When you started gambling it was fun, perhaps a hobby. Now it is a nightmare. Your marriage is on the rocks, your boss is planning to fire you, and there is no money left in your bank accounts. You desperately want to stop gambling, but are uncertain as to the best way to do it.
Self-Help
Before the 20th century, self-help was the only option for gamblers seeking to quit. Nineteenth century Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky became a famous example of self-help when he broke his addiction to roulette. As part of giving up gambling, Dostoevsky had serious discussions with his wife, examined his gambling in a novel he wrote called "The Gambler," and left an area of Germany filled with casinos and returned to Russia, where he had never gambled.
Similar tactics of self-examination and planning are offered in a free downloadable self-help workbook provided by the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling, "Your First Step to Change." The workbook will help you pinpoint the exact extent of your gambling problem, decide if you want to change, assist you in making a written promise to yourself to give up your gambling, and enable you to resume other activities that you enjoyed before gambling took over your life.
Gamblers Anonymous
You may wish to talk with other gamblers who are trying to quit and get support from them. Gamblers Anonymous has free meetings in many places. A list of the Gamblers Anonymous meetings in your geographic area can be obtained from the Gamblers Anonymous International Service Office.
Gamblers Anonymous grew out of a friendship between two gamblers that began in January 1957. They met regularly to discuss their gambling problems and noticed that as months went by, neither of them had returned to gambling. Their personal talks had separated them from their gambling cravings.
There are many different types of Gamblers Anonymous meetings. Some gatherings are for recovering gamblers only. Some groups are for women or for teens. There are also Gam-Anon family groups to provide assistance for your loved ones. Gamblers Anonymous also has literature modeled on Alcoholics Anonymous's 12-step recovery program that can be studied between Gamblers Anonymous meetings.
Therapy and Rehab
You may decide that your addiction is so tenacious that you want to start individual psychotherapy with a counselor who is experienced with gambling addiction. If your gambling addiction is severe enough, you may enter a rehabilitation center that has expertise in gambling addiction. The National Council on Problem Gambling maintains a directory of counselors who are certified gambling counselors, and also offers a residential treatment center locater.
You may feel that giving up gambling removes a source of excitement from your life. But you will gain much in return. Biographer Joseph Frank quotes a letter from Dostoevsky to his wife vowing to end his gambling in "Doestoevsky: The Miraculous Years": "Will you believe, Anya, that my hands are untied now; I had been bound by gambling." He went on to write his greatest novel.
References
- Helpguide.org: Gambling Addiction and Problem Gambling
- Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling: Your First Step to Change
- "Dostoevsky: The Miraculous Years, 1865-1871"; Joseph Frank, 1996
- National Council on Problem Gambling: Problem Gambling Resources
- Gamblers Anonymous International
