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VIRTUAL AA MEETINGS
When I needed help, ILAP was there for me.
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- You are spending more and more money on gambling activities, even if you can‘t afford it
- You feel an uncontrollable urge to gamble, regardless of the consequences or the losses incurred.
- You find yourself lying or hiding your gambling habits from friends and family members in order to continue playing without being caught.
- You rely heavily on borrowed money to cover gambling debts, or use credit cards instead of cash when playing at casinos or betting sites online so as not to run out of funds too quickly during a gaming session.
- Your relationships with loved ones have suffered due to your addiction, whether that’s through neglecting them for longer gaming sessions or arguing over finances spent on gambling activities
- ILAP Program Participant
If you are in need of help or are concerned that an attorney, judge, or law student has an issue that might be interfering with their personal or professional lives, there is confidential help.
Iowa Lawyers Assistance Program
GAMBLING
Don't bet your career or personal relationships
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RESOURCES
ILAP's weekly, confidential, and virtual
AA meetings are held Thursdays at noon.
REACH OUT TO US
Problem gambling can destroy families and marriages, force bankruptcies, and jeopardize employment. Problem gamblers have higher rates of suicide, divorce and criminal behavior. Seeking professional help for a gambling problem is nothing to be ashamed of and it is not a sign of weakness. On the contrary, it is a sign of strength to recognize that gambling has become a real problem and to responsibly seek assistance.
Helping the person with the gambling problem is not the only issue. Those around the problem gambler need information and tools of their own to deal with the problem gambler and to weather the collateral damage of problem gambling. Help should be sought by those with a problem gambler in their midst, regardless of whether the problem gambler seeks help.
In the same way that a majority of people can consume alcohol recreationally and not experience problems, many people also place a wager in the gaming industry now and then without experiencing problems. But, conversely, much like alcohol becomes poison to the alcoholic who develops a chronic yet treatable illness, gambling may become compulsive and toxic to the problem gambler who develops a pathology that requires similar treatment.
According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, problem gambling is gambling behavior which causes disruptions in any major area of life: psychological, physical, social or vocational.
Problem gambling includes, but is not limited to, the condition known as “pathological” or “compulsive” gambling, a progressive addiction characterized by increasing preoccupation with gambling, a need to bet more money more frequently, restlessness or irritability when attempting to stop, “chasing” losses, and loss of control manifested by continuation of the gambling behavior in spite of mounting, serious, negative consequences.
FIVE SIGNS OF GAMBLING ADDICTION