Niall McNamee Blog

[bracknaghboy]

Interesting read. Fair play to Niall for being so honest about it all.

http://niallmcnamee7.blogspot.ie/2013/1 ... 3.html?m=1

[Lone Shark]

Of all the addiction issues that affect this country, few are less well understood than gambling addiction. The reason for this is very simple - if you develop a habit of overuse of alcohol or drugs, that's not something that you can easily hide. Your family and close friends will almost certainly know that something's the matter and they can intervene, and chances are that most of the local community will have some idea that things aren't as they should be. We all know alcoholics of every shade - the rampant ones who overdo it at every turn, the quiet ones who do it for emotional or psychological reasons, and the less obvious ones who perhaps don't let it affect their lives as much, but still drink too much for their own health and well-being. God knows in this country, there seems to be very little middle ground between a level of consumption that medical professionals would say is too much, and a level that many Irish people would call "lightweight".

However in Niall's blog, a few of the things he says highlight the difference when it comes to gambling addiction. You can do immense damage to yourself in one day, financially and psychologically, and you can still paint on a smile and let on that everything's fine. If you do that well enough, nobody will know any better. I used to work at the heart of the industry for years and just the same as with any walk of life, you can normalise things that would shock and abhor other people. Early on in my career I had days when I lost bets, went chasing and lost even more, only to end the day going "What have I done?!?" It took some time to learn proper betting discipline. Not everyone can do that either - I had access to information of all sorts - information about sport, information about the trade and information about the different pitfalls that one should look out for. Even then, there was a "rush" element that was always there, and that's where the danger kicks in. I've had only token bets for the last few years (trying to make sure that there was nothing to alarm a bank manager in the run up to a mortgage application was a big factor here!) and when you step back into the world that 99% of the population inhabit, you start to realise how abnormal your old habits were.

Casual punting is no different to casual pinting, or eating takeaways, or any of the other things that aren't supposedly good for us. Done in moderation, it's no real harm and it can add to the enjoyment of a sporting event without having any real consequence. Certainly nowadays, there is a considerable fun element involved and the options available to the casual bettor are excellent. However if you find you really get vested in whether or not your bet wins, either because of the financial impact or just because you get a huge buzz from picking a winner, then you're in dangerous territory that's worth monitoring. If you do it for emotional reasons - either to take your mind off another issue, or to try and generate some good news for yourself, that's a point where I'd strongly advise cutting it out. If your bet winning or losing affects your mood, then stop punting straight away. That's a clear red flag that should never be ignored.

Niall has done a great thing here and though he may never know it himself, I'd be very confident that somewhere out there, his words have helped some other person to realise that they may have a problem, that they need to address it and that they aren't the only ones going through this situation. His own battle will go on for as long as he lives, but he's done a lot of the hard work now and it's hard to imagine anyone that would have more goodwill behind them than him.

[Lone Shark]

Really moving and honest discussion there on the Last Word, well worth listening to online if anyone missed it. Conor Cusack in particular was incredibly insightful and clearly has a huge amount to contribute in this whole area.

[theman]

Heres the link. Good aul listen in fairness and fair play to all the lads for speaking out

http://www.todayfm.com/player/podcasts/ ... alth_Panel

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

Very good listen, and between that and the Donal Walsh programme last night, a lot of stuff to put many of the issues that clog up our lives into perspective.

Certainly would hope that we are turning a corner with the battle with suicide and depression, hopefully 2014 will see a big step in the right direction.