Gambling Addiction: The Wages of Sin

There are a number of motivations that compel people to gamble. Perhaps the most common drive is the desire to make lots of money, and many perceive gambling as the easiest way to do it. And then there are those for whom money is just an additional perk, and the primary reason that these types of gamblers have for playing is merely to experience the excitement of competing in games of chance. But whatever motive one has for playing isn't what makes gambling good or bad, it is in the manner that they play and the consequences that it has in their lives. And the evils that are commonly associated with gambling would usually arise when one has become addicted to it.

Anything can be harmful when taken in large doses, and certainly gambling is no exception to this rule. Having accomplished the goal for playing, whether it is simple thrills or big money, a gambler might run the risk of getting drunk on success and thus develop an insatiable hunger to experience the high that one gets from gambling over and over again. The passion for gambling goes all awry and the habit turns into full-blown compulsion.

With gambling being an activity where the odds of losing can be as great, and perhaps even greater than winning, developing an addiction to it definitely holds dire consequences. A gambling addict would tend to choose getting their gambling fix over their basic needs. They would spend all of their finances away at the casinos, and once they have exhausted all their funds, they would think nothing of borrowing money from others in order to support their habit. They might even take it as far as stealing or engaging in any other illegal means in order to obtain money for gambling purposes. Addiction of any kind is undoubtedly damaging to one's personal life and well-being, but having an uncontrollable urge to gamble is particularly destructive.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to win, but to want it so bad as to be consumed by it is unhealthy and could lead one to a dark and dangerous path. For those who are already in the midst of a gambling addiction, the first step to treating this problem is to own up to the fact that they have one. Between the pleasures of playing and the lucrative rewards, gambling possesses many temptations that players have to be careful not to get too overwhelmed with. Gambling in itself is not inherently immoral, but when players get so obsessed with it to the point of gambling with their own lives, then it's time to step out of the casino and seek help.