What is Compulsive Gambling – 4 Common Symptoms and Causes

According to practically all the studies on the topic, we can see that gambling is one of the most widespread forms of entertainment. That explains how the industry manages to generate billions of US dollars every year. Also, the industry offers you numerous games to participate in, and by trying a lot of them, you can find the one that suits you.

One of the most popular ones out there is slot machines. If you want to take a look at various versions of this game, we advise you to visit website that’s both legitimate and secure. However, participating in this sort of activity requires us to be extremely careful not to get addicted to it.

We all know how dangerous gambling addiction can be, especially in some severe stages. One of the severest ones is compulsive gambling. Today, we want to discuss the concept of compulsive gambling and what are its common symptoms. Without further ado, let’s take a look at what we’ve gathered.

The Basics

As we’ve already stated, compulsive gambling is one of the severest stages in the development of this addiction. The shortest way we can describe this condition is to say that it manifests through gambling no matter what sorts of issues that activity causes to you, your family, and your friends. Those who have developed it simply do not care about anything besides gambling.

When you think about it, gambling is about taking a chance to achieve something valuable by investing in something of a lesser value. In this case, we are talking about investing smaller amounts of money to get a higher amount. However, those with a developed addiction will not care about it. They just care about the vibe.

It all revolves around the brain’s reward structure. We can find parallels with some substances like alcohol, which can also develop a severe addiction. The thing is that chasing losses without paying attention to more important things in life is, according to many experts, much more severe than these substances.

Common Signs

Now, let’s take a look at the commonest signs and indications of compulsive gambling.

1. Being Absent-minded

As is the case with practically any sort of addiction out there, being preoccupied with gambling is the clearest example of this sort of addiction. Those who have developed this problem cannot wait to make a bet or to enter a casino. It becomes a place where they feel the most comfortable, which is not a pleasant thing, right?

Besides that, these people do not think about anything else besides doing so. Therefore, this can cause many problems down the road both for the addict and his family and friends. Imagine a situation when someone, a male or female, has this problem while also having a family to take care of.

We can all agree that this can become a significant problem down the road. Since there are no other priorities besides gambling, then it becomes obvious that every paycheck that arrives will be spent on this activity and nothing besides that. Those people usually rejoice in their past successes and want to achieve them again.

2. Not Caring About Consequences

Not caring about anything besides getting the “high effect” as a result of gambling is something quite common among people who have gone through the severe stages of this addiction. They will not pay attention to anything else besides finding a way to make free time to commit to gambling.

Besides thinking about this effect, many want to solve all their financial issues without investing any sort of effort, in terms of work. Games of luck are perceived as a shortcut for someone to bridge the gaps in the terms of economy. We can all agree that this is practically impossible.

The number of people who have been able to do so usually didn’t strive towards it. That’s why this form of entertainment is known as a “game of chance”. Striving to accomplish this usually results in a much worse financial situation, you can be sure of that.

3. Lying About It

When someone has a gambling problem, it is quite common for that person will lie constantly about their activities, especially to their loved ones or figures of authority. That doesn’t only mean that someone will not tell the truth when asked, we are also talking about things like hiding bank statements and receipts.

But when it comes to lying, they would avoid talking about their visits to a casino. Instead, they would come up with different stories to cover it up. When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. We are talking about a heavily personal issue, which nobody wants to discuss with others who don’t share the same passion or addiction.

4. Chasing Losses

We’ve already discussed how dangerous chasing losses can be. But we would like to elaborate on this topic a little bit more. The trick is, that a vast majority of people who participate in this sort of activity know when to take a break. Those who have developed an addiction do not have this sort of feeling.

Instead, they want to return all the money they have lost during a session. The situation can become even more problematic if a couple of sessions are finished unsuccessfully for someone. Then it is not uncommon to see a person amassing a lot of money to try and win all the money back.

Chances of that happening are practically non-existing. Still, an addict cannot rely on logical thinking. Therefore, chasing losses is something that turns small problems into much bigger problems. Above all, it needs to be said that this is something that doesn’t end up as a positive thing.

The Bottom Line

Perceiving gambling as a way to resolve your financial problems is the wrong approach. Instead, you should perceive it for what it is, a form of entertainment. That way, you can avoid developing an addiction. Here, we’ve provided you with common symptoms and causes of compulsive gambling.