I’m glad you got something useful from my thoughts as expressed here. I agree with you that indeed the underlying causes are not always very severe issues – boredom is one, as you say. Although, the more we seek to understand, the more we may find that there are ‘superficial causes’ masking deeper issues. But, yes, it is so sad that turning to gambling, for example, which can give some excitement for a time, soon leads to a serious worsening of the situation and life-experience and horrible additional problems. For recovery, it is usually important to slow down and deal with the most urgent difficulties first and gradually move through to other things.
Monique
