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Quote by Kurt Dahl

“The overwhelming obstacle you will face after walking out of the casino, broke and despairing, is that your brain isn’t working properly. Your brain is under the influence of a tidal wave of its own chemicals created by your gambling episode. Think of what you have just done to the three pounds of grey matter between your ears. You’ve spent 4, or 8, or 12 hours (or more) sitting, still, frantically pushing a button thousands of times, and watching a screen of complex symbols and sounds flash into your senses every few seconds – for hour upon hour upon hour. The CIA could not come up with a better form of brain-altering torture – yet you do it willingly!”

Quote by Kurt Dahl

Book:Gambling Addiction: The complete guide to survival, treatment, and recovery from gambling addiction.
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Gambling Addiction: The complete guide to survival, treatment, and recovery from gambling addiction.

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Kurt Dahl

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“The process of coming down from a heroin or alcohol high takes several hours or even days, and the glide path is fairly steady and uniform. In stark contrast, the switch from being actively engaged in slot machine addiction to the moment the money runs out, and your emotions instantly switch from hopeful to failure and despair, occurs in a split-second. It is a cliff with a ten-thousand foot drop.”

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Book:Gambling Addiction: The complete guide to survival, treatment, and recovery from gambling addiction.
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“Slot machine addicts’ brains are tuned to hope for, and even expect, that they will get the big reward (a big win) right down to their very last spin. Studies have indicated that the anticipation of a reward activates the dopamine cycle even more than an actual reward.”

AddictionGamblingGamblerGambling AddictGambling AddictionProblem GamblingSlot Machines
Book:Gambling Addiction: The complete guide to survival, treatment, and recovery from gambling addiction.
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“One second the gambler is active in their addiction – the dopamine is flowing – and the next second the money is all gone and they can no longer anticipate a big reward. At that point they must get off the chair, step away from the machine, adjust their eyes to a larger field of vision, and then walk out the door in a trance, often into a dark and cold night. The intensity and severity of that instantaneous transition from hopeful to hopelessness is so dramatic and dangerous that it has led to thousands of impulsive suicides.”

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Book:Gambling Addiction: The complete guide to survival, treatment, and recovery from gambling addiction.
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“Right now, while you are reading this, your brain is functioning normally. But when you walk out of that casino your brain is seriously screwed up. Your willpower is weakened, your risk-taking tendencies are increased, and your decision-making system is not functioning in a way that can protect you from harm. As you walk out of that casino your brain is trying to kill you (or at least not able to prevent you from killing yourself). This is why, last year alone, thousands of people, who were okay 8 or 12 hours earlier as they walked into the casino, are now dead. This is why you must prepare now, while your brain is working properly. You can do things right now to prepare for that life or death moment. The primary goal of your preparation is for you to be able to walk out of the casino, get into your car, drive away, and totally ignore what just happened. Ignore the emotions, ignore the losses, ignore the despair, ignore the hopelessness – just drive on home as if nothing had happened.”

AddictionGamblingGamblerGambling AddictGambling AddictionProblem GamblingSlot MachinesCasino
Book:Gambling Addiction: The complete guide to survival, treatment, and recovery from gambling addiction.
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“The gamblers also rely on the absolute trust of the non-gamblers. If there is ever a question about money or time, the gamblers' loved ones readily accept the explanations. They don't check the bank accounts, the bills and the computer, speak to the gamblers' business partners about finances, or research the gamblers' explanations.”

AddictionGamblingGamblerGambling AddictGambling AddictionProblem GamblingGamblers AnonymousGam Anon
Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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“When the gamblers finally run out of money and credit, or crack under the strain of maintaining a "normal life" while living the life of a compulsive gambler, the gamblers "hit bottom" and reveal the life of lies to the shock of the non-gamblers. The gamblers will promise that this will never happen again, plead for one more chance, and ask for financial help to get out from under the debt.”

AddictionGamblingGamblerGambling AddictGambling AddictionProblem GamblingGamblers AnonymousGam Anon
Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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“When my husband and I went to the racetrack he handed me his $5.00 ticket “for luck." When he lost, he cursed and yelled. I told him that if he can't lose $5.00 like a grown-up, he shouldn't gamble. The thought that he had bought more tickets never entered my mind. I knew we didn't lie to each other. When he told me I couldn't go to the supermarket the next day because he had a bad business day on Saturday, it never occurred to me that this had anything to do with the evening at the racetrack. It didn't make sense until I came to Gam-Anon.”

AddictionGamblingGamblerGambling AddictGambling AddictionProblem GamblingGamblers AnonymousGam Anon
Book:GAMES COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and WE PLAY Second Edition
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