How Does Gambling Addiction Affect the Family?

Families of Those With A Gambling Addiction

When a family member has a gambling addiction it can effect the entire family unit negatively. The family member with the gambling problem creates tremendous tension within the family unit that can effect all members of the family in a variety of ways.

Children of those with a gambling addiction tend to suffer the most. In severe cases, children of those with a gambling problem are brought to the casino and are waiting on the sidelines for hours while their parents are in the casino gambling. In more extreme cases, many children are left in the car while their parents are in the casino throwing out all of their hard-earned money.

Studies have also shown that the family member with the gambling problem can also become extremely verbally, physically, and emotionally abusive due to the stress of the addiction. This can be devastating to young children and adolescents as they are trying to succeed academically and socially.

The financial ramifications for families can also be devastating as well. Money that is supposed to be used for food, gas, shelter, medical bills, and other necessities becomes unavailable as it is squandered away by the gamblers. Debt piles up very fast, and the financial future of the family becomes severely threatened.

Many families who file for bankruptcy have been the result of having a compulsive gambler in the household gambling away all of their savings and credit. It is a tragic state of affairs that leads to homelessness, despair, and worse of all suicide.

If you have a loved one who is in the grip of this horrible addiction, intervention is imperative. The first thing you can do is reach out for help. I put some resources below that can help you get started so you can help your family get on the road to recovery.

Gam-Anon: gam-anon.org

1-877-727-5050

Gamblers Anonymous: gamblersanonymous.org

1-877-727-5050

National Council on Compulsive Gambling: ncpgambling.org

1-800-422-5700

Michelle Tee is a self-help coach and author on the subject of gambling addiction . If you are looking to stop gambling and have not had success in the past, visit her site today.

Please Help My Husband, Wife, Partner, Spouse, or Other Family Member to Stop Gambling

It doesn't matter whether you are the husband, wife, partner, spouse or other family member of a compulsive gambler. It's your goal to help your loved one beat their compulsive gambling addiction.

People all over the world have tried to stop their loved ones from their gambling addiction over and over with very little results. They have tried everything even threatening to walk out or even kick them out, if they did not stop. Usually these ultimatums caused their compulsive gambler to stop gambling for approximately two weeks. At this point in time the compulsive gamblers mind stands still until they gamble again. As each hour passes their subconscious finally takes over and they are gambling again. This time they become even more secretive and gamble even more money then usual. They believe this is going to be their last time gambling and they need that big win to pay off their debts. More and more money is lost and this situation causes their addiction to go into overload.

Unfortunately I have seen more gamblers ready to get help when they ran out of resources and had no where to turn. They finally hit bottom and were then ready to stop their self destructive behavior. The website I Stopped Gambling So Can You, http://www.istoppedgambling.com/,

hope's to reach the family members of gamblers and the compulsive gambler in the early stages of their addiction. I have met and chatted with people all over the world who knew at least one year or more that their family member had a problem gambling. They did not know how bad, what to do and had no where to turn. They felt trapped in a bad situation where they could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. Every time the family member mentioned the word addiction to their loved one small argument would break out and each person involved needed a cooling off period.

Family members now realize that there are resources out there to help their loved one. Some compulsive gamblers might enjoy Gamblers Anonymous and others might prefer a more private situation to recover from their gambling addiction. I believe it's up to the compulsive gambler's preferences which programs out there would be better.

I have also found that people were not ready to stop gambling because they were ashamed of the amount of money they lost. It's important for the family member to listen. You still have a right to speak your mind or to be you. Just understand that the compulsive gambler's self esteem is extremely low. If it's your goal to go forward and help the compulsive gambler, then you need to listen, find the appropriate stop gambling recovery program and take one day at a time

I have found once the compulsive gambler tells their family the truth, recovery accelerates and the person you grew to love is ready to move forward and finally stop their addiction. More information is available at the website I Stopped Gambling So Can You

http://www.istoppedgambling.com/

Mr. Howard Keith has an extensive background in dealing with compulsive gamblers, relatives and friends of gamblers and teenage gamblers. Mr. Keith believes there are many alternatives to aid in the recovery of a gambling addiction verses a twelve step program. A large percentage of his emails were from compulsive gamblers looking for an alternative to Gamblers Anonymous and twelve step programs. Gamblers Anonymous also helps a significant number of people each year but there is a large percentage that does not stay. These are the people Mr. Keith is hoping to reach.

Helpful Stop Gambling Links & Information For The Compulsive Gambler, Family & Friends Of A Gambler

Over the past few years stop gambling websites have helped thousands of people whose lives were negatively affected by a compulsive gambling addiction.

These stop gambling websites are available to help you in your quest to address compulsive gambling addiction. The problem you now face is deciding on which website will meet your needs. I have found sites that are free like gamblers anonymous up to sites that can cost you thousands of dollars.

It's important to review through each of these sites in order to educate themselves on gambling addiction and to decide which one is right for them.

There are websites for teenagers to seniors available to meet your needs. I found if you take what works for you from each of the sites, this may be the right formula for success.

Every person is a unique individual and what works for one may not work for another. Each stop gambling website has its own unique set of characteristic. For example Gamblers Anonymous recovery program uses a twelve step program while Help Stop Compulsive Gambling Addiction Now website does not.

The Help Stop Compulsive Gambling Addiction Now website uses more of a common sense approach through a self help manual and a private anonymous chat room.

The one thing they both have in common they are here to help those that have been negatively affected by gambling.

Gamblers Anonymous has been around since January of 1957 while Help Stop Compulsive Addiction Now was established May of 2004. They both have success stories with two very different concepts.

Help Stop Compulsive Addiction Now was established to help the compulsive gambler, friends of a gambler and relatives of a gambler to understand compulsive gambling addiction. They also have helpful stop gambling resources including self help manual and private anonymous chat room. The chat room is available twenty four hours a day seven days a week.

Gamblers Anonymous holds weekly meetings and follows a twelve step program. They help compulsive gamblers and their family members.

Gamblers Anonymous also has telephone support that helps people discuss their gambling addiction in the form of sponsors.

Once a compulsive gambler is ready to admit that they have a problem they are on the road to recovery. Next they need a program that gives them additional support. The support can be weekly meetings, internet chat rooms, one on one session with either a psychiatrist or psychologist, self help manuals and or family and friends. The choice is yours to make. It's up to you to decide which program is right for you. You may wind up checking out four different approaches to stop gambling. The bottom line is you need to have control back in your life. Once this is achieved you will have a brighter future with a lot to look forward to.

You can find links to Gamblers Anonymous, Help Stop Compulsive Gambling Aaddiction Now and other stop gambling websites at Stop Gambling Links.

Mr. Howard Keith has an extensive background in dealing with compulsive gamblers, relatives and friends of gamblers and teenage gamblers. Mr. Keith believes there are many alternatives to aid in the recovery of a gambling addiction verses a twelve step program. A large percentage of his emails were from compulsive gamblers looking for an alternative to Gamblers Anonymous and twelve step programs. Gamblers Anonymous continues to help a significant number of people each year but there is still a large percentage that they are unable to reach.

For more information on gambling addiction and stop gambling you can check out

Help Stop Compulsive Gambling Addiction Now http://www.istoppedgambling.com/ and the site

Stop Gambling Links [http://www.stopgamblinglinks.com/]