by Jerry "Jet" Whittaker

Dec 13, 2006

Effect of gambling on family:

Gambling is like a stigma for the entire family. Gambling is risking the money to earn some gain, it is not always necessary that money will be earned. So if money is loosed than loss will be there. So the money that should be used for family purposes is lost, which lead family to suffer at the end of the day. Gambling is the family problem that affects each member of the family, it disturb the family functioning. Problem gambling makes the family system very stressful as it results in many financial constraints.

Negative consequences:

There are mainly two negative consequences namely psychological and financial. Once a person gets into gambling then it becomes like a vicious circle, which makes it very difficult to get rid of this habit. In case of financial problem if the gambler wins then winning will act as an incentive to play again. On the contrary, if he looses then he plays again to get back the money. In case of psychological problems, if family supports the gambler’s denial and rationalization then will get initiative to play further. If the family becomes angry then the gambler will feel punished and ready to play again without any guilt. Punishment will provide gambler with one more justification to play as he wants to get away from the nagging family. As argument over gambling increases the level of tension within the family increases. Children suffer the most in problem gambling families. If the gambler is not ready to withdraw from gambling then children will become calm and quite. They will start taking responsibility that is being withdrawn by the gambler. They will try to get good grades in school, so as to lower the family tension. Problem gambling family has children with low self- esteem and without any proper emotional development. Children become easy prey of anger of adult. Non-gambling spouse will take added responsibility to fulfill all the needs of the family. This will ultimately affect the married life, it is full of tension. Family stop taking part in social gatherings, that further creates the tension as family becomes lonely and looses all their support.

Problem gambling families faces painful emotional problems and many relationship difficulties. They will not have good relations within the family and outside within the society. There are also chances for the children in gambling families to develop gambling habits.

Ways that can help problem gambling families:

If the gambler is not ready to give up gambling, then the family of the gambler should help themselves. They should try to improve the quality of life, regain self-respect and composure. They should take responsibilities and take better care of themselves. Take decisions more confidently and support other members in the family to solve the problem. 

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