Lavario Offers A New Chat Function To Help Gambling Addicts

Online, March 16, 2013 (Newswire.com) - More than 1 million North Americans suffer from compulsive gambling. The number of estimated gamblers in Europe is around 1.5 million and less than 100.000 adults are gambling addicts in Australia and New Zealand. Many other countries in the world don't provide reliable information on the size of this problem in their territories. With the rise of the internet and the easy accessibility of online gambling in many areas of the world, it's fair to assume that the number of gamblers is rising.

Lavario, one of the leading providers of self-help programs against addictions, has now launched a chat function on its web site. A team of therapists and former addicts are available to answer questions and help with problems around gambling addictions. This service is free of charge and whoever asks a question will remain anonymous. It is not necessary to leave an email address or other proof of identity. According to Lavario, most participants in the chat wonder where and how to find help against the addiction, either for themselves or for family members.

Usually, Lavario recommends to look for personal psychotherapy in a counselor's office. However, in many cases also the Lavario self-help program is recommended as an alternative as it can be downloaded immediately and patients will remain anonymous. The experience with the chat function - during the first few weeks that is has been in use - is that many participants are afraid to go to a psychotherapist and open up and talk about their problems to a complete stranger. Therefore, the chat function is appreciated as an opportunity to get some initial advice on how to proceed in order to overcome the addiction.

However, Lavario points out that chatting cannot substitute the intense experience of a face-to-face meeting with a psychotherapist or working through a self-help program with individual coaching. By definition, it will need to remain an informal exchange of ideas. For more information on how to overcome addictions visit www.lavario.com/gambling-addiction.