Gamblers Anonymous: What They Don't Tell You

Forget about the guidelines of how Gamblers Anonymous was started or how well it works, hear it from someone that has actually attended these meetings before. What you think you know or believe this group to be may be different than what actually happens. Don't get me wrong there are a few things that can be taken personally from going to G.A. meetings, unfortunately its not all peaches n' cream either.

Walking into a room for the first time can be quite overwhelming. Many others in the room sitting around a round table ready for the newbie to sit down and tell there story. In the meantime if you have a spouse they sit amongst each other in a separate room discussing the effects that gambling has entrenched their lives. Yes it is not a pleasant thing to go through, but we haven't even started the discussions yet which whew your definitely on the chopping block.

After you have introduced yourself a list of 17 different things that you must read off and tell whether it is true that you had thought like this before or not. On this list you will read off things like "I have thought about stealing to gamble" or "I thought about suicide" and other things of this nature. if you say no to any of them not only the leader of the group, but everyone else looks at you like your a complete liar which pretty much makes it pointless to say no to anything.

So then people start going around the table telling their story of how they became addicted to gambling and how it seriously affected not only their own lives but their loved ones as well. It was quite sad to hear the majority of stories and after the mentally draining session everyone goes outside whether to smoke a cigarette or just get out of the building and get some fresh air (lol, isn't that an oxy-moron) but what started as a session to get rid of your gambling addictions became a side session about how much money people had won on numerous occasions. By the time we were finished outside everyone pretty much felt like jumping into a van and heading to the closest casino or something. It was so weird that I can not even put into words what I was actually feeling except that I couldn't wait to get the heck out of there.

Then of course we get back inside and start talking about God and praying about our situations, but the whole time in the back of my mind I am thinking about how all these people were so different while we were in the meeting and then talking like we were at a casino the next. So needless to say the first session went absolutely horrible and I really didn't want to go back. However I did try again with the same results and then that was it, I never returned.

Oh, I almost forgot about the hot lines that are available and 800 numbers you can call whenever you are feeling like gambling. Since the meetings didn't work I tried to go this route, and I laugh about it now but when I called the number I kid you not no one answered. I was confused, but I called the same number 4 times with no one ever answering on the other end. Lol, Thank goodness it wasn't a suicide hotline, although I am told that people with gambling problems can have suicidal tendencies.

I haven't gambled in quite awhile, and if I could pass one thing on that I did take from these meetings it would be that having an addiction to gambling is an incurable disease. You can only hope to control and in order to do that you must find something else to take up your time, keep your mind busy. For me its writing and fantasy sports leagues in football and baseball. The only thing I give money to today is the NCAA March Madness brackets. $5 for a month worth of action, thats what I call control, lol. Anyways thats what I have done for the past 3 years and if only one person gets a little help from this article then it was well worth writing. Until Next Time..................