Gambling is different because it does not have the physical effects or limits of substances. This means the harm is not easily identified by the gambler or those around them. It also means there is no limit to the harm that can be done, if people have money, time, and access to gambling.
It is clear to see that gambling has caused changes to many individuals’ thought process. This is so they become hooked on gambling. This also means that people can become psychologically dependent on gambling to escape. Gambling changes how you feel. In this way gambling feels the same as substances, like alcohol, smoking or drugs. Many have also highlighted that gambling is different from the use of substances.
Unidentified signs
If people are using alcohol or drugs, it produces physical changes The individual and those closest to them can identify those changes in the short and long term. Gambling does not produce signs of intoxication or harm that people can identify.
It produces changes in the person and their behaviour. This may be unobserved and have attributed to several issues; spending time on their phone, being distracted, withdrawn, behaving badly in relationships, unreliable, dropping out of social activities, being short of money, moody, not acting like themselves.
This means that people may not notice when they are gambling too much or starting to develop an addiction.
Talk about it to somebody, anybody. Just talk about it and acknowledge it because it’s easy to hide it. It’s really easy to hide it because if you gamble during the night, no one’s going to know. I think it gets to the point where it’s gone too far before you realize that it’s gone too far because it doesn’t affect your body as such. It doesn’t show to other people.
I think because if it’s alcohol and drugs, it’s all physical dependence, and they can see the harm it’s doing but with gambling, you can’t see it. If they can’t see a problem, they don’t think it’s there. You can stop yourself. You’re not hurting people. You can stop yourself anytime you want to do, but it’s not as simple as that. It’s not as simple as that.
This means that people can conceal their gambling from others (Those close to them and services). This secrecy adds to the depth of shame, addiction, and the harm that’s experienced. Gambling is even more concealable now. It takes place online. This means people always have access to it. Rather than being in a gambling venue.
And what I always say, especially having worked in drug and alcohol recovery as well, if I had gone upstairs, you know, smoked a crack pipe or injected heroin or drank a bottle of wine or something like that, I would have gone back downstairs you would have seen it, you would have smelt it. My behaviour would have been different, you would have noticed it. Gambling, nothing at all. I went down with a smile on my face and that’s the thing with gamblers, because gamblers become incredibly adept at lying and putting on a front.
No bodily limits
People said there is a physical limit to the amount of a substance you could take at a time. The harm from alcohol or smoking is gradual and cumulative. Many have expressed that the limits to someone with a gambling addiction is how much money they could get. This may also include time, and opportunities to gamble. With the availability and intensity of gambling today, the harm can escalate rapidly. This is because many could lose money available to them in a short space of time. This harm is irreversible.
I know I’ve used drugs and alcohol many times during this conversation, but there’s only so much, there’s only so much drugs you can put into your system before your body goes that’s enough, and it shuts down. There’s only so much alcohol you can drink. Gambling you can lose absolutely everything in the space of a night, in the space of an hour if you want to. You can just literally do everything and that needs to be tackled.
And people would find that so hard to understand. And for me, there is no stop button for gambling addicts. There is no stop. And whether that is winning a thousand pounds on a Monday and another 3000 on a Tuesday, that person will keep going back, and back, and back or I will keep going back, and back, and back until I’ve got zero. There is no stop.