What are signs of a gambling addiction that can be hard or misleading to detect?

Question

I have a friend that goes gambling maybe about once every 3 to 4 months but once he gambles its like a bindge, and he swears he is not addicted because he still is responsible for paying his bills and working, but to me when I see him gamble he seems to be getting high off of it, he believes he can control "Luck". When the money is gone he calls and has people wire him money,he will gamble for the whole weekend without much sleep, when he he losses and its all said and done he is so mean and uptight. It sounds like an addiction , Is it? Im not familiar with it at all, I get confused because he is responsible for his car note,and other bills and has nice things that are pricey. Help me out with this one.

Answer 1

He dose have a gambling addiction...

it is a need that is being indulged... just cause it's not all the time doesn't mean it's not there....

I think he feels though that he must need to blow off some steam... to risk loss since he has everything he wants just about maybe the taste of putting some of it on the line and losing it gives him some sort of satisfaction, but when he dose feel the loss he is angered by it and begins to hurt people around him and himself to with his blood pressure.

All in all it's a problem but one that isn't so much harm unless he starts doing it more and more... and the things he dose have start disappearing from around him.

He just doesn't fit the profile of a person addicted to gambling.... cause you see them as the person that has nothing and gives everything they own until they are poor. in his case though he has room to lose a few things and still look the same.

He might be a little of a controlling person to, thinking he can control luck.....

Luck is Random....

Answer 2

You're a very good friend for being so concerned. I would say that he's a borderline addict with perhaps a slight schizophrenia. It sounds like he 'loses his head' briefly and then is back on the straight and narrow again.
As long as these episodes don't become more frequent, it's probably not going to kill him. He ought to have therapy, just to find out what fuels the self-destructive sessions.