Pathological gambling is a progressive
disease that not only affects compulsive
gamblers but all those they come in
contact with them on a regular basis.
A
pathological gambler has a disorder that
directly relates to impulse control.
Those that are pathological gamblers
continue to be negatively affected until
they lose everything they worked so hard
for. Once their resources are gone they
will stop gambling because either they
found a stop gambling recovery program,
are in jail and or committed suicide.
The end result is usually devastating.
These individuals have it the toughest
when it comes to beating their
addiction. The good news is these
individuals can beat their addiction and
lead healthy productive lives.
A
pathological gambler knows that they
have a problem but have the most
difficult time when it comes to their
conscious mind verses their subconscious
mind. The following is examples of what
two pathological gamblers remember while
they were in recovery. They couldn’t
believe their thought process when they
were in the grips of this illness.
1)
I woke up one morning, feeling
good I hadn’t gambled in two days. I
finally have a few dollars in my
pocket. I want to do something
positive today. Life’s great. I
decided I was going to paint the deck
out back. I jumped in my car put the
top down and headed towards Home Depot.
I stopped at the bank and decided to
withdraw five hundred dollars. I knew I
didn’t need that much, but I was testing
myself. I failed. The second I got
back in the car I was headed to the
casino. I lost my money that day and the
next day and the next day after that. I
had no ability to stop.
2)
I realized I had a problem
gambling. I knew if I stayed away I
would be fine. Every Tuesday I had to
do a pick and delivery at a client that
was one mile from the casino. I finish
my pick up and headed right to the
casino with out realizing I was in
agreement with this decision. I was not
in agreement, but my mind over ruled all
rational thought. I realized where I
was going, I realized I was there
gambling but I had no control from the
time I entered the casino to the time I
left. I was always forced to leave
because I had no money left to gamble.
My choice was to leave get money and
come back as soon as possible. Once I
left the casino all rational thought
came back. My mind was so twisted at
this time. I use to think the gambling
establishments put something in the air
that only affected seventeen percent of
the people who gambled. These seventeen
percent were doomed to lose everything
they had ever worked for. We had no
choice because we had no control.
As
a pathological gambler continuous
down their self destructive course
their illness becomes chronic and
progressive.
