Gambling

Do you know the myths and the facts about gambling? Find out the facts and the myths about gambling addiction. Gambling includes betting on sports, scratch cards, roulette, poker, and slots in a casino or online.

Jodie’s Age 28 Gambling Myth

The first myth is that you are a problem gambler only if you gamble daily. Many clients do not believe themselves to be addicted to gambling because they do not gamble every day. A client, Jodie age 28 stated “I thought that I was not addicted to gambling because I did not go very often. I go about once a month but I realized that I would stay at the casino for many hours and lose a large sum of money. The amount I lost caused me problems and I would always end up working twice as much to make ends meet.” As you can see, Jodie did not have to gamble every day to be a problem gambler. One can be addicted to gambling even if they gamble infrequently.

I Can Afford It

Second myth is that if you can afford to gamble then you do not have a problem. Zach age 34 expressed “Whenever I gambled, I never lost enough to the point where I was in debt. I could afford to gamble so I believed I did not have a gambling problem. However, my family became increasingly upset with me because I was spending more time at the casino than with family. I started missing out on my son’s baseball games to gamble. It made my son depressed due to the belief that I no longer cared. It led to all sorts of problems with my wife and children. I may not have been ruining myself financially but I was ruining my relationships.” In Zach’s case, he had no trouble financially but gambling consumed the time he could have spent on his family.

Who is to Blame?

A third gambling myth is that the partners of gamblers make gamblers gamble more often. Many gamblers avoid responsibility and tend to blame their behavior on others. Taylor, age 46 stated “I can’t stop gambling. My wife drives me crazy with the nightmarish cycles and she always complains about how we don’t have enough money. My wife nags me to get a better job but I can’t. She makes me stressed out and I can only work so much. I have to go to the casino to try and win the extra money for her.” Taylor believed that he was being forced to gamble due to his wife being upset about their financial situation. Gambling actually creates more financial debt and Taylor neglected to acknowledge that.

Should You Help?

The fourth myth is that when a family member or a friend pays off a debt of a gambler, they are doing them a favor. This is actually a lie. If you pay off their debt, you are encouraging their behavior due to the fact that you are giving them an easy break. They aren’t able to learn from their mistakes and deal with the consequences. Eventually they will have to deal with the consequences but it is much better if you let them learn earlier than later. Paying off their debt is a quick fix but it is merely temporary.

I have found these gambling myths to be very common and to be false. If you need continuing education about gambling addictions and how to treat them, visit my website http://www.onlineceucredit.com/ceus-online/gf-gambling/continuing-education.html.

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I had a client named Joel who did not have a gambling addiction until a Casino opened up several blocks away from his home. Due to the close proximity of the Casino, Joel started to gamble and play more frequently which in turn caused him to lose larger amounts of money. Joel stated “I feel ashamed. I withdrew money from my kid’s savings and even forged my own wife’s signature on a mortgage agreement. I was so depressed I felt like committing suicide. But now I am okay.”

The Rise of Gambling

Gambling

Joel is one of the many people who have a gambling addiction. You might wonder why gambling has been steadily growing. A fraction of the reason is due to the economy. States bring in casinos to make up for their economies. Gambling gives rise to jobs and it also creates gambling addicts. Casinos may be beneficial to the economy but it is not beneficial to society. Places such as Las Vegas depend on gambling as their main source of revenue but studies have shown that there are higher chances of addicts, aggression and crimes such as burglary. Studies have shown that if states used the money spent on gambling on other things such as college education it would also benefit the economy.

Gambling and Affects on Relationships

Gambling creates damaged relationships in addition to financial debt. A client Tim, stated “My brother and I created a small business together and it was doing extremely well for several years until I let my gambling addiction take over and took the money from our company. My gambling addiction became even worse once I discovered online gambling which forced me to withdraw close to a million dollars from the business.” His brother has also not spoken to him since the incident. Tim expressed his desire to reconnect with his brother but his brother would not accept his apology. Tim’s gambling addiction damaged his relationship with his brother and also caused a promising business to collapse.

There are many others like Tim and Joel. In fact, people from all different ethnicities, ages and genders are affected by gambling addiction. However, people who have recently experienced an important life changing event such as divorce, loss of a loved one, or even unemployment are especially more likely to become addicted. Others with history of sexual abuse, neglect, addiction or mental illness are also at a higher risk of becoming addicted.

What are ways to help?

With the rise of gambling addiction, what are ways to help those affected by this problem? One way is to acquire more help for people who are addicted. There are only a very few number of states that offer councils on gambling addiction and even fewer offer treatment. Avoiding denial is also another way to help those affected. Many gamblers are unaware that they have a gambling problem or they refuse to tell loved ones out of shame or need to win more money. Some lie to themselves or they convince themselves that they are actually able to gamble responsibly when they are not able to do so. Gambling addiction is different from drug addictions due to the fact that you are unable to see or smell it on a person. While these two ways can help with gambling addictions, the government could assist in protecting society from gambling addiction. However, many are opposed to the government taking action against gambling.

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The DSM estimates that between two and three percent of the adult population in the United States are compulsive gamblers.  Male compulsive gamblers often begin during adolescence.  However, women tend to start to gamble later in life.  By the time a compulsive gambler seeks help, clients generally have an average debt running from $55,000 to $92,000.

For Factor #2 and #3 go to Pathological Gambling Course

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Make it a habit to glance at your expression in the resident’s dresser or bathroom mirror. You be the judge. Ask yourself, “What am I reflecting to this resident as they perform this ADL?” “What am I reflecting to the rest of the world, as far as that goes?” What do you see as you glance at your face?

So what can you do, if you feel that you need to change?

Here is technique, or how-to, number one. As you look in the mirror, divide your face into the upper brow region and the lower half, your mouth and cheeks. As you look at yourself in the mirror, first look at your upper face, your brow. Is it furrowed, perhaps indicating to your resident stress or displeasure? Or is it smooth? With age, unless we are movie stars who have had face lifts, we all have wrinkles, lines, and creases. I am not talking about natural aging or character lines. I am talking about the lines that you create yourself by tensing your brow ridge. Experiment with this, and note the dramatic difference in what you project by tensing up and pulling together your eyebrows.

Now, relax your eyebrows and concentrate on flattening or relaxing your brow ridge. Raise your eyebrows slightly. It almost feels like smiling with your forehead, because it reflects calmness in those muscles.

Furrowed, tense brows to your resident reflect an unfriendly, stressed person who seems unapproachable and unwilling to really help, no matter what their words say.

Question #2: To reflect calm in the upper portion of your face, concentrate on doing what with your brow ridge?

Now, let’s look at the lower half of your face, your mouth and cheeks. Have you ever received an insincere smile from someone? Yes, unfortunately we all have. Like the fast food clerk that hates his or her job and hands you your bag of food through the drive up window, smiling with an all too toothy smile, while blurting out, “Have a nice day!!” What’s wrong with their smile? The corners of his or her mouth are turned up, so doesn’t that qualify as a smile? Why does it come across as painfully insincere? Well, it’s because the smile is not reflected in their eyes.

Try another experiment with a mirror. Lower your lids to one-quarter or one-half of the way closed. Then smile. You look something like Bugs Bunny, don’t you? The top half of your face doesn’t match the bottom half. Think about how receiving this insincere Bugs Bunny-type smile feels to your resident as they are doing their best to put the button through the hole as they dress. If your eyes don’t match your smile, they know in their heart that you don’t really mean what you are saying.

Now look in the mirror and think of something wonderful, maybe a rainbow or a beautiful summer day. Or, think of someone or something that you really care about, maybe a car, a dog, or a significant other. Look in the mirror. Look straight into your eyes and smile. Do you see what your eyes are doing? They are open naturally, with a warm energy coming out. They match your smile.

That sincerity is what creates the kind of bonding relationship between a care giver and a resident. This helps the resident to see that you respect their efforts to risk trying and failing. They see that you really care. It’s easy to have someone do something for you, because you don’t have to risk failure. Obviously, none of us want to fail. We all want to succeed and have the feeling of being accepted just as much as our residents do.

Question #3: A Bugs Bunny insincere smile occurs when your what does not match your what?

In your ALF, it’s up to you to provide that feeling of acceptance and support for your resident. You have to encourage them to try, to cheer and root them on with a warm caring expression of support on your face.

Non-Verbal Prompt #2, #3, #4, #5 and #6 go to Geriatric & Aging Course

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#1  Shame and “Social Image”
First, let’s discuss shame and social image.  The experience of shame is important in discussions of social phobia because the socially phobic client is fearful of being shamed in many situations.  As you know, shame is an affect related to a client’s conception of his public image at the time that he is being observed or believes he is being observed.

The client’s notion of his social image may be accurate or inaccurate; but if he believes that his image has been tainted, and he cares about the observer’s opinion of him, then he is likely to feel shame.  Sal stated, “The possibility of being thought of as weak, inferior, or inept is just as bad as actually being talked about in these terms.”  In other words, what others think of Sal is the crucial ingredient of shame induction— irrespective of whether they communicate this opinion.

The key factor in the activation of shame is exposure to observation by one or more persons.  This affect was triggered when Sal realized that he had been observed violating specific social norms, expectations, or demands, especially in relationship to appropriate appearance and behavior.

Sal’s perceived  “deviant” appearance or behavior were judged (he assumed) to be reflections of his weakness, inferiority, ineptness, character flaw, or immaturity.  The public sanctions for lack of conformity, by and large, made Sal feel inferior, depreciated, and immature.  The actual social consequences may consist of covert depreciation or open expressions of disapproval, ranging from mild mimicking to overt ridicule.It should be noted that if a client like Sal manages to conceal his “substandard” behavior or engages in a shameful activity in private, then he does not feel shame.

A client who feels shame sees himself as relatively helpless in attempting to counteract his depreciated public image.  Sal believed he was subject to painful group reprisals, such as public humiliation and ridicule, and is powerless to ward off these attacks.  The social opinion is absolute, finalistic, irrevocable.

It was futile for him to try to modify or appeal the group verdict.  Sal stated, “Any protestations only increases their enjoyment of my embarrassment.”  Sal acknowledged his “inept” behavior by statements such as “I made a public display of myself,” and hung his head or attempted to hide to avoid their gaze.  In his mind, the antidote for shame was to vanish from the shameful situation.  Sal often made statements such as, “I should like to fade away,” or, “I felt like merging into the woodwork.

For #2 Fear of Loss of Love or Abandonment go to Phobias Course.

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