The older generation is gambling away their pension says a recent report in the United States mentioned. The research also mentioned a couple of incidents of men/women aged above 70 years gambling away all their saving and mortgaging their house and property just to fund their gambling habit. The most awful news was however that of a 73 year old man who has pulled an underwear over his face and grabbed a shotgun in an attempt to bank. When he was captured he said that since he was on a fixed income he did not have enough to fund his gambling habit.
Another story was that of a 75 year old man who had mortgaged his home several times lost his wife and his elderly children as they had no choice but to desert him, for he refused to address his gambling habit and at last lost his home to his addiction. His family left him to stay somewhere else unable to cope with his addiction.
Researchers say that while the younger generation gambles but they can keep a tab on themselves as they have other sources of recreation. But the older generation and more often than not do not have other sources of recreation and many of them have also most probably lost their spouses. Hence to get rid of their grief and their loneliness they resort to gambling. In fact an estimated 1 percent of Americans are addicted to gambling and another 4 million to 6 million are believed to have some symptoms.
IF you find some elderly person in your family gambling all the time, mortgaging property and is unable to control his/her habit well that’s when you know that gambling has become an addiction and immediate help is required. So we advice family members to be always close to the person. It is also important to divert his/her mind and help him her be away from the source of money as much as one can. If you are able to get professional help, like getting the person admitted to a rehab etc. then nothing like it! Also a councilor must be always be at reach if he/she has the tendency to turn violent and unreasonable.
Last but not the least the person must be kept happy. Remember the senior most members in your family is lonely and hence they resort to gambling for money and fun. With age as a person stops getting a regular income he/she become insecure. Hence it is of utmost importance to keep the person monetarily secure and emotionally happy and cared for.
