Gambling Addiction Effects Family, Friends & Community
After a recent family get together, I decided to sit down and write an article on gambling addiction. I look forward to our next family reunion not only because I miss spending time with my aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews and nieces but also because I want to hear more about one of my teenage cousin’s betting problem. My aunt told my mom briefly in their phone conversation about the medical assistance she was trying to seek for her young son who seemed to be hooked on online gaming.
My mom relayed to me certain details of their phone conversation but she couldn’t answer all the questions I had about my cousin’s obsession to online games and how it developed at such at an early age. According to her, my cousin is addicted and has even resorted to borrowing money from friends and stealing just to keep on playing and chasing his losses.
His parents discovered about his stealing recently when they caught him with some stolen money. Prior to that, his parents already noticed some missing money in their wallets but they easily shrugged it off and assumed that they misplaced the cash or spent it on something they couldn’t recall. But as it happened more often and they both realized that they’re not misplacing or misspending the money that has been mysteriously disappearing, they started to doubt that their teenage son could be the culprit.
At first, they didn’t want to think that their son could do something as unthinkable as stealing from his own parents, but they had reason to think about this because there were only four of them who lived in the house. Their youngest kid is only five years old, too young to have any use for the increasing amount of money that has been missing from their wallets.
They also found it hard to believe that their teenage son would have much use for the amount of money that he’s taking from them, in case it’s true that he’s the one stealing the money from them. He didn’t seem to be buying any expensive items for himself and he wasn’t showing any drastic changes in his lifestyle.
After they deliberated on other possibilities pertaining to their son’s use of the money he could be stealing from them, they started to fear that he could be doing drugs. That was when they decided that they needed to get to the bottom of things and find out if he’s really the one taking the money and, if so, what is he doing with it?
One day, they counted all the money they had and copied down all the serial numbers of all their bills. A couple of days after, they knew that they were again missing some money, they slipped into their son’s room and rummaged through his things to find where he’s keeping his money. True enough, they saw some of their marked bills stowed under the clothes in his closet. They later confronted him about it and made him confess why he’s stealing from them and what he’s doing with the money.
My mother couldn’t give me any more details on the online gaming, which he admitted to his parents when he was left with no choice but to tell the truth. This is why I look forward to personally asking his parents about it in our reunion. I’m just curious how a minor like him could participate in this obsession and spend huge amount of money on it. If the online gaming rules are lenient on minors, then there could be more teenagers out there who may be developing an early betting obsession because of it.
The Treatment
Treatment is often necessary to resolve betting abuse. If you suspect that your child, or any other family member, is a victim, call a professional. You may also follow tips on how to protect your finances from a family member with an addiction to gambling, provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
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Disable all of the gambler’s credit cards.
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Have them deposit their check into your account
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Agree on a strict budget each week.
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Take your name off any joint accounts
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Warn all creditors and request that they do not give any more credit.
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Do not trust that they will pay the household bills
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Put valuables in a safe or safety deposit box
Gambling Addiction Statistics – From The Web
Gamblingaddiction.org posted the following statsistics:
- The index reveals that around 80% or above adults of the nation is engaged in some or other kind of wagering activity at least once in their lives.
- In terms of money, Americans have spent $500 billion on wagers. In addition, 2.9 percent adults of all the entire adult population fall in the category of gambling addicts.
- Research has also shown that drinkers have a high risk of developing obsession on betting than those who don’t drink.
- Families with people suffering this kindof addiction have increased number of domestic violence, child abuse. Learn More…
Gambling abuse is a serious problem in the USA and Canada. If you have a problem call Hawaii Island Recovery at 866-515-5032.
