”… Så kom insikten om att jag var likadan som de. Att jag var spelberoende …” : – en kvalitativ studie med fyra före detta spelberoende, deras erfarenheter av att komma ur ett spelberoende

Title: ”… Then came the realization that I was just like them. That I have a gambling addiction…” This is a qualitative study of four former gamblers and their experience of getting out of the gambling addiction. The study is about how individuals have overcome a gambling addiction. The purpose of this study is to examine the social processes and factors that are of importance when overcoming a gambling addiction. In addition, the study focuses on how individuals experience the change from gambling addiction to a life free of that addiction. In this thesis, I conducted a qualitative study in the form of semi-structured interviews with four former gamblers. The theoretical approach concentrated on Ebaugh’s (1988) role exit theory and Giddens’ (2005) identity formation theory has been used to illustrate the interviewees' experiences of gambling addiction and their identity as addiction free. The study shows that the gambling addiction has brought economic, social and health-related impacts and some of these aspects still exist today. The exit out of a gambling addiction has been a process with different phases and events where the process for some has been incrementally with relapses during the journey. Based on my results, the changing process appears to consist of parallel turning points where different and more significant events give rise to role exit. The study shows the need of continuous social support in combination with gambling association support efforts and the gamblers’ own insight, motivation and freedom of action. It appears that the interviewed have accepted their role that they had left behind and they take careful consideration to the past and the future and try to make more conscious choices and build their new identity. This is done by actions and re- evaluations of themselves and their world. It is based on their lives, by their own choices. However, these choices seem to be limited by conditions that occur in the interaction with the environment, social norms and social situations