In most places where gambling occurs or even on the back of lottery tickets information about getting help for gambling addiction can usually be found. What causes people to lose homes, destroy marriages and face complete financial ruin just to gamble? Helpguide.org offers information on gambling addiction including signs and symptoms and what can be done to help individuals with gambling addiction. According to the site gambling affects 15 million individuals while causing severe problems for at least 3 million of these people.
What are some of the signs? In an article on 777.com a site about gambling and for gamblers, it states the seven signs are a preoccupation with gambling, an escalation on the level of gambling, multiple attempts to try to stop, using gambling to try to escape problems, trying get back losses with more gambling, lying to others about how much or when they gamble, and isolating themselves from others. If these are signs that are seen in someone you know consider talking to the person about their gambling. Some individuals may become hostile or irritated, so if you are uncomfortable about confronting the individual contact a support group who can guide you through ways you can help.
There are a variety of places that a person can go for help for gambling addiction. Gamblers Anonymous at www.gamblersanonymous.org and Gambler Helper at http://gamblinghelper.com are two sites that provide support and advice. Another site The Connection at www.gamblingproblem.net is a general support site to help individuals with a variety of issues. Usually individuals with gambling issues have other problems or addictions they are dealing with such as alcoholism. By helping a gambling addiction you may also be helping to resolve other problems. The first step is to get the person to admit that they have the problem then progress can be made.