Alcoholism: causes, effects, and treatment approaches

Alcoholism and Gambling

Alcoholism is a socially and physically unhealthy habit. Those who suffer from alcoholism encounter repeated urges to consume alcoholic beverages when it is clearly obstructing their daily activities, harming their health and causing disruptive behavior that negatively impacts relationships. Such a person is obviously an addict for no one would consume something that clearly leaves a negative mark on their mental, emotional and physical health. Alcoholism is a lot like gambling.

When a person becomes a serious gambler, he is willing to lose all his money for a chance to win those elusive millions. There is this rush of blood that a gambler feels every time he comes in close vicinity of a casino. Initially it begins as a harmless fun activity just like tasting alcohol. You are with friends and are seeking some fun activity. Someone suggests going to a casino and spending some money on poker. Usually its peer pressure that results in a person succumbing to these harmful activities even though he knows it could lead to something seriously wrong.

You give in because you ask yourself how wrong it could possibly go. "Its just one game..." And you promise yourself that you would get out of here the moment you lose this much money. Then as you start playing, you initially may win a few games and obviously with it comes some money as well. You are elated. The feeling of winning is amazing and it puts you on a high that encourages you to spend some more. But this is where destruction begins and before you know you have not only lost a decent amount of money you came in with but have also lost the money you had won. This destructive pattern continues and you become a regular gambler before you have had a chance to reflect on the destructive nature of this activity.

A gambler doesn't or should we say cannot stop when he should. He keeps going back to those casinos and those poker games even though the activity fails to generate the same initially feeling of ecstasy. The question arises: why does he keep returning to this activity when it is clearly not generating any positive feelings anymore. The answer lies in the fact that it is a behavioral problem which is not easy to let go of just like lying or stealing for example. People who are habitual liars cannot stop lying simply by setting their mind to it. It becomes a habit which can only be helped by proper therapy. Alcoholism similarly affects a person's behavior and when a person repeatedly does the same thing, it only reinforces the behavior.