Thank you Doc and Thank you Lips, this has been very interesting to me it helps me to understand alot of what goes on.

I guessing with all this information, that it is because woman are more emotional then men.

I know the reason i lived my life in casino constantly was because i was depressed, i mean i was happy and i made the best of things, i just hated what my life had become and who i had my life with, he had addictions as well i absolutely hated them(strange to hate those addictions and you have one yourself or become addicted) felt stuck.. instead of making those changes i ran to the casinos, as soon as i left him, my whole life turned around i was able to quit.. i have nothing to blame but myself BUT... him and my life with him was a key factor.. and to top it off it took a long time before i even realized i was addicted, i was young

My daughter was my strong point, she was almost 8 before it all really started for me (i was young when i had her). This brain infliction or uncontrol never interfered with my duties to her. My god here in Vegas you wouldn't beleive what people do with their children, left on sidewalks, hot cars, left in casino childcare, left in the restaurants, sitting along the hallways, taken to the arcades, left at school. One woman had her child  hidden in a frontal backpack and sat there gambling. There was a story here once a mans 8 year old child was murdered in the casinos arcade, when told she was missing her father kept gambling, when it was found that she was murdered he asked for money to continue gambling, so the normal brain functions, reaction and descion making in this was completely obliterated by this persons chemical release from gambling.
If i got a call that had anything to do with my daughter i was out the door and on my way, BUT my thought to MYSELF were, damnit why they got to distrub me while im gambling and get angry. If it were any other calls, my house could be burning down, robbed, car stolen.. i wasn't leaving.
My daughter triggered that normal brain function in admidst the gambling.

I won alot of money, i was lucky most of the time, it was a matter of leaving the casino and bringing the money home that got bad, and then got worse... 20 after 20.. i even enjoyed that awful feeling when i'd come home after losing everything, that kept my mind off of things emotionally troubling me, i hope thats not strange.. savoring the afterburn.

When i stopped i had my daughter go with me to pick up my paychecks, i would not do auto-deposit in my bank account. I'd pick it up, cash it take care of business and go home. I worked in a casino at this time.. how convient it was and the stories to tell. Temptation, Temptation all around affecting the brain, to just pick up my paycheck, sit down in front of a machine after hard work, have a free drink and relax... lol

Drugs came later in my life, i knew right away,i noticed most drug addictions start early ages and last the lifetime.. though it was hard to kick, it is easier for me to stay away from. I beleive if i would have started at an early age, that i would be alot weaker in mind to the addiction because of all the other things going on in my life during those crucial years, that if i had to be addicted i thank god that it was gambling and not drugs that took those years from me.

Imagin....you have had more than your share of Hell on this earth!  But....you ARE making it.  Keep going.  And let people help you. 

Lipps, you describe the Wounded Healer well.  Sadly, we often call the co-dependent a "wounded healer" which they certainly are not.

very interesting post.  thanks