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...m gambler. Pathological or compulsive gamblers can’t resist the temptation to gamble. They run up large debts, and they damage relationships with family and friends. A problem gambler is a person who gambles more than he or she can afford. He or she may lie about gambling or may gamble longer than planned (Broder 3). Problem, pathological and Internet gamblers are much more likely than low risk gamblers to gamble for the excitement, or to have been troubled by mental or emotional problems including manic symptoms, and depressive episodes ( Broder 3). Internet gamblers were also more likely to be unmarried and younger than those who never used the Internet for gambling. They also tended to have lower education and income levels than non-Internet gamblers ( Broder). The expansion of legalized gambling in America carries a high cost. A 1997 Harvard study found that an estimated 15.4 million Americans suffer from problem or pathological gambling. Over half that number- 7.9 are adolescents. Gambling addictions can be particularly devastating to the individual, his family and his employer. The National Academy of Sciences found that pathological gamblers engage in destructive behaviors. They damage relationships with family and friends, and they kill themselves ( Schouten n.p.). Gamblers Anonymous is an organization that gamblers can seek to get help. People gather together throughout the nation to share their experiences so that they can overcome their common problem and help others to recover as well ( Broder 5). Gamblers Anonymous offers twenty questions to anyone who feels he or she may have a gambling problem and wants to stop gambling. Gamblers Anonymous officials say most compulsive gamblers will answer yes to at least seven of the following questions that are warning signs of gambling addiction ( Broder). 1. Did you ever lose time from work or school due to gambling? 2. Has gambling ever made your home life unhappy? 3. Did gambling affect your reputation? 4. Have you ever felt remorse after gambling? 5. Did you ever gamble to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties? 6. Did gambling cause a decrease in your ambition or efficiency? 7. After losing did you feel you must return as soon as possible to win back your losses. 8. After a win did you have a strong urge to return and win more? 9. Did you often gamble until your last dollar is gone? 10. Did you ever borrow to finance your gambling? 11. Have you ever sold anything to finance gambling? 12. Were you reluctant to use “gambling money” for normal expenditures? 13. Did gambling make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family? 14. Did you ever gamble longer than you had planned? 15. Have you ever gambled to escape worry or trouble? 16. Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance gambling? 17. Did gambling cause you to have difficulty sleeping? 18. Do arguments, disappointments or frustrations create within you an urge to gamble? 19. Did you ever have an urge to celebrate any good fortune by a few hours of gambling? * Have you ever considered self-destruction or suicide as a result of your gambling? (Broder). The question of why compulsive gamblers continue to gamble has been answered many times by many professionals over the years. In the early ‘20s and ‘30s, Freudian analysts viewed compulsive gambling as a form of play undertaken by men who didn’t want to grow up. They believed that compulsive gamblers were deprived of attention and love in childhood. The result was a strong desire for pleasure and immediate gratification in adulthood. Early analysts believed that compulsive gamblers found the pleasure they sought in gambling ( Heineman xx). Sigmund Freud believed that the individual’s drive to gamble was really a transformation of the child’s drive to masturbate. Other early analysts believed that the compulsive gambler is a masochist who subconsciously wants to lose because he enjoys being punished. This punishment is said to alleviate feelings of guilt ( Heineman xx). Some behaviorist psychologists have viewed gambling as a reinforcing activity because it produces excitement , arousal, and tension. They believed that the desire to alleviate feelings of guilt about gambling compulsively cause the gambler to return and gamble again. Behaviorists claim that gambling is a learned behavior and that it can be unlearned ( Schouten n.p.). Some theorists believe that compulsive gamblers have a personality that lends itself to this type of activity. According to this theory, most compulsive gamblers were raised in a home where they felt neither loved nor appreciated. They therefore entered adulthood with very low self esteem. Whenever these gamblers faced a problem in life, they looked for relief and escape. In their early youth years they found relief by escaping into fantasy. Later they found it whenever they were gambling ( Kemmick A1). Another theory that some theorists believes that there may be a biophysical basis for compulsive gambling. Compulsive gamblers are said to have low endorphin levels in their brains. Endorphin are chemicals that are manufactured naturally in our bodies. They produce a natural high. People with low endorphin levels may turn to an activity that produces arousal, such as gambling to give them this high. This view would explain why some compulsive gamblers become addicted from their first gambling experience ( Gareiss 59). The father of the treatment of compulsive gambling Dr. Robert Custer, had his own theory about why people gamble compulsively. He believed that every humans being has four basic emotional needs: affection, approval, recognition, and self-confidence. When these needs are not met, a person feels inadequate, rejected, helpless, and overwhelmed by life. Dr. Custer had support on this theory by compulsive gamblers themselves. Most reports that they grew up feeling all of those negative reactions and that when they gambled and won, they were able to buy friends, love, and self esteem. The wins made them feel powerful ( Adebayo 7). There are some common characteristics present among male compulsive gamblers. These men are competitive, athletic, intelligent, and energetic. They learned at an early age to avoid adult responsibilities, frustration, and conflict in their daily lives. Most of them say they cannot tolerate boredom and continually crave excitement (Volberg 4). The New Jersey Council on compulsive gambling conducted a study of compulsive gamblers entering treatment in its state. The council has found the following: * The average amount of money owed when the individual sought help was $43,150. * The average age was thirty-nine years. * All finished elementary school. * 83 percent finished high school. * 25 percent completed college. * The average age when they placed their first bet was thirteen years. * 50 percent made their own call for help and 33 percent of their spouses made the call. * 75 percent of those seeking help were married. * 85 percent said their game of choice was horses; 79 percent, sports; 74 percent, cards; 40 percent, casinos; 32 percent, numbers; and 5 percent, bingo. * Almost 75 percent of those studied admitted they had thoughts of suicide and 17 percent had attempted it. * 78 percent said they had committed a felony because of their gambling-22 percent had cashed bad checks and 18 percent had embezzled money (Anonymous 16). Gamblers Anonymous also gives an answer to the question of why compulsive gamblers continue to gamble. They share this view in their “Blue Book”- Sharing Recovery through Gamblers Anonymous. The Blue Book says: “We don’t know and we cannot afford to care. Those who come to us need help immediately. There is not time for the intellectual luxury to explore each compulsive gambler’s history and to interpret the results. There is no place in our fellowship Program for debate on the merits of different theories of recovery, on the conflicts between varying schools of psychological thought. The benefits of introspection and speculation are paltry when compared to the rewards of helping other regain their lives.” ( Bell 16). The following is a case study reported by the NGISC. Debbie had never been to a casino. So, shortly after casinos opened in nearby Black Hawk, Colorado, she and her husband decided to pay the casino a visit. They again visited a few days later. The novelty quickly wore off for Debbie, but not for her husband. Before long he was visiting the casinos four and five nights a week. Within three months of their initial visited, Debbie became aware that they would have to file for bankruptcy. Her husband had lost close to $40,000 in three months. Still, Debbie’s husband continued to gamble. She filed for divorce ending seventeen years of marriage. Before his gambling problems Debbie said her husband was a stable individual, an involved father with a strong work ethic. After gambling problems developed, Debbie found her husband almost unrecognizable. There were episodes of domestic violence and bizarre behavior. ( Freeman/ Mckinley 280). What do Arnold Rothstein, Chet Forte, and Pete Rose all have in common? They were all compulsive gamblers. Arnold Rothstein fixed the World Series in 1919. He died penniless and was murdered for reneging on a $250,000 bet. Chet Fonte was a star athlete and Emmy award winning director of “Monday Night Football”. Although he earned more than $ 500,000 a year, he couldn’t even afford a lawyer to defend himself on tax and fraud charges. Pete Rose was convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to jail. He was prohibited to become a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame (Vecsey 4 ). He has recently admitted to betting on baseball games while he played on a major league baseball team. There are some who say that there are definite advantages of gambling. There are many people who are able to use gambling as a night of entertainment. They can get a certain amount of mo...