Quote from: pancelot on Today at 05:39:44 AM

Quote from: Fivestar4everMVP on September 07, 2025, 07:33:23 PM

Have you read that Bible chapter and verse that talked about the demon Jesus christ casted out of a man, that after a while, probably some days, weeks, months or years, the demon returned to check on the man and realized that the man was empty, and the demon went and brought seven more demons stronger than itself, and they all possessed the man again, and we were told that the later state of the man became worser than the former.. This is the story of a person I used to know..

Few days ago, I meet someone I used to know a long time ago after loosing contact for a long time, he was a gambler back then but before we lost contact, he stopped gambling as he found out he was gradually becoming addicted as at that time..

Long story short, I found his profile on Facebook, I messaged him and we started chatting, it turned out he now lived in the same city where I live, reconnected and meet again few days ago, he had grown very lean like someone who was sick or doesn't feed well, I tried to find out what the problem is with him and I found out he is now a chronic gambling addict, I tried finding out from him what lead him back to gambling but he simply said it's a long story and wouldn't say anything anymore...

And within myself, I am still wondering, what could possibly lead a person back to gambling after successfully quitting initially? Know well the reason for initially quitting was addiction, does it make sense to go back to gambling and become even more addicted?

in my assessment, I found several things that could make him return to the bad habits you mentioned he'd stopped. I also have a friend with a similar story, and I noticed that earlier, a few things:

I feel like he's too empty in his life. I mean, it's true he might be working, but with fixed hours and not juggling other activities. So when he has free time, the illusions of his gambling days will definitely be remembered, and he'll be motivated to start again, with the lure in his mind of being able to recoup what he'd lost.
Personal environment. Well, I think the environment also plays a very important role in our lives. I've heard the saying, "If you're friends with a perfume seller, you'll smell good, but if you're friends with a blacksmith, you'll be hit by his sparks." Well, maybe he'll return or remain in the circle of people who gamble, which makes the temptation even stronger.
Feeling a lack of caring. I feel the support of family, friends, etc. is very influential, because everyone needs a support system in their life to guide, control, or at least remind us to do our activities.

So, in my opinion, people who have gambled will definitely return to gambling even after repenting. Why? Well, because of what I said above, personally, I'm more inclined towards too much free time. Free time makes our minds return to it again and again. So, if we're busy with work, hanging out with friends, family, or improving our lifestyle, we might not even have time to think about it, let alone play.

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