gambling problem.

Like drug and alcohol dependency, compulsive gambling is a serious, but treatable, problem. Gambling can hurt almost every aspect of your life, including your personal and work relationships. For most of us, gambling is a fun and harmless recreational activity. However, a small percentage of gamblers develop a compulsive gambling problem.

Types of Gamblers
How can you determine if a compulsive gambling problem exists? Most gamblers fall into the following categories:

Casual Social Gamblers. Gambling is a form of entertainment and relaxation. Other interests, such as sports and music, also occupy the casual social gambler’s time.
Serious Social Gamblers. Gambling is a regular past-time and serves as a major source of pleasure and entertainment.
Relief and Escape Gamblers. Gambling provides relief from anxiety, worry or depression. It’s similar to drinking or drugs in that it produces a “high” and provides excitement, escape or relief.
Compulsive Gamblers. The impulse to gamble is overpowering and it is near impossible to stop. Stealing or going into debt is a common way of financing the habit.
The Three Stages of Gambling
Experts agree that the progression of gambling addiction can be broken down into three primary stages: winning, losing, and desperation.

The Winning Stage: The gambler begins to experience what it’s like to win. The money that the gambler wins means confidence, self-esteem and popularity.
The Losing Stage: Even the smartest gambler can’t continue beating the odds forever, and begins losing more often. This leads to increased bets to compensate for losses. The gambler may even borrow money from friends or relatives to support his/her habit.
The Desperation Stage: A friend or relative usually “rescues” the gambler at this point, coming up with money to pay off debts. The compulsive gambler sees this bailout as a sign of invincibility, and continues betting recklessly and losing.