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Quote by GAM-ANON INTERNATIONAL SERVICE OFFICE

“Loved ones desperately try to rationalize and defend why they put up with the outrageous behavior of their compulsive gamblers. They use statements such as "I love him," "I know she loves me," "He needs me and would be lost without me," "The children need their mother/father," or "My culture, religion, family do not approve of divorce." These are frequently some of the reasons offered as excuses for doing nothing about the situation.”

Quote by GAM-ANON INTERNATIONAL SERVICE OFFICE

Work

GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition

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GAM-ANON INTERNATIONAL SERVICE OFFICE

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“Even if the gamblers reach the point of seeking help through Gamblers Anonymous, the non-gamblers will often refuse to recognize their own need for help. This will not come until they have reached their own emotional "bottom" and they grow "sick and tired" of being "sick and tired.”

“They carted me off to a local emergency room, where I sat in a sterile, curtain-lined room for enough hours to fill up nearly an entire day. I was waiting, just racking up my medical bills. Over the span of time I was there, I saw three other women I recognized from the rehab center who had been transferred as well. I wondered how many more there were. We were like pawns being moved around, seemingly based on our ability to pay.”

“Parents may feel tremendous anger and a sense of betrayal just as spouses and companions do. But there is also a great deal of confusion surrounding the origin of the problem since parents generally feel responsible for their child’s upbringing. This is one of the primary points at which the path of the parents diverges from the path of other non-gamblers. Gamblers might be able to make the other nongamblers in their lives feel as though they have contributed to the problem in the family, but a parent may actually feel that they have caused it.”

“Since compulsive gamblers are master manipulators, the gambling children will attempt to capitalize on their parents' feelings of guilt and despair. They will beg, plead, blame, set one parent against the other and play all manner of other games designed to get the parents to bail them out of each worsening situation.”

“Grandparents are often a favored target as are siblings. Siblings are often coerced into keeping the gamblers' secrets as well as giving the gamblers money. This can cause even more rifts in the family as the other children begin to lie to the parents to cover for their siblings. The gamblers, in the meantime, will continue to manipulate all these family members in order to achieve their goals of obtaining more money and time to gamble.”