Gambling with Amnesia
The fact that gambling on amnesia as a keyword based search on Google yields two hundred and forty thousand results says a lot about the association between gambling and amnesia. Generally speaking, amnesia is either short term or long term loss of memory. It is often referred to as a defense mechanism of the mind which it intentionally calls upon to fight against loss, stress and trauma.
It is no secret that poker is very highly correlated with all of the three; loss, stress and trauma. Therefore it is no surprise that amnesia too will obviously be highly connected to all forms of gambling. Gamblers however are more susceptible to pick on a strange modified form of amnesia where they seem to be able to choose only those memories that they actually wish for. Frankly speaking, gambling on amnesia is perhaps as much of an epidemic as substance abuse. People who are victims of amnesia actually are harder to keep away from addictive gambling as they themselves have no self realization of the negative effects that gambling has had on them in the past. Even if one is not really a patient of amnesia, gamblers often show signs of ‘selective amnesia’ wherein they seem to remember the flowery promises that gambling has in store for them rather than the harsh reality, and this leads them on their way to pathological gambling.
While gambling is not really any sin, responsible gambling is an absolute prerequisite for indulging into any game of chance. Amnesia is a psychological condition and it should be handled with utmost care and delicacy. Amnesia calls for as much looking after as any other patient. It is a necessity that amnesia receives treatment rather than letting it ruin your ruin your life and your prospects by means of gambling.
