Resources to help professionals identify problem gambling clients and respond to their needs.
Help and support
Help and support for family and friends
Look after yourself
"It’s really difficult. I’m torn between love for him and protecting myself and my family. It’s hard having to draw the line and be strong. It’s sad that I can’t trust my own twin brother"
Gambler’s Help assists family members and friends, as well as the person with the gambling problem.
Support for children
Apart from the obvious financial difficulties, children of someone who has an issue with their gambling may feel confused by their parents' change in behaviour. They may also feel abandoned, angry and depressed by what is happening at home.
To minimise the effect on children, support them emotionally to assist them to deal with the issues.
- Encourage children to talk freely about their feelings.
- Assure them that they are not responsible.
- Attempt to keep children engaged in family activities.
- If you are a parent, try not to over involve children in financial and problem-solving matters caused by gambling.
- Try to ensure that children understand that their family may need to budget but that they will be OK.
- Do not provide ‘bailout’ financial assistance to the person with a gambling problem. However, you may wish to assist their children in some ways such as paying for school excursions, clothes or outings.
- Do not denigrate the other parent as this can cause confusion. Separate the person from the behaviour and acknowledge that the behaviour is bad, not the person.
Should I seek professional help?
It is important to protect yourself financially and emotionally from any harm that may arise from problem gambling.
- You have the right to feel safe, and emotionally and financially secure.
- If taking action puts your safety or the safety of others at risk, you may need professional help.
You may need to put some emotional and physical distance between yourself and the person with the gambling problem.
This can be distressing and you may need to cease or dramatically change your relationship with the person who has a gambling problem. The change may only be for a short time or it may be permanent.
If you are starting to experience overwhelming sadness, anxiety or anger, seeking professional help may be a good idea. Talking to a professional who understands problem gambling will help you regain perspective and explore your options.
Counselling or self-help groups can assist you in making decisions regarding your relationship. Tell someone you trust about what’s happening. This is not compromising the privacy of the person with the gambling problem. Rather, it is building support for you among professionals and your friends . You may find relationship-counselling and mediation a safer alternative for discussing problems and seeking solutions, especially if there is a breakdown of communication between you and the person with the gambling problem.
Family members and friends can call to get support from Gambler’s Help and Peer Connection.
Further reading
You may aso find the following pamphlets helpful:
Comments Disclaimer
You're now in the public comments section of this page. Please do NOT post personal questions for Gambler's Help service professionals as they do not moderate or reply to questions here. This content comes from other people visiting the site and cannot be vouched for. Also please do NOT give feedback on the site here. A reminder: By using this Web site you are accepting the terms of the Department of Justice Privacy statement.
Comments
thanx 2 make a site on it.i self executed my self from casino.bt steel i feel that i can win whn i go 2 back.please help me 2 change my thinking
Gambling can be a real problem since the games are designed in a way that as you are losing, you feel like you just missed winning and the narrow miss is what keeps you coming back since you feel so close to being a winner. insanity
Anonymous, I hope you've worked it out. I did the same thing when I was a teenager and was in a lot of trouble for a few weeks, but they eventually calmed down and I learned a valuable lesson. You can't be perfect all of the time, you need to make the odd mistake to learn values in life, just make sure you do learn from it. Good luck.
i need help as i sole a lot of money off my parents and i need to talk to someone about what i have done to stop all the flighting
Great read…..the information is poignant and dead on for today’s society
I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog.I will keep visiting this blog very often. Seo Company | Facilities Manager jobs
Post new comment
Comment Rules
People who want to post comments on problemgambling.vic.gov.au are going to have to follow certain rules. Not all forums are like that, but this one is.
No swearing at all, no insulting individuals or groups, no libel, slander, no lying, no fabricating, no ethnic slurs, no religious bigotry, no threats of any kind, no vulgar humour and no insulting comparisons. Discourse and debate is encouraged but all comments should be polite and civil. This is a public space so please behave and write accordingly.
The Department of Justice reserves the right to remove posts it deems break any of the rules or the spirit of the rules and reserves the right to block individuals from commenting. Language filtering programs will be used to block certain words as will human moderation of all comments too.
Comments should be limited to the topic of the content above. This is not a place for private conversations, no matter how harmless.
Very important: if you see a comment that you feel is inappropriate, let us know by clicking on the 'comment complaint' or 'report this complaint' button.