Dear LPG,

I don’t sleep that well these days and when I can’t I get up, get a cup of something and put the telly on for company.  I am not a big fan of the many adverts for the most odd and random products that can be found on so many channels at that time in the morning, the news often can be quite negative while many of the films available are not the sort that you would want to get caught up in if your plan is to make another attempt to get back to the land of nod.  That just leaves the gambling programs and if you are not careful you can find yourself entering that maze of enigma.   

I don’t indulge myself but I know one or two people who have acquired a taste for it in their later life.  The programmes make it look so easy with their many promises of at least one guaranteed win per night.  I have recently read that the amount of people with a gambling problem is rising and in my mind it is no wonder with all the television programmes and mobile phone apps that make getting involved so easy, and my favourite statement is the one that they usually slip in somewhere at the end of the adverts that are designed to get you involved; Always Gamble responsibly.

One of my circle of friends has dropped the odd hint that he has won money on the horses or playing online roulette and it worries me that this happens with increasing frequency.   I cannot help but wonder about the times he has lost and told no one and my big fear surrounds if he is spending more than he can afford on this habit. 

We have tried to get him to look at it as a hobby and tell him that hobbies cost money.  My idea was to encourage him to open a separate bank account where he can put some money each month specifically for his gambling, because that way he would be able to see just how much he is winning and losing.  I hope it would help him not go over budget.

It occurs to me that with there being an increasing amount of ways you can gamble these days, there must be an increase in the amount of addicted gamblers and they need their friends to help them nip a possible addiction in the bud.    They always say that the last person to know about any addiction is the addict themselves.

We friends got together one day with him and some online tests designed to let you know if you have such a problem, and getting him to join us in taking one or two forced him think a bit without the rest of us saying something unkind which might come over callously and result in spoiling our friendship. 

I think that many of us know someone we suspect may have a problem and some of these online tests might help. 

NU, Crofton Park

NU left the online quizzes found…

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