Behavior: March Madness and Gambling Addiction

Addiction is a serious medical condition, and it’s causes and cures are complicated and still widely unknown. That children are not the catalyst to move addicted mothers to cure their addictions speaks to the severity of addiction. Any widely held beliefs that children would be a catalyst for such cures must be based on a poll of non-addicted mothers or people who don’t understand addicts. Many mothers are not able to cure their addictions during their pregnancies, their childbirths or their children’s lives. In fact, many loving family members throw up their hands and shed tears over their addicted family members. Love is not what cures addiction and it is not what causes it.

Addicts have a different chemical make up than people who are not addicts and methodone programs which have proven effective practice the substitution of a lesser harmful drug for a more harmful drug, and then a weaning off of that drug. Until addicts are recognized as people with different chemical make ups than non-addicts, and are treated differently, they will continue to run up against well meaning family members and friends who don’t understand why if the person loved them, they’d quit using.

GAMBLING

Gambling addicts will use any opportunity to exercise their addictive behavior. March Madness can very well be a rich opportunity for gamblers to get into trouble, and yes, that means negatively impacting work productivity, personal health and relationships. Addiction is an illness, and if you have a gambling addiction, you stay away from gambling opportunities the same way as if you had allergies, you’d stay away from anything that made your allergy flare up. It’s really pretty simple.

MARCH MADNESS AND THE WORKPLACE

EXCEPT….when gambling opportunities arise at work. And they do. Just like drinking alcohol opportunities arise at business meals, parties and events. The responsibility, however, is not the employer’s. It is the individual’s. However, if an employee becomes unproductive — regardless of the reason — the employer may fire the employee.

This doesn’t have to become complicated. Addiction and other health issues are personal. Productivity is business. Keeping the boundaries straight will avoid any complications.