Problem gambling can affect anybody, from any walk of life, from any part of Nova Scotia at any age.
Right now, there are an estimated 15,000 people suffering from problem gambling in Nova Scotia with 35,000 more at risk of developing a problem.
Do you have a problem? A website alone can't make that call, but gambling may be a problem if it:
- gets in the way of work, school or other activities
- harms your mental or physical health
- hurts you financially
- damages your reputation
- causes problems with your family or friends
The signs of problem gambling
It's very important to recognize the signs that you may be developing gambling problems:
In general, you:
- gamble longer and spend more money than you mean to
- feel guilty about how long or how much you gambled
- borrow money to gamble and don't repay it
- love the rush that winning gives you and keep trying to win
again to get the feeling back
- use gambling to forget about something that's bothering you
- are convinced that if you keep gambling, you'll win back the
money you've lost
- are sure that hitting a big win will solve your problems
When you're out socializing, you:
- head straight to the VLTs, slots, or table games and stay there
- find yourself spending more time gambling than with your friends or family
- go out alone so you can gamble "in peace"
- keep going back to the ATM or use credit cards repeatedly to
get more money to gamble longer
- go out to the Casino to watch a show or to dine, but find yourself gambling instead
At home, you:
- are on Internet gambling websites for long periods of time instead of being with your family
- have large credit card bills because of gambling website charges
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