Rehab for gamblers

[mtajim]

Are there any kind of rehab centers for Gambling addict ?

If yes then how do they treat their patients .?

[ravenbaby]

From what I understand the treatment for gamblers is the same as for alcoholics and drug addicts.

They can do this gambling is the drug of choice for escape. My girlfriend is a complusive gambler and from May 15th of this year to July 3rd, she spent close to $5000.00. (we just figured this out today actually. Our bank account looks like she has been laundering money with so many withdrawals, cross counter deposits, account transfers and such.) I had no idea she was gambling since she normally used alcohol like I did.

She would hit the bar after work, grab a pint, and then plop herself in front of a poker machine for 2 hours or more at a time, usually 3 hours.
In this time she drank about half the beer but would still come home with her eyes dialated and completely exhausted or relaxed (she says it depended on winning or losing). I even asked her if she was using other drugs because she didn't smell as if she had indulged in alcohol as she usually did.

Her alcohol consumption dropped also during this time. She began to lie about where she had been, why she was so late coming home, why money was missing from our accounts (we have two joint accounts and her lie was she was pulling the money out and keeping it in her desk at work so it was conveniant and she didn't have to run to an ATM when we needed cash). When she did indulge her alcoholism, usually on Saturday nights when she could not gamble, she was moody and quick to anger; resulting in her yelling at the kids, friends, me, anyone.

She also began to steal and pawn items. An unlikely victim who forgot to grab his laptop computer before he left a bar on the 29th of June, 2007. Another laptop from her where she works. Our Playstation 2 and Nintendo Wii (Yes, she made it look like the house had been broken into. I found all these pawn slips while I was looking for the deposit slip for the rent money that she said she had redeposited back into the account when she had gambled most of $1700.00 away within 4 hours time on the 29th of June, 2007).

Lying, cheating, stealing, sneaking around....sounds just like what alcoholics and addicts do. The drug of choice may be different but the method to the madness is the same.

She surrendered her bank cards, checks, and agreed to change the password on all the accounts and not have money because she cannot stop herself from going downt to the bar and gambling it away. In 50 days she became a pathological gambler, answering yes to 19 out of twenty questions to determine how bad her gambling was (7 yes answers are considered compulsive gambler).

Like they say, you can take away the alcohol but you still have to treat the -ism.

[mtajim]

I can say that gambling is as addictive as alcohol , though you gambling may not hurt your body but still its too dangerous and there should be a rehab for gamblers too

[ravenbaby]

Oregon has 2 such facilities because, since the inception of poker machines in 1992, in 1996 a study showed that over 47,000 Oregonians were compulsive gamblers.

A recent article in the Portland Tribune stated that the number was likely 4 times that now.

Hazelden treats compulsive gambling. A treatment center in Great Falls, Montana - Rocky Mountain Treatment Center - has treated compulsive gambling since the early 1980's. All use a 12 step program.

[aima123]

Gambler addiction is dangerous. This may lead the person to person to do crimes specially if they will run out of budget.

[mtajim]

Yes , gambling is the root cause of most crimes in urban areas. When people loose money they fall in crime to repay it.

[aima123]

Then it should be strictly prohibited specially to young people. And I have also notice nowadays that even an elementary grade children knows already how to gamble. I don't know what would be their future.

[PneumaticMuffin]

I would advise anyone who gambles to rethink the entire concept of what "money" actually is. Is it your GOAL, or is it your MEANS to a goal? If you gamble so much, maybe you are trying to accomplish something? Define what you want to accomplish, and let go of the gambling. Lets say you want a million, and with a million you would do a business, well instead make a business plan and quit the gambling. Imagine all you would buy if you won the lottery, and then make a plan and act on it. Don't gamble it out. If you really want those things to be happy, go and get them !. If they are completely unreasonable then altogether aknowledge that you simply do not need large amounts of money. Lots of people win large amounts of money and after the first million they have no idea what to do and so do very bad spendings and lose most of the rest.

[mtajim]

I think in most countries gambling has been a part of culture and when kids see elders gamble, they also try it and when they start playing it continously then it becomes an addiction

[addictionstyle]

i found a very interesting site tell about the rehab centre in your locality. It is mainly for the gambling addiction. Hope you will be benfitted from it.

http://www.gamblingtherapy.org/

[easternbrain]

What I dont understand is that why do people gamble? I mean that what is the "kick" they get out of gambling as they do with other kinds of addictions?

[attagirl]

There are in places that have casinos, but I am not sure that there are in other towns and cities that do not have gambling readily available. I would look online to see if there is something offered. I would also be willing to attend other types of treatment centers making sure that you explain what you are trying to recover from.

[websurfpro]

besides that there are over 300 casinos in my city, there is no such reabilitation center for gambling addicts. there should be at least 1 for every 5 casinos from my point of view.