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The average compulsive gambler is a
person sixteen years old or over, is from a good
home and a stable family, and often holds a
steady job. He or she is likely to be clean,
well-dressed and is probably at least a high
school graduate. The average compulsive gambler
then is well camouflaged. Unlike the alcoholic
or the junkie, he does not reveal the signs of
his addiction on his breath nor by tracks on his
arm. He appears to be no different from the
average responsible citizen. But the compulsive
gambler suffers from a serious disease and,
because of the nature of that disease, it is
likely that the sickness will not be discovered
until it is in its advanced stages.
Compulsive Gambling is...
A progressive behavior disorder in which an
individual has a psychologically uncontrollable
preoccupation and urge to gamble. This results
in excessive gambling, the out come of which is
the loss of productive time and money. Unless
treated, the gambling will reach the point where
it compromises, disrupts and then destroys the
gambler's personal life, family relationships
and vocational pursuits. These problems in turn
further intensify the gambling behavior.
To the compulsive, gambling seems to offer an
easy solution to some of life's most pressing
problems: insufficient money, little prestige or
self-esteem, feelings of boredom or failure,
hopelessness and defeat. But at the center of
the disease is the certainty that the gambler
must lose; and with continued losses, there is
an increase of those very problems which led him
to gamble in the beginning - thus escalating the
pressures (and the stakes) to gamble more
heavily and more frequently. To the compulsive
gambler, the need to bet is no longer a little
"action" or the illusion of a quick and easy
profit: it has become a matter of life and
death.
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