Posted by: Marianty on: February 17, 2010
One of our readers suggested that we looked at his story on gambling addiction after reading the articles we have published for the past couple of weeks. I went to his blog and found that this was a real life example of everything we have been talking about for the past couple weeks.
I have broken down his story to exemplify best the different areas his gambling addiction affected.
“In spring 2009 I was fired from my job for misappropriation of funds. Translation: I stole money from my employer to feed my Gambling Addiction. We are not talking about petty cash either. The total amount of my fraud was almost $40 Grand.” he stated. As you can see his problem was serious and the consequences of it was that he lost his job because of not being able to control his gambling urge.
“When I admitted my illegal indiscretions (sounds better than criminal activities) they did not immediately fire me. It took them close to a week to decide that [...]I asked everyday for a disability insurance application. I was told I did not need one as I was still receiving my salary. I told them that regardless of their decision, I would need treatment. I continued to ask everyday. Everyday I was told I didn’t need to as I was still being paid. Then they fired me. The next day when I asked again I was told I did not qualify as I was not an employee.” the second part states. Here we can see that he has accepted the problem and decides to seek help.
“Prior to my being canned I did contact the Employee Assistance Program and an appointment was made with a local clinical counsellor. When I was turfed the company generously agreed to pay for 3 months of weekly sessions. Unfortunately when you are a pathological gambler it takes a bit more therapy than that to make a dent in your disease.” he said. The compulsive online gambler now moves on to look for real help in the form of therapy.
“The first month following my admission of being a pathological gambler was a bit difficult (understatement). My wife hated me. My in-laws wanted me dead. My friends (the few I had left) didn’t know what to say. My kids cried at school. My parents were busy blaming themselves.” At this point he is finally starting to realize the effects of his actions on all aspects of his life and especially on the people he loves the most.
If you visit his blog you will find other posts in which he describes different stages of his journey of overcoming a gambling addiction. I just want to give a shout out to our reader for facing his problem!
