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There I felt secure and comfortable. No great demands were made upon me. I knew I was <br />destroying myself, yet at the same time, 1 had a certain sense of security." <br />3. IMMATURITY. A desire to have all the good things in life without any great effort on <br />their part seems to be the common character pattern of problem gamblers. Many <br />Gamblers Anonymous members accept the fact that they were unwilling to grow up. <br />Subconsciously they felt they could avoid mature responsibility by wagering on the spin <br />of a wheel or the turn of a card, and so the struggle to escape responsibility finally <br />became a subconscious obsession. <br />Also, a compulsive gambler seems to have a strong inner urge to be a 'big shot' and needs to have <br />a feeling of being all powerful. The compulsive gambler is willing to do anything (often of an <br />antisocial nature) to maintain the image he or she wants others to see. <br />Then too, there is a theory that compulsive gamblers subconsciously want to lose to punish <br />themselves. There is much evidence to support this theory. <br />What is the dream world of the compulsive gambler? <br />This is another common characteristic of compulsive gamblers. A lot of time is spent creating <br />images of the great and wonderful things they are going to do as soon as they make the big win. <br />They often see themselves as quite philanthropic and charming people. They may dream of <br />providing families and friends with new cars, mink coats, and other luxuries. Compulsive <br />gamblers picture themselves leading a pleasant gracious life, made possible by the huge sums of <br />money they will accrue from their 'system'. Servants, penthouses, nice clothes, charming friends, <br />yachts, and world tours are a few of the wonderful things that are just around the corner after a <br />big win is finally made. <br />Pathetically, however, there never seems to be a big enough winning to make even the smallest <br />dream come true. When compulsive gamblers succeed, they gamble to dream still greater <br />dreams. When failing, they gamble in reckless desperation and the depths of their misery are <br />fathomless as their dream world comes crashing down Sadly, they will struggle back, dream <br />more dreams, and of course suffer more misery. No one can convince them that their great <br />schemes will not someday come true. They believe they will, for without this dream world, life <br />for them would not be tolerable. <br />Isn't compulsive gambling basically a financial problem? <br />No, compulsive gambling is an emotional problem. A person in the grip of this illness creates <br />mountains of apparently insolvable problems. Of course, financial problems are created, but they <br />also find themselves facing marital, employment, or legal problems. Compulsive gamblers find <br />friends have been lost and relatives have rejected them. Of the many serious difficulties created, <br />the financial problems seem the easiest to solve. When a compulsive gambler enters Gamblers <br />Anonymous and quits gambling, income is usually increased and there is no longer the financial <br />drain that was caused by gambling, and very shortly, the financial pressures begin to be relieved. <br />Gamblers Anonymous members have found that the best road to financial recovery is through <br />5 <br />