It doesn't matter whether you are the husband, wife, partner, spouse or other family member of a compulsive gambler. It's your goal to help your loved one beat their compulsive gambling addiction.

People all over the world have tried to stop their loved ones from their gambling addiction over and over with very little results. They have tried everything even threatening to walk out or even kick them out, if they did not stop. Usually these ultimatums caused their compulsive gambler to stop gambling for approximately two weeks. At this point in time the compulsive gamblers mind stands still until they gamble again. As each hour passes their subconscious finally takes over and they are gambling again. This time they become even more secretive and gamble even more money then usual. They believe this is going to be their last time gambling and they need that big win to pay off their debts. More and more money is lost and this situation causes their addiction to go into overload.

Unfortunately I have seen more gamblers ready to get help when they ran out of resources and had no where to turn. They finally hit bottom and were then ready to stop their self destructive behavior. The website I Stopped Gambling So Can You, http://www.istoppedgambling.com/, hope's to reach the family members of gamblers and the compulsive gambler in the early stages of their addiction. I have met and chatted with people all over the world who knew at least one year or more that their family member had a problem gambling. They did not know how bad, what to do and had no where to turn. They felt trapped in a bad situation where they could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. Every time the family member mentioned the word addiction to their loved one small argument would break out and each person involved needed a cooling off period.

Family members now realize that there are resources out there to help their loved one. Some compulsive gamblers might enjoy Gamblers Anonymous and others might prefer a more private situation to recover from their gambling addiction. I believe it's up to the compulsive gambler's preferences which programs out there would be better.

I have also found that people were not ready to stop gambling because they were ashamed of the amount of money they lost. It's important for the family member to listen. You still have a right to speak your mind or to be you. Just understand that the compulsive gambler's self esteem is extremely low. If it's your goal to go forward and help the compulsive gambler, then you need to listen, find the appropriate stop gambling recovery program and take one day at a time

I have found once the compulsive gambler tells their family the truth, recovery accelerates and the person you grew to love is ready to move forward and finally stop their addiction. More information is available at the website I Stopped Gambling So Can You http://www.istoppedgambling.com/

Mr. Howard Keith has an extensive background in dealing with compulsive gamblers, relatives and friends of gamblers and teenage gamblers. Mr. Keith believes there are many alternatives to aid in the recovery of a gambling addiction verses a twelve step program. A large percentage of his emails were from compulsive gamblers looking for an alternative to Gamblers Anonymous and twelve step programs. Gamblers Anonymous also helps a significant number of people each year but there is a large percentage that does not stay. These are the people Mr. Keith is hoping to reach.