i have a problem

Scratch-card buying escalated from £1 cards two or three times weekly to daily £5 cards after shifts. A £5 Christmas card won £10; he spent it on two identical cards, lost, and felt angry and tempted to continue. He twice took unpaid cards, then paid after a coworker saw the discarded evidence, recognizing both theft and jackpot fantasies as dangerous.

A growing gambling habit is rationalized as affordable while simultaneously recognized as financially and ethically risky.