My 82 year old mother is addicted to online gambling and keeps telling me she does not gamble. Last month she had 50 withdraws from her debt card, this month already over 200 dollars all going to the same place. She will make up stories why she does not have money like she had cancer and they will not pay for her chemo. I know for a fact she is lying just to get me to give her money she has made up all kinds of lies. I can not keep doing this. I am all she has my 2 brothers will not have anything to do with her. help
me and my senior dad gamble online but he strictly set him budget for it. Play within the budget.
The reason I sympathise with your mother and am grinding my teeth at the online companies is that they KNOW computer games are addictive, they KNOW gambling itself is addictive, they carefully design their sites to make them difficult for a person to leave, and then they cry all the way to the bank when it comes to corporate social responsibility. I speak not as a gambler - gambling just stresses me out and I hate it - but certainly as someone who knows how hard it is to stop playing FreeCell and Spider Solitaire at two in the morning with a busy day ahead.
What about, looking at her computer setup. How is she accessing these sites? Is there anything clever you can do to block them, or unsubscribe her, or find gambling-free substitutes?
Did she enjoy real-world gambling and betting before computers came along, or is this something she's discovered only online?
Gambling is legal in nearly all 50 states. In Louisiana where I live the state insisted before we accepted gambling as a legal activity that part of the proceeds would be used to fund a rehabilitation facility for gambling addiction. It’s called CORE. It’s an intensive 30 day stay at the rehab. It’s completely free for the addict.
What does that tell you? Yes, gambling can become a habit just like any other addiction, drugs, alcohol, shopping, etc.
You are smart to know that she is lying and you don’t fall for her sob stories. All addicts lie.
They not only wreck their own lives but often they wreck the lives of others. Those involved have no choice but to distance themselves. For some people sometimes even hitting rock bottom won’t help. Others have an awakening and make positive changes. Addicts are always at risks for relapse.
Others can offer help in the way of support such as taking them to an addiction counselor or bringing them to a gambling anonymous support group.
They have to be ready to want that for themselves. If they don’t want it or aren’t ready due to whatever reason they will not accept the offer for help.
My brother had a serious drug addiction. He refused help. I had to accept that I couldn’t help him. Don’t fall into the trap of feeling like a failure because you were not able to reach them. It’s their problem. Don’t make it be about you.
Set your boundary and stick to it. There are many free games out on the net, let her play those.
It's quite simple, really. She won't want to hear it, but oh well, that's how the cookie crumbles!