From: Me <indianrunner30@...>
Subject: [GettingPastGambling] Re: New Here/Jo
To: GettingPastGambling@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sunday, July 5, 2009, 8:10 AM

Wow, I have done and said so many of things written on this piece. It is an awful pattern.

--- In GettingPastGambling @yahoogroups. com, LostStar1969@ ... wrote:
>
>
> In a message dated 7/4/2009 2:07:19 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> indianrunner30@ ... writes:>>>I am trying to figure out what my issue is. What drives
> me to do this self-destructive cycle....<<<
>
> Hello Jo and welcome to our little group..I hope you find some comfort
> and support here and some ways to help you cope with your particular
> situation... Every few months when a new member joins I like to repeat posting the
> following piece as to me nothing I have read better portrays the thought
> process and motivations of the "Escape Gambler":
>
>
>
>
> (GENDER NOTE: Although this profile uses "She" for its example, remember
> that 49% of the men calling the ACCG Hotline in 1999 met our criteria for
> Escape or Late-On-Set gambling.)
> Typically, the escape gambler becomes enthralled with playing the slot,
> video poker, live keno or keno machine. It is exciting, it is fun, it does not
> talk back, it requires her full concentration. She has to pay attention to
> the results of each roll; keep pushing the button or pulling the arm; She
> does not have time to think about her problems. After just a brief period of
> time at the machine an almost hypnotic trance occurs. She realizes she has
> found a way to completely forget about all problems in her life. She feels
> comfortable, happy, and free from turmoil. She may later report that, in
> retrospect, she realizes she was "hooked" the very first time she played.
> The next time she has an opportunity to return to the machine, she has
> immediate relief from her problems. By the second or third visit she no longer
> goes with friends or family. They want to leave after awhile; she does not.
> She begins to go to the casino alone, stays for longer periods of time, goes
> to the casino more often and may graduate rapidly to the dollar machine.
> While at the machine, she does not have to worry about anything except how to
> stay longer and play more often. No one is telling her what to do, no phone
> calls, no one wanting this or wanting that, no demands, just freedom. Social
> needs are met. The change girl and other gamblers begin to know her and call
> her by name; she makes friends with other "regulars;" consequently, she
> begins to feel very comfortable while at the casino. Other problems are
> forgotten and she is having fun. She has selected a favorite machine. There are
> also second and third favorites. The gambler begins to call it "her" machine.
> If she goes to the casino and someone else is at her machine, she is angry.
> She will go to her second machine, but would much rather be at her "own"
> machine. She may talk to the machine, telling it to "come on, pay up", or swear
> at it, and thank it when it pays, but she will usually go back to her
> machine time after time. A lady recently said that she accused her machine of
> infidelity when she saw another lady win a jackpot at it. However, as soon as
> the winner left, she immediately returned to her machine, forgave its
> infidelity and continued the affair. Relationships with a machine are very real.
> She begins to make plans about her next gambling trip, always specific
> about how much money she will gamble with, and how long she will stay. She vows
> that as soon as the money is gone or the time is up she plans on leaving.
> However, as soon as she sits down at the machine a trance like hypnotic effect
> takes place. She pulls the handle or pushes the button and all plans are
> abandoned. She will stay at the machine, often not even getting up to use the
> bathroom or eat, only leaving her machine to go to the ATM or to write a
> check, asking an employee or another gambler to watch her machine while she is
> gone. Even when she wins, she will continue to gamble until she has depleted
> all available resources at that session and leave only when she no longer
> has money with which to gamble. Winning at this point only means she can
> gamble longer. Money is not real; it is like play money and has no link to
> reality. While playing the machine, she may pray to God to just let her win, just
> let her get even.
> When the escape compulsive gambler is finally out of funds, she is forced
> to leave the casino. She gets into her car feeling precisely like the action
> gambler who has just been taken out of action. She may pray , "Please never
> let me gamble again." She may swear that she will never gamble again, may
> curse God for allowing her to gamble; she may pound on the steering wheel,
> even scream and cry on the drive home and have thoughts about driving her car
> off of a bridge or into an oncoming vehicle (a thought she quickly abandons
> for fear of hurting someone else; as much as she wants to harm herself, she
> doesn't want it to appear self-inflicted and she doesn't really want to hurt
> a stranger). She will blame the casino, vowing never to return. But
> unfortunately, in order to escape the reality of the problems she already suffers
> and others she may have just created, she must gamble again.
> Once home, she has already prepared lies about where she has been or what
> she has done, is already making plans about how to obtain more money to cover
> bad checks she may have written and to obtain money with which to win back
> her losses. She will probably be back at the machine the next day or very
> soon and the cycle will repeat itself again and again until finally her world
> comes crashing down.
> ************ **A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy
> steps!
> (http://pr.atwola. com/promoclk/ 100126575x122132 3013x1201367230/ aol?redir= http://www. freecreditreport .com/pm/default. aspx?sc=668072& hmpgID=62& bcd=
> JulystepsfooterNO62 )
>