Gamblers Anonymous
Story★★★★Gambler’s Anonymous has twenty questions that it asks new members. Com- pulsive gamblers usually answer “yes” to at least seven of the twenty questions. 1. Do you lose time from work due to gambling?
2. Does gambling make your home life unhappy? 3. Does gambling affect your reputation?
4. Do you ever feel remorse after gambling?
5. Do you ever gamble to get money with which to pay debts or to otherwise solve financial difficulties? 6. Does gambling cause a decrease in your ambition or efficiency?
7. After losing, do you feel you must return as soon as possible to win back your losses?
8. After a win, do you have a strong urge to return and win more?
9. Do you often gamble until your last dollar is gone? 10. Do you ever borrow to finance your gambling?
11. Do you ever sell anything to finance gambling? 12. Are you reluctant to use “gambling money” for normal expenditure?
13. Does gambling make you careless about the welfare of your family? 14. Do you ever gamble longer than you planned?
15. Do you ever gamble to escape worry or trouble? 16. Do you ever commit, or consider committing, an illegal act to finance your gambling?
1 Robert J. Morgan. On This Day (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997), July 14th.
The point
Gamblers Anonymous uses twenty diagnostic questions to identify compulsive gambling; answering yes to seven or more indicates addiction.