A comparison: The treatment of wives of alcoholics with the treatment of wives of pathological gamblers

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine how treatment approaches would differ for two reference groups — wives of alcoholics and wives of pathological gamblers. Data from thirty-nine wives from each reference group were collected over a period of sixteen months. The results indicate that the wives of the pathological gamblers had to deal with specific issues which did not surface in the treatment of wives of the alcoholics. Some of the wives of the pathological gamblers received threatening phone calls from creditors, had to re-pay loans for which they co-signed, had to commence handling the family budget, and had to deal with their own withdrawal from his gambling. They also found trust very slow in coming, realized they would be under great financial straits for an extended period of time, and found a shortage of self-help groups and qualified professionals within a reasonable distance of their home. Finally they found loneliness a very realistic issue in early abstinence because he was spending so much of his time outside the home attending G.A. meetings, aftercare and working two, and sometimes three jobs, in order to repay his gambling debts.