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Questions and Answers:
ABOUT THE PROBLEM OF COMPULSIVE GAMBLING
AND THE BETTORS ANONYMOUS RECOVERY PROGRAM
What are some characteristics of a person who is a
compulsive gambler?
1. INABILITY AND UNWILLINGNESS TO ACCEPT REALITY. Hence the escape into the
dream world of gambling.
2. EMOTIONAL INSECURITY. A compulsive gambler finds he or she is
emotionally comfortable only when "in action". It is not uncommon
to hear a Bettors Anonymous member say: "The only place I really felt
like I belonged was sitting at the poker table. There I felt secure and
comfortable. No great demands were made upon me. I knew I was destroying
myself, yet at the same time, I had a certain sense of security."
3. IMMATURITY. A desire to have all the good things in life without any
great effort on their part seems to be the common character pattern of
problem gamblers. Many Bettors Anonymous members accept the fact that they
were unwilling to grow up. Subconsciously they felt they could avoid mature
responsibility by wagering on the spin of a wheel or the turn of a card,
and so the struggle to escape responsibility finally became a subconscious
obsession.
Also, a compulsive gambler seems to have a strong inner urge to be a
'big shot' and needs to have a feeling of being all powerful. The
compulsive gambler is willing to do anything (often of an antisocial
nature) to maintain the image he or she wants others to see.
Then too, there is a theory that compulsive gamblers subconsciously want to
lose to punish themselves. There is much evidence to support this theory.
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