Struggling with Gambling Addiction? Support is Available.
If you or someone you know is battling gambling addiction, contact the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) or Gamblers Anonymous. For immediate support call 1-800-GAMBLER.
How Gambling Addiction Affects The Family?
Gambling disorder involves persistent gambling behaviors despite negative impacts on personal, professional, and financial well-being.
Who is at Risk
- Family: The disorder affects the individual but also significantly impacts their family.
- Emotional Shock: Family members may experience shock and stress upon discovering the gambling issue, leading to altered perspectives and increased stress.
- Most Affected: The partner and children of the gambler often bear the brunt of the emotional and sometimes physical repercussions.
- Gambler's Response: Acknowledging the problem can bring relief to the gambler, but it introduces new challenges for the family.
- Family's Initial Reaction: Family members often show greater concern and anxiety about the gambling problem than the gambler, who may minimize the addiction's severity.
The Ripple Effect on Families
Gambling addiction profoundly impacts families, creating a cascade of emotional, financial, and relational challenges.
- Emotional Distress: Family members often experience a wide range of emotions, including shock, betrayal, and anxiety, upon discovering the gambling problem.
- Financial Strain: The addiction can lead to significant financial difficulties, including debt accumulation and loss of savings, which affect the entire family.
- Relationship Breakdown: Trust and communication within the family can deteriorate, leading to strained or broken relationships.
Immediate and Extended Family Impact
The consequences of gambling addiction extend to both immediate and extended family members, with varying degrees of severity.
- Spouses and Children: Experience the most direct and profound impacts, including emotional turmoil and financial insecurity.
- Extended Family: May also suffer from the stress and fallout of the addiction, particularly if they are financially or emotionally involved.
The Cycle of Response
Families typically go through a three-phase cycle in response to gambling addiction:
- Denial Phase:
- Refusal to acknowledge the problem.
- Belief that the gambling behavior is not harmful.
- Stress Phase:
- Recognition of the severity of the addiction.
- Attempts to help the gambler, often enabling the addiction.
- Exhaustion Phase:
- Overwhelming stress and frustration.
- Physical and psychological health issues among family members.
The Path to Recovery
For families facing gambling addiction, seeking professional help is crucial.
- Consult Healthcare Professionals: Access expert advice and support for dealing with addiction.
- Rehabilitation Units: Specialized services can provide tailored treatment and recovery programs.
- Support Networks: Associations for compulsive gambling offer resources and community support for gamblers and their families.
Expert Insight
Effective management and recovery from gambling addiction require a holistic approach:
- Understanding the Addiction: Families should educate themselves about the nature of gambling disorder and its effects.
- Professional Intervention: Engaging with healthcare and rehabilitation professionals is key to addressing the complex needs of the gambler and the family.
- Supportive Environment: Creating a family dynamic that promotes open communication, mutual support, and resilience is essential for recovery.
Conclusion
After the notification of pathological gambling suffered by a family member, the family tends to be overwhelmed, they do not know very well what to do, where to go, how to act.
The best thing is to put themselves in the hands of professionals, consult their health centers of reference, where they will be referred to the specific rehabilitation units that will help them understand and treat this type of disease and to the associations of people affected by compulsive gambling that help and care for this group, both the patients themselves and their families.
References
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Meet our Authors
Paruyr Shahbazyan
Paruyr Shahbazyan started his business career in 2000 as an entrepreneur. Over 13 years he learned business and leadership, so he laid the foundation for his career.
In 2013 Paruyr entered the sports and betting industry as the founder and president of Bookmaker Rating. This online media he led until 2020. The platform was focused on in-depth analysis and insights in sports betting and got a reputation for quality content.
In 2022 Paruyr co-founded Azuro, decentralized betting protocol. This shows his commitment to technology in the sports betting space. Through all these experiences Paruyr has been shaping and influencing the betting industry, setting new trends and standards.
Innovation in sportsbetting comes from a deep understanding of both technology and the human element of sports.
Strategic Vision
Paruyr's vision is to revolutionize the sports betting industry through the integration of technology. He sees the future of betting as a blend of traditional sports knowledge with innovative tech solutions, like decentralized protocols, to enhance user experience and fairness. His aim is to create platforms that are not only user-friendly but also uphold the highest standards of ethical betting, contributing to a more responsible and enjoyable betting culture.
Sol Fayerman-Hansen
With 20+ years of writing experience across sports, gambling, regulation, technology and startups Sol brings a broad understanding to his role as Editor-in-Chief at RG. His work is about providing clear factual information to help readers make informed decisions about gambling. Sol’s approach is about transparency and research so the content at RG is straightforward, evidence based and accessible.
At RG Sol keeps the focus on the reader by maintaining a standard of reliability and integrity in the information shared. Under his editorial direction RG aims to provide practical insights into sports and responsible gambling that support a balanced and informed approach. Sol’s approach has helped RG become a go to source for readers looking to engage responsibly and thoughtfully in the industry.
Cristina Varela Galan
Cristina used to work as a Psychology Assistant in the Bizkaia Pathological and Risky Gamblers Association. She was also part of a research team in Deusto University, specializing in pathological gambling area. While working there, she managed to develop her own project
“Exploring the association between emotional regulation, alexithymia, stressful life events and gambling in adolescent and young adult women”.
Nick Ashbourne
Nick has been fascinated with sports since he was first taken to a Toronto Maple Leafs game back in 1998, and he's written about them professionally since 2014.
Nick has covered baseball and hockey for outlets like The Athletic, Sportsnet, and Yahoo Sports, and his sports betting expertise has grown since its legalization in Ontario in 2022.
Between 2022 and 2023 he worked for a betting startup called NorthStar Bets, and in 2024 he contributed to Oddspedia before joining the RG team.
Sergey Demidov
Sergey has been in sports journalism since 2007 as a reporter, editor, and manager. He has covered the Olympic Games, soccer World Cups, the World Cup of Hockey in 2016, the European championships, the Stanley Cup Finals, IOC events, and many others. Sergey interviewed the sport's greatest athletes, coaches, and executives. Since 2016, he has been an Independent Senior Editor of NHL.com/ru.
Anna Kravtcova
Ph.D. in organizational psychology, an internationally certified psychologist (EuroPsy 2022, Cognitive behavioural therapy of mindfulness 2020, International Society for Emotional Intelligence 2017, Russian Psychological society 2014, American Psychological Association(Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychologist) 2011), speaker of many international conferences (USA, Brazil, Portugal, Czech Republic, Russia, etc.). TEDx speaker.
