How Gambling Problems Start

As with alcohol or drug abuse, gambling can be an addiction. You can lose a lot by having a gambling addiction, including your home, your family and any kind of security once 401k's and other retirement accounts have been depleted. But how do gambling problems start? It all depends on the person and their perceptions.

Satisfaction

• Many people say they gamble because it's satisfying. The thrill of the game, with the high stakes and glitzy atmosphere, combine to make gambling fun, adventurous and enjoyable for many. However, some take that satisfaction too far by trying to gain more and more satisfaction from the game, and they become addicted. Once they are addicted, they need the game psychologically, though with the losses that are likely to follow, they won't get the satisfaction from it that they once did.

Escaping Problems

• Just like alcohol or drugs, gambling offers people an escape from the problems of everyday life. When the escape works for a short time, people tend do it for longer and longer stretches until they are addicted. More women than men fall into this category of addicts.

Chasing Losses

• One of the biggest ways people get hooked on gambling is by trying to win back money that they've lost, and then only losing more, so they end up playing more to try to win back even bigger losses. This cycle is actually one of the ways that the casinos have devised to get you to play more, and it can really cause problems for some. Winning back losses is a gamble, and probably won't happen, so people need to beware of the odds or they just may end up addicted to a losing game.

Chasing Bigger Winnings

• Just as they gamble more to win back losses, gamblers also gamble more to win more. After winning, they're hyped up on adrenaline and the subsequent feelings of invincibility and cannot think logically or rationally. People who gamble more to try to win even more money usually end up losing the money they won, and then start chasing their losses, quickly getting caught up in the addiction of gambling.

Borrowing/Stealing

• When it comes to feeding a habit, gambling problems start tough, especially because the habit is fed by money, and lots of it. Where people get that money depends on their circumstances, but many turn to borrowing from friends or family and sometimes even stealing it. Stealing the money can lead to a secondary thrill for some addicted gamblers, adding fuel to the fire.