Recent research reveals that approxiamtely 2.5 million adults in the United States are pathological gamblers and another 3 million adults should be considered problem gamblers.  Well over 500 billion dollars is spent on gambling each year in the United States.  That is a massive amount of money. 

Gambling has become big business in the United States, and the gambling industry is creating a massive number of gambling addicts as the following statistics show:

*The gambling industry has grown tenfold in the United States since 1975.

*Two-thirds of the adult population placed some kind of bet last year.

*Gambling profits in casinos are more than 30 billion dollars each year while lotteries make profits of about 17 billion dollars annually.

*In 1973 state lotteries had about 2 billion dollars in sales.  By 1997, the revenues of state lotteries reached 34 billion dollars.

*The average rate of divorce for problem gamblers is nearly double that of non-gamblers.

*The suicide rate for pathological gamblers is twenty times higher than for non-gamblers (one in five pathological gamblers attempts suicide).

*65 percent of pathological gamblers commit crimes to support their gambling habit.

As those statistics show, a gambling addiction can be absolutely devastating.

So how do you know if you are addicted to gambling?  The following are some of the common symptoms of gambling addiction:

-The feeling that you can’t get through the day without gambling.

-You are not able to control your gambling. Once you start you find it very hard to stop.

-You find yourself always thinking about your next poker game or your next trip to the casino.

-You experience repeated failure when you try to quit gambling.

-You hide your gambling from your family and friends.

-You may find yourself stealing money or committing crimes to obtain money for gambling.

-You may experience increased outbursts of irritability and anger, and you may find yourself resorting to violence much more easily.

-You gamble as a way to deal with your problems.

-You may have many unexplained absences from work and have difficulty sleeping.

So how can you overcome gambling addiction?

There are basically four key steps that you need to take.

#1) Admit You Have A Problem

Most addicts refuse to admit that they are addicts. They ignore the problem and so they never get any treatment for it. If you are going to beat this, then at some point the first step is to admit to yourself and others that you do indeed have a problem.

#2) Decide That You Want To Change

Many addicts are perfectly content to stay in their addicted state. It is comfortable for many of them. But in order to change you have to decide that is what you want, and you aren’t going to accept the pain and suffering that your addiction is causing you any longer.

#3) Reach Out For Help

Talk to someone that you trust and ask for help. This involves swallowing your pride. Often a good first step is to reach out to a trusted family member. After that, reaching out to a professional who works in the field of your addiction or reaching out to a spiritual advisor can be extremely helpful. You are likely to need help in overcoming your addiction, and family, friends and licensed professionals are there to be that help.

#4) Turn To God

Ultimately this is the most important step. Many have found that they did not have the power in themselves to beat an addiction, but that when they turned to God they found all the power that they ever needed. The truth is that we all need God whether we are addicts or not. We are all messed up in some way and we have all sinned. But the good news is that Jesus Christ came to this earth to die for our sins on the cross. We urge you to invite Jesus Christ into your life today, because He will not only help you overcome your addiction - He will forgive your sins and give you eternal life, and nothing is more important than that.

To learn more about how you can become a Christian, we would encourage you to read this…..

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1049/1049_01.asp