Being addicted to gambling presents risks on many levels, whether financial, family, professional or personal. It is important to determine your level of dependence to better free yourself. It is indeed possible to cure addiction to gambling.

Gambling addiction is a form of so-called behavioral addiction. This notion is established when the activity is no longer limited to simple pleasure. Having become excessive, it is no longer adapted to everyday life, repeats itself and persists to the point of becoming the player’s sole concern. The person concerned then becomes a pathological gambler. In some cases, he engages in compulsive driving. He is incapable of breaking free from his habit and of freely deciding to stop his addictive activity. Gambling is a real obligation for him. Gambling addiction is very similar to other forms of addiction such as alcohol, pornography or drugs for example.

In France, risk gamblers represent more or less 1% of the population, and excessive gamblers nearly 0,5%.

Gambling addiction has several consequences. Of course, it involves an increasingly important financial investment, even without any measure with the means of the pathological player.

The consequences are also social. The pathological gambler excludes himself from his family and / or friends circle, because gambling takes up most of his time. Each loss of money gives rise to the irrepressible urge to try to regain the lost sum, or to “recover”.

Addiction to gambling can also be seen in people who want to escape their daily lives for various reasons: professional difficulties, relationship problems, family disagreement, personal dissatisfaction.

This type of addiction risks causing the pathological gambler who has lost a lot of money to borrow from family members or friends. Otherwise, he can turn to illegal solutions to try to make up for his financial losses. These solutions most often include embezzlement and theft.

A pathological gambler can get help to free himself from his addiction. To do this, he has the opportunity to contact professionals specializing in the management of gambling addiction, such as a doctor. addictologist or a psychologist. An interview and an evaluation test are essential to assess the level of dependence of the pathological player and to set up a perfectly adapted follow-up.

Each type of addiction must be taken care of in a very specific way. The healthcare professional takes into account the impact of addiction on the patient’s social and family life and on the psychological or even physical consequences that dependence causes.

The management of gambling addiction is based on an individual approach that involves several interviews. It aims to help the player to fight against the disorders resulting from his addiction. Sometimes, a family approach is also essential, especially when the consequences of this activity weigh heavily on the family climate. Support groups make it possible to express one’s discomfort and to no longer keep this problem taboo.

The follow-up can be based in parallel on a social support insofar as the pathological gambler has lost all financial autonomy and he experiences great difficulties of reintegration.

Finally, when the addictive intensity is extreme and the pathological player is severely depressed, the management can also be medication.

Young audiences are very exposed to any type of addiction. Prevention is the best card to play to prevent them from becoming pathological gamblers. Any parent or educator must be able to warn a young person against this type of addiction.

Today, young people but also adults and seniors are increasingly exposed to gambling addiction and / or games of chance, access to this type of activity being greatly facilitated by computer tools available to us. It is possible to indulge in all kinds of gambling without leaving your home, quite simply by connecting to the Internet, despite the regulation of gambling in France.

In the event of a gambling addiction, it is important that those around them help the pathological gambler to make the decision to seek treatment. It is possible to seek medical advice or consult an addictology network such as the National Network for the Prevention and Care of Pathological Gambling (RNPSJP).