We have learned that compulsive gambling is an illness, not a moral issue. The disease of gambling is two fold: an obsession of the mind coupled with a spiritual emptiness. It can be ARRESTED but never CURED.
Only complete abstinence from the first bet of any kind can arrest this illness. No, one, not the psychiatrist, neither clergy, nor the family can do this for the gambler.
We have found that compulsive gambling does not indicate a lack of affection for the family. It is not a matter of love, but of illness. The gambler has lost the power of choice in the matter of gambling. Even knowing what happens when the first bet is made, the gambler will do so anyway. This is the “insanity” we speak of in regard to this illness.
When we fully understand, and accept the fact that compulsive gambling is a disease, that it is a mental obsession, and that we are powerless over it, we become ready to learn a better way to live.
Explanation taken from the Gamblers Anonymous website: www.gamblersanonymous.org