{"id":439786,"date":"2026-05-13T15:21:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T15:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/439786\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T15:21:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T15:21:10","slug":"finding-help-for-online-gambling-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/439786\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Help for Online Gambling Addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

The shame and remorse over gambling losses can lead to some dark places. A Swedish study published last year found that problem gamblers<\/a> were four times more likely to die from suicide than the general population. (If you are having thoughts of suicide, please call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline<\/a> at 988 to talk with someone.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jack F, 81, a former chief with the Jersey City Fire Department, got drawn into gambling on his iPhone, and eventually racked up a debt of about $60,000, far more than his firefighter pension could cover (read more about his story here<\/a>). He was constantly on edge, scrambling to cover his losses, sweating over his wife\u2019s scrutiny, telling himself,\u00a0I won\u2019t get caught. His daughter Deanna, who lived downstairs, overheard her parents arguing about his gambling. She also confronted Jack about it. \u201cYou need help,\u201d she told him. \u201cYou\u2019re out of control.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Jack reached the point where he was desperate to get control of his online gambling, he entered a 12-step Gamblers Anonymous program. He says he hasn\u2019t placed a bet since Dec.\u00a07, 2024. He even put himself on New Jersey\u2019s exclusion list, which blocked him from using the gambling apps on his phone or visiting a casino in the state. \u00a0<\/p>\n

He attends therapy sessions once every three weeks at a local Veterans Affairs center. And he continues to attend his recovery group’s weekly meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWalking into that room to this day makes me feel so much better about what had been transpiring over the past couple years,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd the people in it, they share their problems, their issues, and we work things out together. We\u2019re there for each other. It\u2019s really just comforting knowing that you\u2019re not alone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The shame and remorse over gambling losses can lead to some dark places. A Swedish study published last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":439787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[206151,206147,206149,163,206150,85,46,522,523,206148,206145,206146],"class_list":["post-439786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-financial-help-for-gamblers","tag-gamblers-anonymous-meetings","tag-gambling-recovery-resources","tag-health","tag-how-to-stop-sports-betting","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-national-problem-gambling-helpline","tag-online-gambling-help-for-older-adults","tag-signs-of-gambling-addiction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}