Hawaii Island Recovery 
Veterans give their all to their country and community, putting their well-being on the line to answer the call of duty. However, the unique experiences of veterans, from navigating life-threatening scenarios to on-base traumatic experiences, create a unique set of needs and can even inform the development of addiction in military personnel. While exposure to alcohol or prescription painkillers is common among veterans, many veterans may also experience other forms of addiction that can be just as devastating. This includes compulsive gambling addiction. Recognizing the signs of gambling addiction in a veteran loved one is necessary to begin exploring effective healing from gambling addiction and a transformed life as a veteran.
The Widespread Effects of Gambling Addiction on Veterans
Addiction is a disease that affects a person in many ways, having a profound impact on a person mentally, emotionally, physically, socially, and even professionally. While many people may immediately think of the use of addictive substances when words like “addiction” are brought up, behavioral addictions like gambling are just as real and dangerous, affecting similar parts of the brain and bringing many difficult challenges. Mental health disorders, changes in behavior, loss of a job, financial strain, interpersonal conflict, and more are all common as a result of gambling addiction.
Likewise, gambling addiction is not a disease that will simply ‘go away’ if unaddressed. Rather, taking action to confront the disease and support a veteran loved one going through it is paramount, with this kind of support and care beginning with identifying the signs and symptoms of gambling addiction in the first place.
The Various Forms of Gambling
Identifying gambling addiction can be difficult. Gambling is completely legal, and it can even be a common pastime for many people. Being both legal and accessible, through in-person gambling outlets like casinos and video poker machines located even at some convenience stores, as well as online betting and gambling apps, identifying when a person’s gambling has become an addiction can be ambiguous.
For many veterans, gambling may also be combined with personal hobbies. This most often takes the form of sports betting or fantasy sports gambling through online or digital media, betting on their favorite sports team, or even daily outcomes. Online casinos can also make gambling more accessible, from poker to online slots. Playing digitally can also make it even easier to lose track of how much a person has already lost when gambling, making it difficult to identify problematic levels of gambling.
Each of these forms of gambling is legal. However, that does not mean that it is safe, or that gambling cannot bring real harm to a person’s daily life. Rather, familiarizing oneself with the signs and symptoms of gambling addiction, especially among veteran loved ones or family members, can be necessary to identify when these gambling outlets begin to overtake other areas of life or come with mental and emotional consequences.
Signs and Symptoms of Gambling Addiction Among Veterans
Gambling addiction is a very real disease, and for those living with it, simply stopping gambling can be intensely difficult. It is also common that many veterans may also realize the need to stop gambling, but feel compelled to continue anyway, despite mounting negative consequences. Others may feel “stuck” in a cycle of gambling, having lost so much money that the only way out of this debt feels like hitting the jackpot, counterintuitively causing a person to gamble more in an attempt to “chase losses.” Recognizing signs of gambling addiction, either in oneself or a loved one, can be a reason to open a discussion about gambling addiction, its effects, and possible treatment options.
Behavioral Signs of Gambling Addiction
Gambling addiction can fundamentally change a person’s behaviors, dictating daily life, activities, and attitudes. Some of these behavioral changes of gambling addiction include:
- An inability or unwillingness to stop gambling
- Using funds for other responsibilities, like rent, groceries, or bills for gambling, instead
- Unsuccessful attempts to stop gambling, even after recognizing the negative consequences, or at the request of a loved one
- Increasingly large wagers, either in an attempt to “win big” or to recoup past losses
- Preoccupation with gambling
- Lying about gambling, either in how often a person is gambling, or how much is being wagered
- Stealing or asking others to cover financial costs and responsibilities so more money can be spent on gambling, or due to an inability to cover these costs after a loss
- Social withdrawal, especially when not involving gambling aspects
Those living with a gambling addiction may also commonly recognize the need for change themselves but find it difficult to stop. Pervasive stigmas can make it difficult to reach out for help or effectively challenge the effects of gambling on daily life, leaving many to gamble in secret or attempt to hide their losses. However, the effects of gambling addiction are never truly isolated, nor can they be kept entirely a secret, with the disease affecting everyone from friends and family members to spouses and loved ones.
Financial strain can also lead to new behaviors, such as constantly maxing out credit cards, asking for money, selling personal or prized possessions, and mounting unpaid bills. These financial strains can also manifest even as a person’s financial income does not change, highlighting the increased expense and damage of gambling addiction.
The Emotional and Mental Signs of Gambling Addiction
Addiction also affects a person’s mental and emotional health, with gambling addiction having profound effects on the brain. Gambling can fundamentally affect thoughts, feelings, and even a person’s brain chemistry, coming with a myriad of emotional effects that can be difficult to navigate without support. Some of these mental and emotional signs of gambling addiction include:
- Increased anxiety, depression, and mood swings resulting from mounting losses
- Feeling physically and mentally restless when not gambling
- Inability to enjoy other hobbies or outlets
- Increased depression and suicidal ideation, especially when accompanied by feelings of hopelessness and financial devastation
Those living with a gambling addiction may also turn to other attempts at self-medicating the effects of gambling itself, leading to a combination of gambling and substance use. However, this can quickly develop into co-occurring disorders and multiple addictions simultaneously, a delicate situation that demands professional support to address.
There is no “quick fix” to overcoming gambling addiction. Rather, it is a disease that can continue to affect a person’s financial well-being, mental health, emotional health, and behaviors until addressed. Noticing even some of these signs of gambling addiction can be a reason to contact Hawaii Island Recovery or a local treatment facility about potential treatment options to support a loved one as they begin their journey of overcoming gambling addiction.
The Unique Relationship Between Veterans and Gambling
Gambling addiction can affect anybody, and there is nobody immune to addiction of any kind. A genetic predisposition for developing an addiction, environmental and social factors, underlying mental health disorders, and more can all inform a person’s decision to turn to addictive substances or behaviors like gambling or continue to inform these relationships to unhealthy levels.
However, veterans can be in a unique situation, with several needs and challenges unique to this population that make addressing addiction, even gambling addiction, a unique challenge. Knowing the unique reason why a veteran loved one may be at an increased risk of developing an addiction can inform important conversations, context, and treatment options to address gambling addiction while situating oneself as an effective and knowledgeable support.
Mental Health and PTSD Among Veterans
Military veterans can often come home facing new challenges. Mental health disorders like anxiety, depression, and moral injury are all common among military personnel, especially those who have lived through active war zones and seen combat firsthand. Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is also common among members of any branch of the military, both from experiences on the battlefield or even on base through intense training regimens or military sexual trauma (MST).
These challenges do not stay on base, and veterans often carry them silently back into civilian life once they have been discharged from active duty. However, they still profoundly affect daily life, and can inform behaviors and escapist tendencies as a way to cope with their intense effects. Gambling can be one of these escapist tendencies developed as a coping strategy.
Transition Stress and Isolation
Many veterans often feel disconnected from their civilian counterparts after active duty. Even close loved ones, family members, and spouses will have to work to understand veteran loved ones and the challenges they face. Vastly different life experiences, perspectives, and military culture can make it difficult to connect with civilian peers in veteran life. These feelings of isolation can impact the propensity to develop a gambling addiction in various ways. For some, it can start as a social event, going to casinos, or playing cards with others. Others may use it to escape these feelings of isolation and loneliness in veteran life.
Financial Stress Among Veterans
Veterans, despite having given their all to their country, can still face financial challenges after transitioning to civilian life. Economic insecurity, difficulty finding consistent employment, and trying to balance professional life and ongoing challenges with trauma are all difficult. Symptoms of trauma and PTSD can also affect professional performance and employment, making it difficult to hold a job and reach a place of financial security.
These financial challenges can lead to looking for any way to get some quick wins, with gambling seeming like an appealing option to “solve” these financial challenges all at once. This relationship can quickly develop into an addiction, being unable to stop gambling, even prompting veterans to “chase losses,” or attempt to make back what they have already lost by gambling more or larger amounts in hopes of winning big, despite continued negative consequences.
Military Culture
Veterans transitioning to civilian life may commonly attempt to hold on to the cultures they are familiar with even after being discharged. Depending on a veteran’s unique experiences in military life, certain on-base cultures may celebrate or normalize gambling, playing cards, or engaging in other risky behaviors. Looking to gambling in an attempt to feel “normal” can lead to excessive gambling, especially as a person romanticizes this culture and part of their past, leading to unhealthy levels of gambling as a veteran.
Co-Occurring Disorders and Addiction
Mental health disorders like anxiety, depression, and trauma can be just part of a person’s needs. Co-occurring disorders are common among veterans and indicate both a mental health disorder and an addiction. For some, this can be alcohol and depression, or prescription painkillers and PTSD. However, gambling can also be a part of these escapist behaviors, with substance use, anxiety, flashbacks, and self-destructive coping strategies like gambling all being closely related. Gambling can also activate the same parts of the brain as substance use through the release of dopamine.
Many of those living with a gambling addiction may also be living with substance use disorder (SUD), both affecting the brain and lowering inhibitions to facilitate further risk-taking behaviors like gambling. Addressing the challenges that veterans face that may inform these behaviors, as well as addressing all of a person’s needs instead of just a few isolated challenges, is paramount to effective healing and addressing gambling addiction in civilian life.
Treatment Options Available at Hawaii Island Recovery
Hawaii Island Recovery proudly serves military veterans who have served their country. Overcoming gambling addiction is complicated and is about much more than treating isolated symptoms or challenges in daily life. Rather, having a dedicated veteran program and understanding the relationship between gambling addiction and veteran challenges can provide the most holistic and personalized approach to overcoming gambling addiction, substance use, trauma, and mental health disorders for a transformative approach to change.
Creating a Treatment Program for Overcoming Gambling Addiction
No two journeys in healing will be the same, and veterans can have any number of unique experiences, both from their time in an active warzone, on base, and through the natural stresses of life, that all inform the most effective and personalized needs for healing. Having access to an array of personalized options can ensure that veterans can find the approach to overcoming gambling addiction that is right for them.
Evidence-based therapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and more are effective at addressing gambling addiction, while trauma-informed treatment can address the unique challenges and needs of veterans in a safe and supportive environment. Blending these with effective experiential therapies and daily exercises can create a holistic approach to not just overcoming the effects of gambling addiction, but establishing a new daily routine and life outside of addiction.
Hawaii Island Recovery offers various treatment programs designed to fit each person’s unique needs, with new strategies to try until each person can find their best collection of skills and strategies. Overcoming gambling addiction involves addressing the underlying factors, stresses, and challenges that led to gambling in the first place. Having a space to explore options, communicate with peers, and pivot to new strategies can empower each person to explore not just their relationship with gambling but also address the use of addictive substances, mental health disorders, and the unique needs of veterans for sustainable change.
Healing in a Supportive Environment
Either due to stigmas, stress, pride, or various other factors, many veterans can have a difficult time communicating with peers, professionals, or others about personal needs and challenges. Having a supportive environment is paramount to addressing gambling addiction and its effects. Hawaii Island Recovery offers a dedicated veteran program to communicate with peers who understand the challenges that veterans face to destigmatize and deconstruct barriers to otherwise effective treatment. Healing alongside those who understand and are intimately sympathetic to these challenges can lead to new relationships in healing, ingratiating veterans into a new and effective healing community.
Working with professionals either at Hawaii Island Recovery or a local treatment facility to understand the elements of a supportive atmosphere can also be paramount for families learning to support veteran loved ones as they overcome addiction of any kind. Learning more about addiction as a disease, the signs and symptoms of trauma, and developing communication strategies as supports can all help create an equally supportive and honest healing environment at home. Overcoming addiction is difficult and isn’t something that is completed; rather, it is an ongoing journey, and learning to support healing, honesty, and communication at home is paramount for effective relapse prevention and a gambling-free life.
Gambling addiction presents many real challenges for veterans and their families, and overcoming this form of addiction takes work, understanding, and sympathy. At Hawaii Island Recovery, we create dedicated veteran healing programs to give back to those who have already given so much to their country in the line of duty. Our comprehensive, trauma-informed treatment programs for addressing gambling addiction, substance abuse, trauma, and more are directly catered to the unique needs and goals of veterans, creating a community of peers from all branches of the military coming together to overcome these challenges and maintain a healthy, transformed civilian life. For more information on how we can personalize a gambling addiction treatment program for you, call us at (866) 390-5070.
