Behavioural (Process) additions are as destructive as an addiction to a substance. Examples of the behavioural addictions are Gambling, Gaming, Pornography, Sex and Love, Codependency, Shopping and Social Media.
The behavioural addictions are complex and sometimes coexists with a substance addiction e.g. Alcohol and gambling, cocaine or crystal methamphetamine (Tik) and sex.
In future posts, we will look and some of the others but for today i will focus on gambling addiction. The most overt damage caused by this addiction is financial. Not only will savings, finances and assets built up over generations be used by the addict, but also the funds for future generation such as for education for children, inheritance and retirement. The accumulation of huge debt is also a consequence of gambling addiction. As is evident, money is the mean the addict acts out on the addition. Any family or loved one of a gambling addict needs to protect their funds e.g. blocking access to banking accounts and any assets.
Depending on the severity and progression of the addiction, the addict will manipulate, be dishonest, steal and commit fraud to feed the addiction.
As mentioned before gambling addiction is complex and broad. This post is aimed to raise awareness of some dynamics in gambling addiction. What families struggle to understand is how the addict will put everything at risk by gambling. This points to the gambling addict’s faulty thinking. The reality is, whether you are gambling at a casino or online, the games are designed in such a way so that the odds are stacked heavily against the person who is playing. The house always wins over time. However, this is not what the gambling addict believes. They believe that they can beat the odds. This belief is based on e.g. a system that they have figured out, that will beat the odds, or they are “lucky” in some way and here their thinking goes into the realm of magical thinking and superstition. Some magical thinking beliefs are that they are “lucky” because of a certain object the have with them e.g. a piece of clothing “my lucky shirt” or they have a certain ritual they perform that will make them “lucky” e.g. tapping the table, machine several times before playing. As absurd as this might sound, this is what drives the gambling addict to gamble away the families financial security. During a counselling process, these faulty cognitions and beliefs are challenged.
Another destructive dynamic is as the addict sinks deeper into financial trouble, they believe that they can gamble themselves out of this financial trouble. So the very activity that got them into financial trouble, they believe the same activity is the solution to their financial problem. At every game, as they lose more and more, they are obsessed with the fact that they can win back their losses, even though it is evident in their history that this never happens.
What the gambling addict cannot or does not want to acknowledge is that they gamble because they are addicted to what they experience when they are gambling. It has very little to do about winning or losing or money. This is the reality they need to accept if they are wanting to recover.
For more information on gambling addiction and any other addiction.
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