The Independent on Monday features a lurid tale of how women of Ireland are being drawn into the dark netherworld of online gambling. Some are even bypassing the daily pub crawl in Dublin in order to get their fix.
Irish women's addiction to online gambling is a virtual time bomb waiting to explode. From Leitrim to Las Vegas, this 21st century phenomenon is both an Irish problem and a global one, writes Celine Naughton.
"My girlfriend is a compulsive gambler," writes a blogger to an internet addiction forum. "Our bank account looks like she has been laundering money with so many withdrawals and account transfers.
"She also began to steal and pawn items. One victim forgot to grab his laptop computer before he left a bar. She took another laptop from where she works.
"Our Playstation 2 and Nintendo Wii were pawned. She made it look like the house had been broken into."
It is perfectly legal to bet online in Ireland. The nation is home to some of the most prestigious bookmakers - Paddy Power and Boyles - the first of which is one of Europe's biggest online gambling sites.
For most, Internet gambling is an enjoyable activity that does not involve addiction, but for others: online gambling can become a dark labyrinth for which there is little means of escape, but mostly brought on by the individuals own addictive-compulsive behaviour.
Addiction specialists, Attracta Canny, co-director of Hope House in Foxford, Co Mayo, has seen all the lying, cheating and stealing that goes with addiction, whether associated with gambling, alcohol or drugs, according to Naughton.
"With alcohol and drugs, you can see and smell it. Gambling is hidden," she says.
"When the reality of their addiction surfaces, gamblers may be hundreds of thousands in debt and it comes out of the blue for those around them. Partners feel that not only is their trust in their loved one betrayed, their trust in themselves is shaken to the core because they never saw it coming.
"It's a total letdown, like a sudden death in the family. My heart bleeds for the spouses and the parents of gambling addicts."
Reverend Trask, a Spiritual Advisor for the Gambling911.com website, points to the Bible for inspiration on how to overcome addiction to online gambling (Rom. 6:12-13)
"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."
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Payton O'Brien, Gambling911.com Senior Advisor
