have you ever had a family member who had a gambling problem? What did you do about it? What happened after?
I have a brother with a major gambling addiction that has ruined MY LIFE. I used to loan him money all the time for his “bills”, as did our parents and sister. Hell, I fell for his shit so much that when he moved back into town three years ago or so, I fell for family pressure from my parents (against my better judgement of all things) and shared an apartment with him just so he could get back on his feet. Damn I was a dope back then, that was a massive mistake on my part for which I’m still paying the price for.
While at the apartment, I quit a good paying job that I loved due to burn out and frustration. I couldn’t recover my own finances due to all my money going to the apartment to my own bills. Couldn’t find a job that payed more than that one and couldn’t keep up. I moved into my folks home, and eventually filed chapter 7 and had my truck repo’d. Now I have no vehicle, I work a shitty part-time job at min. wage, I live with my mom and dad, and I’ve got a chapter 7 on my credit report for the next 10 years. I’m 33 years old and I live off my folks, how sad it that sh*t.
What really pisses me off is that before he moved back into town and before I was pushed into moving in with him, I was doing great. I was paying off all my bills on time, I was going to be damn near debtfree in a year or two, I wasn’t stressed out, I loved my job, I was dating, feeling great about myself, losing weight. Then he shows up, and everything turned upside down for me with in a short period of time. Now even my health has gone southbound, between my mild spastic cerebral palsy and the physical work I do my legs are torn to shreds and I can barely even walk some days. And riding my 18 speed bike 3 miles to work is making them worse.
My brothers gambling problems are getting worse. He blew his entire paycheck on gambling plus another $1200 that he got from gambling. His truck got repo’d this week. That 2k he blew, he could’ve used to keep his truck. Now he wants to quit his job and work for the company I work for and move in with mom and dad like I did. I’m really pissed that not only did he f*ck up my life, he’s now going to go the last mile and finish f*cking up his own life.
Do I have a right to be pissed off that’s he’s throwing away everything? Should I be pissed or should I enjoy watching his life go to hell? Should I say something, or just let him sink himself?
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/gambling_addiction.htm
http://www.casinoscorner.com/articles
http://www.wikihow.com/Deal-With-a-Gambling-Addiction
theres not much you can do for a family member that gambles – especially if it kinda controls their life – how old is your brother? do your parents know ANYTHING about ANY of this or have you kept this all hush hush?
he is a grown man so he is ultimately free to do what he wants – but parents are good at keeping rules if you live under their roof – sadly kids are never too old for parents to treat them like children –
You have a right to be mad – its unfortunate – you got involved – stress is a hard thing to judge – how much your brother is responsible for you quitting your good job could be ALL his fault – sadly you too are an adult – and most people are still going to say bad circumstances aside you are an adult too – you dont quit your job because your brother is an idiot! you need to look out for yourself FIRST! your brother may do this for YEARS still before he hits bottom – some people never hit bottom, there is only so much you can do –
I wish you both well – =)