Hi community,

As with any addiction, the effects of addiction to games of chance and betting do not fall on the gambler alone. It affects the family, friends, relatives, and everyone around him, and may lead to the deterioration of their conditions.

It negatively affects social relationships and at the marital level. Pathological gambling can be described as a side relationship. The gambler invests his attention in gambling at the expense of the spouse, whom he sometimes repays to cover his infidelity. The marital relationship is destabilized against a background of lack of trust, helplessness, and anxiety about what will happen in the future.


Gambling and accumulated debts  lead the gambler to a moral collapse that may even amount to an existential threat to family members. Gamblers do not hesitate to sell property to finance their debts, take loans from relatives without any ability to repay the debts, and in extreme cases they may even physically harm family members.

Partners in dependency - Relatives often try to "understand" the addict and help him, by paying off his debts, while accepting his promise to stop gambling, a promise he is unable to keep. More than once, family members come to the aid process, becoming partners so that they become “addicted” to the therapeutic process. But help works in exactly the opposite direction instead of helping the gambler wean off, they perpetuate his condition. These partners, such as parents or spouses, may find themselves in great distress that requires treatment.

Of course, there are many indirect victims of gambling addiction. Can you add more?