even won a few hundred zlotys. And, as she now claims, she got hooked. - Then it got worse. Another win did not come. And the phone bills - astronomical amounts - came in every month. She hid them from her husband for half a year. Then it all came out. All their savings were paid off. "Kobito, are you totally crazy," her husband said pissed off. - If you want to play, it's a lottery game. At the beginning, Anna claimed that she would never do anything again, but not a week had passed, and she did go to the lottery office to bet. And not one coupon, but several at once. Then a dozen, or several dozen. Sometimes it played out, then it was negative again.
According to an expertBohdan T. Woronowicz, MD, PhD, psychiatrist, specialist in addiction therapyHe althy people find it fun to play, even if they really want to win. They usually set a certain limit on the amount of money they can lose in the game or set a time limit after which they quit the game, whether they win or lose. People who have a "gambler's streak", but at the same time have a greater sense of responsibility, choose safer substitutes for gambling, such as lottery tickets, audiotele contests or inexpensive lotteries. Very often, the motivation is the desire to improve your or your family's well-being. It even happens thatretirees who wanted to "only help their children and grandchildren" fall into gambling addiction. At one point, however, they lost control of their emotions, and all that really mattered was that thrill. Interestingly, compulsive gamblers will sometimes actually win large sums, but this only motivates them to intensify the game. Completely different motives are followed by people whose gaming has acquired the characteristics of pathological gambling. They are driven by the compulsion of "strong impressions".
The tension in the game is the driving force of gambling
She sold jewelry, took a loan from Providence. - When the situation got really bad and I didn't have any cash left, I started calling again - he says. Because the driving force behind pathological gambling is the need to experience the tension that arises during the game. Winning increases the feeling of power and pushes you to continue playing. Losing causes a decrease in self-respect and a reduction in the sense of control, and often the desire to regain losses, which in turn stimulate the search for psychological comfort in subsequent games. It is paradoxical that many gamblers are happier with losing than with winning, because losing forces them to play back and allows them to keep playing, and thus allow them to continue to experience tension. As a result, the player, regardless of his financial condition, is not able to stop the game, regardless of the consequences.
ProblemThe problem of gambling addiction is as old as the world. Julius Caesar and Mark Antony spent most of their free time playing dice or betting on cockfights. The writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky was a compulsive gamer. But scientists didn't really get into gambling seriously until the end of the 20th century. When Robert Custer presented a study in 1980 that showed a similarity between the love of gambling and alcoholism, many other scientists took it with a grain of s alt. It wasn't until 14 years later that the term "gambling addiction" found its way into medical lexicons.
Gambler Features
According to doctors and scientists, several characteristics of people addicted to gambling can be identified. First, the inability and unwillingness to accept reality. Hence the escape to the dream world, the world associated with gambling. This is often accompanied by emotional insecurity. The game gives them the illusory feeling that they are acting, they feel important, they are after all "quarterback". Gamblers also have immaturity in common: the desire to have the best of everything and live without any effort on their part. We can certainly talk about gambling addiction when it causes various kinds of gamblinglife problems, and the affected person, despite these problems, continues to play.
Where to go for helpAddiction Therapy Center at the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in Warsaw, tel./fax: (0-22) 651-93-18
Statistics of people addicted to gambling are increasing
The International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) in force since January 1998 elevates "pathological gambling" to the rank of a separate mental disorder, giving it a separate statistical number F 63.0 and defining it as prevails in human life to the detriment of social, professional, material and family values and obligations ”. The studies published so far show that the problem of pathological gambling affects, for example, in the United States about 2.5 to 3.5 million. adults and around 1.1 million teenagers. In Europe, gambling addiction is estimated at about 0.1-2.2 percent depending on the country and applicable regulations. In Poland, pathological gambling has not been a major social problem so far and, according to various studies, it was below 0.3%. Recently, however, this percentage has started to increase alarmingly. It is related to the emergence and greater availability of various forms of gambling. Addiction therapy specialists most often mention slot machines (the so-called slot machines), bingo, roulette, card games (poker, Black Jack), horse racing, and dog racing. Gambling has also appeared on the internet recently, where you can play with your credit card.