ABOUT GAM-ANON
Welcome to the official website of the Gam-Anon® International Service Office, Inc., serving the community of international meetings of the Gam-Anon Family Groups.
Gam-Anon has created this website to provide information for the general public and professional community about problem ( compulsive ) gambling.
GAM-ANON
Gam-Anon is a 12 Step self-help fellowship of men and women who have been affected by the gambling problem of a loved one. We understand as perhaps few can. We are familiar with worry and sleepless nights and promises made only to be broken.
The message of Gam-Anon is: Come join with us. We too were alone, afraid, and unable to cope with the deterioration in our relationships, the financial problems, and the debt caused by the gambling problem. We know that living with the effects of a loved one's gambling can be too devastating to bear without help.
Through Gam-Anon we find our way back to a normal way of thinking and living whether or not our loved ones continue to gamble.
If a gambling problem is affecting your life, you may find help at a Gam-Anon meeting. A list of Gam-Anon meetings is available on this website.
Please click on the links below to learn more about the Gam-Anon Program.
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A Brief Synopsis of the Tools of Gam-Anon
When we first come to a Gam-Anon meeting we hear of The Twelve Steps and the Tools of Gam-Anon. We wonder how these will help us. Our Tools help us better understand and work the Gam-Anon pro- gram. The tools of Gam-Anon are meetings, telephone and email, literature, writing, sponsorship, service, pressure relief, and anonymity. -
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The Twelve Steps of Unity
In order to maintain the unity of Gam-Anon meetings throughout the world, experience has shown that... -
Could Your Child Be A Compulsive Gambler?
Parents (and educators) will list drugs, alcohol, bullying, sex, and grades among their concerns for their children. The list is incomplete if it does not include gambling. Could your child have a gambling problem or the beginnings of one? We know that many children are introduced to gambling at a young age, often innocently, since the adults in their lives have no knowledge of the potential consequences. -
About Compulsive Gambling
Compulsive gambling is also known as problem gambling and pathological gambling. In Gam-Anon we use the term compulsive gambling. It is the same term used by Gamblers Anonymous. Compulsive gambling is recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as an addiction. Compulsive gamblers experience irresistable urges to gamble. There never seems to be enough winnings to satisfy compulsive gamblers and they continue to gamble, eventually losing more money than was won. -
How Someone Else’s Compulsive Gambling Affects Us
Gam-Anon members are familiar with how someone else’s gambling problem can affect their lives. Do you identify with any of these situations? -
Growing up with a Compulsive Gambler
Perhaps you grew up with a parent, sibling, or other family member who had a gambling problem. Maybe you think about your own children growing up in a gambling environment. Here are some of the recollections shared by Gam-Anon members who grew up with a compulsive gambler. -
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