Fairy tale of the goldfish
How many jokes are made up after a well-known fairy tale of the Goldfish? As it turns out, it is possible to find about a hundred versions if not more. Referring again and again to the classical story of acquiring all the blessings from nowhere, apparently, making no efforts as if with a wave of a magic wand, the world continues to invent similar stories in real life - in the life of players.
Remember, how the happy owner of the Goldfish could not stop and finally was left with nothing? Similarly the bright lights of numerous casinos and slot machines fascinate and attract the increasing number of people like crazy. No, we are not going to frighten you and blame the fatal passion for gambling. This is rather the information for consideration. It has been found out by scientists, that despite the mass popularity of gambling as a kind of entertainment or leisure time, the number of so-called “problem gamblersâ€, people addicted to gambling, is about 3,7 %. It should be noted that this percentage does not depend on geographical situation of a region and the degree of its involvement into the gambling industry.
When does gambling-addiction begin? The exact moment can be hardly defined, but what we can say for sure is that everyone who has come to a casino bought a lottery ticket, started playing slot machines may become gambling addicted. Thus, once having staked on the result of a sport competition, we somehow start competing with ourselves…
Meanwhile, symptoms of gambling addiction include, firs of all, the increasing time spent by a person playing games, change in interests and, as a result, replacement of former interests with the new ones linked with games, loss of self-control when a player cannot stop neither after a big prize, nor after constant losses.
Gambling-addiction can be recognized due to the state of psychological discomfort, anxiety and irritability of a person in a very short period of time after a game. Perhaps, it can be compared with the painful state of a drug addict after abstinence because the situation also has some accompanying symptoms: troubled sleep, bad mood and poor concentration of attention, a headache. It should be mentioned, that gambling addiction is often accompanied by alcohol and drug abuse. In that case, we can speak of one of the combined forms of addiction.
People who became gambling addicts often have ruining relationships with other people. So, the situation when obsession with gambling becomes a refuge - unfortunately, an elusive one - in a complex family background is typical. Living in game world, a gambling addict gradually loses the links with the real world. Family conflicts, divorce, irresponsibility, misbehaviour, frequent change of jobs - it seems, that all the misfortunes have attacked him at once. In fact, all these reasons together make a disaster – squabbling in family, problems at work, desire to pay the debt, and such encouraging beginning of the game tempting and promising the gain. It seems to the player, that he can easily stop, but the image of the sweet victory leads him to new stakes and new losses. “The goldfish†rules over thoughts and actions of the players all over world, again and again leaving with nothing those who were not strong enough to stop gambling in time.