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The week my brother finally admitted he had a gambling problem | Awkward Family Talks - Rigidtalk

The week my brother finally admitted he had a gambling problem

Last July my brother Mark showed up at my place on a Tuesday afternoon. Looked awful. Told me he lost $12,000 at the riverboat casino in Joliet over the weekend. Said he'd been borrowing from our mom's retirement account to cover it. I was just stunned. We sat on my porch for like three hours while he explained how it started small with just $50 bets on football games. Then it snowballed into him taking cash advances on credit cards. The worst part was mom had no idea. I had to be the one to sit her down and explain everything. That was the hardest talk I've ever had with family. Has anyone else had to confront a sibling about something this serious and had it actually help them? I'm still not sure if I did the right thing.

2 comments

2 Comments

lane.joel4mo ago

Yeah but what was the alternative though? You coulda kept it quiet and let him keep draining your mom's account. Thats not protecting anyone thats just letting the problem get worse. At least now she knows and can lock her money down. My buddy's brother did the same thing with their parents savings and by the time anyone found out it was over 30k gone. The secret keeping is what lets this stuff snowball.

terry14mo ago

Hold on, but did you actually sit down with him yourself before you went to your mom? I get you were trying to protect her, but going straight to her might have pushed him further into hiding things from both of you. Sometimes the best way to help a sibling is to get them into treatment or a support group first, not to force a family confrontation. My cousin had a similar problem and his sister telling everyone just made him lie harder and feel more alone. It can backfire real bad if the person isn't ready to face it publicly yet.