GAMBLER TYPES.
Know the signs:
Many compulsive gamblers work hard to hide their addiction. As their gambling addiction increases, it becomes difficult to gamble responsibly.
Social gamblers:
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Gamble on occasion
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Stick to their limits
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Hope to win, but expect to lose
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Can "take it" or "leave it"
Compulsive gamblers may:
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Use gambling as a coping strategy, which is often identified as an escape from underlying pain.
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Rely on the excitement of gambling to make themselves feel good.
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Wager higher amounts, also known as chasing, in the belief they can win back their losses.
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Believe they are just one BIG win away from getting out of debt.
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Hide their gambling from family and friends, often lying about money.
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See their financial problem to evolve into an emotional problem.
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Become emotionally, mentally, and physically distressed.
Problem gamblers may:
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Play frequently
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Borrow money to support playing
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Expect to win
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Keeps playing wins in the hope to gain back losses
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Feel the need to be secretive about gambling
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Have family that is concerned
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Lives for gambling opportunities
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Become defensive about gambling issues
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Lose time from work due to gambling
Pathological gambling:
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a chronic disorder resulting in the loss of control over gambling
Gambling addiction, also known as compulsive gambling, is a type of impulse-control disorder.
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Compulsive Gambling
Gambling addiction, also known as compulsive gambling, is a type of impulse-control disorder. Compulsive gamblers can’t control the impulse to gamble, even when they know their gambling is hurting themselves or their loved ones. Gambling is all they can think about and all they want to do, no matter the consequences. Compulsive gamblers keep gambling whether they’re up or down, broke or flush, happy or depressed. Even when they know the odds are against them, even when they can’t afford to lose, people with a gambling addiction can’t “stay off the bet.”
Gamblers can have a problem, however, without being totally out of control. Problem gambling is any gambling behavior that disrupts your life. If you’re preoccupied with gambling, spending more and more time and money on it, chasing losses, or gambling despite serious consequences, you have a gambling problem.
It is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to participate in any form of gambling in New Mexico.
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Underage Gambling
UNDERAGE GAMBLING FACTS:
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Most teens are introduced to gambling by a parent or adult close to them.
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Teens may gamble in a variety of ways including, but not limited to, card games, sports betting and Internet gambling.
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It is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to participate in any form of gambling in New Mexico.
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All forms of gambling carry some risk of developing problems for some people.
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Gambling may affect teens from all types of families, socioeconomic backgrounds and ethnic groups.
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Problem gambling is easy to hide.
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Teens may gamble to feel important, raise self-esteem or to escape problems.
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Treatment is available to teens and their families.
For some seniors, gambling is purely a form of entertainment and fills a social void. They are able to set reasonable limits on the amounts they are willing to lose and stick by their own guidelines. Especially vulnerable older adults may turn to gambling as a means of excitement and “something different” to relieve psychological stress resulting from life changes and losses. A new and easily accessible minor habit of gambling may become a potentially devastating pastime. Middle-aged to older women (who comprise the largest portion of the older adult population) are believed to be among the fastest growing group of those who gamble to relieve feelings of isolation, loneliness or boredom (McNeilly and Burke, 2002).
Before you know it, bank accounts become depleted or savings and retirement accounts are tapped into and sometimes drained. Some older Americans jeopardize their paid-off or nearly paid-off homes by turning to home equity lines of credit, or they incur heavy credit card debt. Retired citizens who have gambled away a pension have little time for a new start in life.
Responsible Gambling:
“Responsible Gambling” is a broad concept and involves the conduct of gambling in a manner whereby the potential for harm associated with gambling is minimized. It respects the responsibility of individuals for their own actions, but also acknowledges a responsibility on the part of the service providers.