Online Gambling: Is addiction one click away? is a great article from the Canadian Health Network describing problem gambling and how it’s spreading online with easy, unlimited access to gambling sites. They warn that youth are developing online gambling problems and are especially vulnerable if they have a big win at an early age, if there is gambling in the family, and if they are lonely and bored (like so many teens). Some signs of a problem:

· spending large amounts of time gambling
· beginning to place larger bets and betting more often
· growing debts
· trying to cut back on gambling but can’t seem to do it
· lying about or hiding gambling habits, or refusing to talk about it
· frequent, obsessive thoughts about gambling
· preferring gambling to family occasions or other social activities
· pinning hopes on the big win that will solve financial or other problems

Take a self-assessment quiz called BetCheck.

Virtual money is still real money, and players can be lured in by free sites that lead to unregulated pay-to-play sites. One typical feature of problem gambling is the belief that you can beat the odds, but you can’t know who’s stacked them in an offshore virtual casino.

The article links to another well-written piece on counselling for the problem; what’s involved and how it helps. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health writes from an Ontario, Canada perspective where they offer abundant free counselling for gamblers and their families, with hotlines, groups, rehab facilities, etc. If you don’t live in Ontario, try finding a treatment option near you using the extensive Psych Central resources page.

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  Online Gambling Problems by gambling.ZapiZapi.com (8/2/2007)

Gambling Watch Global » Online Gambling - Addiction a click away? (8/9/2007)

alwayssx » Blog Archive » Online Gambling Problems (10/20/2007)

    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 2 Aug 2007
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.