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The Causes Of Pathological Gambling

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Pathological Gambling Rolling dice once and suddenly winning a huge amount of money. Only, that person knows the satisfaction because almost everyone enjoys becoming a bit richer, but he would have no idea about when this satisfaction will lead him to addiction? The thinking “I am sure I will be winning this time” never allows that person to realize the amount of time and money he had spent on gambling. National surveys in 1995 and 1998 found that 61% to 63% of Americans gambled at least once a year (National research council staff). Pathological gambling is different from normal recreational gambling. Normal gambling is viewed as a source of entertainment. Pathological gambling, on the other hand, is the inability of a person to resist impulses to gamble which may turn out to be evil for self, family, and society. “When the gambler enters the desperate phase and begins to chase his losses”, Sanger said “he is ready to sell his daughter’s graduation dress or steal from his mother’s retirement fund to get money to gamble” (Breo, Losing Streaks). Pathological gambling is more common in adult men than any other age groups. According to current research, among 120 million adult Americans who gamble, approximately 11 million will end up being pathological gamblers (Paul and Townsend 1998). People will often point out their social or economic problems to be the main reasons for gambling. However, research shows that people gamble not only for excitement but also with the hope of

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