Disease of Compulsive Gambling

I know there are a few people who come to this blog looking for help with either their compulsive gambling problem or a loved ones compulsive gambling problem. Here is a very important link in the battle with this addiction Gamblers Anonymous. Please go to the meeting directory and find a meeting in your area. Please go to the meeting and give the Program at the very least 90 days. If after 90 days you feel it is not helping please find something else but the one very important point is to NOT gamble. Whether it was the casinos, racetracks, sportsbooks, lottery, day trading (yes, this is a highly addictive form of gambling), sportbook or whatever your vice do NOT gamble because it will always get WORSE if you go back gambling. The only way for it to get better is to NOT participate in that activity.

Another very important point is the addiction to gambling is a lifelong battle that does not go away. I can speak with great knowledge on this subject because at an early age (16) I was hooked into gambling and although there were periods in my life I did not gamble it has always been with me and each time I returned to gambling it became worse. Yes, it is a progressive disease. Yes, it is a disease and in fact the state of Pennsylvania has categorized compulsive gambling as a disease as they get ready to introduce slot parlors in the coming year to this state. What this means to the residence of Pennsylvania is that anyone who is diagnosed with a compulsive gambling addiction will be able to receive treatment which will be paid for by the state of Pennsylvania.

This is a very large step in the "labeling" of compulsive gambling because many people believe it is a disorder not a disease. You may ask what is the difference and I really have no idea, I can take an educated guess but I will leave that to people much smarter than myself. What I can say is an addiction of any sort seems to me to be a disease of the brain. Does it have something to do with the dopamine receptors in the brain? Is the brain of a compulsive gambling wired differently from someone who is not a compulsive gambler? There has been some very limited studies on these questions and the answer appears to be yes.

One interesting case in the past few months was with the drug Miraplex which is taken by those suffering from Parkinson's Disease. Some of these people on this medication became compulsive gamblers because the drug interacts with the dopamine receptors in the brain. Hopefully, someone will do a study on how this drug interacts with the brain of someone who is NOT a compulsive gambler to the brain of the compulsive gambler. I would guess there should be some similarities.

I saw a preview for the show Intervention which will air on the A&E Channel this coming Sunday at 10:00 pm. This particular show is about a young lady (24 years old) who is addicted to heroin and alcohol and she also has a five year old daughter. Now I know there are some people out there that may say we all get what we deserve but no one and I mean no one deserves to go through the pain this young lady was going through. Why doesn't she just stop maybe the cry from some people but I know much like myself who had no clue as to how to stop this lady appears to be headed for certain death.

Her family arranges an intervention (hence the name of the show) and it is all caught on camera. I had tears in my eyes as I watched the preview and I don't know if I can watch the entire program because to me it was gut wrenching. It was gut wrenching watching this young lady interact with her five year old daughter. I know she loves her daughter so very much but her disease was destroying her and her family. I don't care what anyone says no one deserves this and I pray this lady makes it through rehab but more importantly I hope she gets the tools in rehab so when she gets out she can live a life without drugs and alcohol.

There are many keys in my recovery with my compulsive gambling addiction and I have highlighted them these past 10 months. The most important one is to continue living each day one day at time and cherish those people who have stayed with me through this entire ordeal. I understand what I have done requires punishment and no matter what the courts order I will continue to recover from my compulsive gambling addiction one day at time.