I'm Rob and I'm in recovery for a gambling addiction. I wanted to make a post answering a question that I receive all the time: "how much money did you lose gambling" and talk about why it's the wrong question to be asking.
The Common Questions
Gambling loss...
Something that every gambler and of course every gambling addict has experienced.
Something that most gamblers have experienced as well: being asked how much money they've lost...
The Comparison Trap of gambling loss
The reality is that the amount of money you lose gambling (as a problem gambler) is completely situational and relative to your income level. The truth is that we will lose whatever we have access to and likely get access to more money to keep chasing losses.
If you asked a problem gambler in recovery what percentage of their money they lost gambling, almost all of them would tell you 100% (or more). Yet, we tend to gravitate towards focusing on the headline numbers of the total dollar amounts.
We consistently miss the point... The point being that if you are losing 100% of your money, regardless of if it's $1 or $1,000,000 you are left with nothing and are picking up the pieces.
The total loss is irrelevant.
Why The Amount Of Money You Lose Gambling Doesn't Actually Matter
If I tell someone how much money I lost gambling, one of two things will be said:
"you lost more than me, so I must not be that bad"
"you lost less than me, talk to me after you lose X amount more"
What happens is, when we share the amount of money we lost, we give people who may be struggling actively with addiction a justification for continuing their behavior. Sure you may be miserable, but at least you aren't as miserable as the next guy...
So what is the amount of money you have to lose to become a gambling addict? Well you don't have to lose anything at all. You can get addicted to gambling the very first day you play, not everyone will, but anyone can.
I urge you to NEVER use the amount of money in your pocket or in your sports betting account to justify continuing to do something if you've recognized that it is a problem in your life.
Next Steps If you are struggling?
Find ways to limit the amount of money you have access to so you can control the possible damage
It is one of the four things I've done personally to quit gambling and keep myself clean for almost the last 600 days.
Check out this blog post to see the other steps that I've used to stop gambling.
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