What Is Problem Gambling?

Subject: What Is Problem Gambling? 20/06/08, 06:31 am

Some typical problem gambling behaviour

Gambling may be a problem if you are:

* Spending more money and time on gambling than intended
* Hiding your gambling from other people
* Borrowing money to pay for living expenses – e.g. phone bill, gas bill, groceries, petrol
* Losing interest in other activities (except for gambling)
* Finding work or your role as a parent is affected
* Starting to lie about your gambling
* Not going to work or not home as often

Risk Behaviour

People with gambling problems typically engage in a variety of risky behaviours such as:

* Spending more money than intended or could afford to spend
* Regularly spending more time gambling than they meant to
* Building opportunities to gamble into daily routines
* Chasing their losses, and
* Borrowing money to gamble or obtaining money in unethical or illegal ways.

Hazardous Thinking

People with gambling problems typically hold thoughts or beliefs that support their behaviour, including:

* Beliefs about fated luck
* Superstitions related to winning
* Illusions of control
* Misunderstandings about the nature of probability and randomness.

If you think that your gambling behaviour might be turning into a problem, go through a self-assessment test:

A self-assessment test for problem gambling

Tick the boxes below, as truthfully as you can, about your experiences over the last 12 months:

1. Sometimes I've felt depressed or anxious after a session of gambling
Yes, that's true No, I haven't
2. Sometimes I've felt guilty about the way I gamble
Yes, that's true No, I haven't
3. When I think about it, gambling has sometimes caused me problems
Yes, that's true No, I haven't
4. Sometimes I've found it better not to tell others, especially my family, about the amount of time or money I spend gambling
Yes, that's true No, I haven't
5. I often find that when I stop gambling, I've run out of money
Yes, that's true No, I haven't
6. Often I get the urge to return to gambling to win back losses from a past session
Yes, that's true No, I haven't
7. Yes, I have received criticism about my gambling in the past
Yes, that's true No, I haven't
8. Yes, I've tried to win money to pay debts
Yes, that's true No, I haven't

If you ticked 'Yes' on four or more of these questions, this indicates that your gambling may be problem. But even if you ticked only one 'Yes' and are still unsure whether you have a problem, you can find out more here...