One of the realities of the gambling world is that there is a small percentage of people who have a predisposition towards addiction. The percentage of people prone to this type of gambling addiction is about the same in different areas across the world, and the gambling industry has a moral and ethical obligation to provide help for these people.
A 46-year-old mother of three lost a total of about £250,000 over a period of 10 years to her addiction, and she lost her family as well. If you feel like you are gambling to much then please read our article on responsible gambling and seek help today!
How it All Happened
The woman’s name is Tara Mooney, and she worked as a bus driver for years. That was the case, at least, until she was canned for missing shifts due to playing fruit machines in both land-based areas and online.
Virtually every penny that she made went into these games after she initially got hooked playing bingo games. She talked about how during the breaks for bingo, she would go and play the slots and fruit machines that were available in the venue.
At one point, she actually stole money from her job before quickly telling her boss about it, and her boss was very understanding and didn’t want to fire her because she was seen as such a good worker. That eventually changed when she kept missing shifts due to her gambling addiction, and this led to her being fired.
She’s past her gambling addiction now and has new hobbies that help her to pass her time, but it wasn’t always like this. And now Tara is finding out that there were consequences to her actions, regardless of whether or not they were the result of compulsive behavior.
The Impact of Gambling Addiction on Her Family
Tara had a husband and three sons. Her husband left her after their marriage broke down because of her addiction, and her two sons moved away to get away from her because of the problems. Her oldest son, now 26 years old, eventually forgave her, and now they live together.
This is the last bit of her immediate family that she is in contact with on a regular basis, though her extended family was a bit more understanding and forgiving. A big part of that probably had to do with them having distance between themselves and the results of her problem, something that’s common in situations like this.
Whose Responsibility Is It?
There’s a big question that comes up in situations like this one: Whose responsibility is it to police these things? Some people want to lay blame on the companies that operate the machines, but once you understand how the industry works, you see that this isn’t really going to be all that helpful.
Even if someone is blocked from games, it’s extremely easy to just jump over to games at another business. This is especially true in the online world. If you are excluded from play at one site, even if you’re the one who excluded yourself, there are hundreds of others ready to take its place.
This is just the reality of the situation, and it’s not something that’s probably ever going to change. However, if you want to give players the best chances of getting help, then the way to do it in this type of environment is to make sure that they have opportunities in front of them to help themselves and get with people who will form a group of support around them to assist them in their fight against gambling addiction.
