Signs of Gambling Addictions

 

Gambling addictions are easy to come by and hard to stop.  Gambling comes in many forms, and does not have to be frequent, or occur with large betting amounts in order to result from addiction.  Here are some signs of gambling addiction that you may want to watch for if you suspect a friend or a loved one of being addicted to gambling.

 

If you notice that a friend or loved one has sudden become secretive over their finances, or stumbles around the topic looking for an excuse as to where his or her funds went or why they are not there, then this may be a sign of a gambling problem.  Of course, there are many other reasons this can occur, such as the loss of a job, for instance, so you cannot rely on this one alone.

 

If there is a strong, new desire to be in more control of the household finances, this could be a sign of a gambling addiction.  If this person wants to know more about the money in the first place, then this could mean that he or she wants to know what is available to spend on his or her habit; and, knowing this information could help them come up with ways to hide the addiction.

 

Watch out for unpaid bills, new and unusually high credit card activity, and asking for loans from friends and family.  The person could be using money they used to use for bills on gambling, paying the bills with credit cards, and then using the loans from friends to pay the credit cards, or any combination thereof.

 

Of course, just like with the other signs, there could be other reasons for the activity, but when you start to see a combination of these things, it is harder to believe and harder to pass off as a simple job loss, or budgeting issue.  The more of these signs you see together, the more likely the fact there is a gambling problem.

 

If you really believe that a friend or loved one has an issue with gambling, you should speak to other close friends and family to get their thoughts and feelings before you take care of the problem yourself.  There is power in numbers, and if enough of you believe this problem to be true, you can work together to find the best solution for the addicted gambler.