Amanda first known addiction was with alcohol. She fell in love with booze the moment the first drop touched her lips. She became a blackout drinker; aiming to drink so much she could not remember what happened or what she might have done during her in...

Richie’s life spiraled out of control in years after he lost his father. He became a heroin addict, and it cost him everything he had. He lost his own family and was living on the streets while trying to spend $200 each day to get his heroin fix.

Gina never tried alcohol or drugs until she was 16 years old. Her first drug was crystal meth. From that very moment, Gina was an addict. She spent the next ten years chasing the highs but winding up in the lows; in and out of jail for theft and prosti...

Even with 28 years of sobriety under his belt, Bob still can’t find anything that remotely compares to the rush of gambling. It began as a child in New York City, pitching pennies with friends at age 7. He flipped baseball cards.

Remember that short-lived poker craze that mesmerized the nation a few years back? Denise remembers it all too well. She was raised by a gambling family. Her father took her on her first trip to Las Vegas. Her mother holds weekly mahjong games.

Ray remembers as a child sneaking into the bazaars held by the local volunteer fire department, and just becoming intoxicated by the gambling action that the adults engaged in. The spinning of prize wheels and the awarding of prizes was just musical to...

Paul likes to joke that he’s “achieved” a trifecta: He’s an alcoholic, a drug addict and a gambler. Drinking and drugging, however, were not the two diseases in which he first sought help. Paul’s gambling was his life’s excitement. As Paul puts it,

Randy always had to be in on “the action” – the games, the gambling, and the excitement. It began in childhood. When arriving early to school he used to flip baseball cards with buddies and he felt no greater rush than coming to the game with five card...

Born in Europe, Reva’s childhood was an unhappy one.  Depression set in so badly she tried taking her own life at age thirteen by swallowing a hundred aspirins.  She survived her suicide attempt, but upon waking from a deep sleep she learned nobody in ...

Ron grew up in a normal household. His was not a family of addicts.  Rob’s family did drink, but they didn’t abuse alcohol.  He was introduced to alcohol at an early age, and from that moment he liked the way it made him feel.