Friday, March 16, 2007

1. Have there ever been periods lasting 2 weeks or longer when you spent a
lot of time thinking about your gambling experiences, planning out future
gambling ventures or bets, or thinking about ways of getting money to gamble
with? Yes/No 2. Have there ever been periods when you needed to gamble with
increasing amounts of money or with larger bets than before in order to get
the same feeling of excitement? Yes/No 3. Have you ever felt restless or
irritable when trying to stop, cut down, or control your gambling? Yes/No 4.
Have you tried and not succeeded in stopping, cutting down, or controlling
your gambling three or more times in your life? Yes/No 5. Have you ever
gambled to escape from personal problems, or to relieve uncomfortable
feelings such as guilt, anxiety, helplessness, or depression? Yes/No 6. Has
there ever been a period when, if you lost money gambling one day, you would
often return another day to get even? Yes/No 7. Have you lied to family
members, friends, or others about how much you gamble, and/or about how much
money you lost on gambling, on at least three occasions? Yes/No 8. Have you
ever written a bad check or taken money that didn't belong to you from
family members, friends, or anyone else in order to pay for your gambling?
Yes/No 9. Has your gambling ever caused serious or repeated problems in your
relationships with any of your family members or friends? Or, has your
gambling ever caused you problems at work or at school? Yes/No 10. Have you
ever needed to ask family members, friends, a lending institution, or anyone
else to loan you money or otherwise bail you out of a desperate money
situation that was largely caused by your gambling? Yes/No According to
Keith S. Whyte, the executive director of the National Council on Problem
Gambling, a "Yes" answer to five or more of these questions is indicative of
a pathological condition. A "Yes" answer to one to four is indicative of a
varying degree of a problem.