She Bets Her Life: A True Story of Gambling Addiction »

What sets She Bets Her Life apart is Mary Sojourner's ability to take both an objective and a deeply personal look at the psychological and physiological impact of gambling addiction on women. Having lived it, Sojourner is brutally forthcoming, and with her penchant for research and fact-finding, the narrative is teeming with important information and resources to help steer women with gambling addictions (and their loved ones) toward help and healing.

User's Guide 9

Introduction 13

Chapter 1 Meet the Sisters 23

Chapter 2 Crossing the Line: How a Woman Knows She's Hooked 55

Chapter 3 Dopamine is Queen: Gambling and the Brain 64

Chapter 4 Freud Was Wrong: Psychodynamics of Gambling Addiction 83

Chapter 5 Girls' Night In: Gender and Women's Gambling Addiction 108

Chapter 6 Get Her to Sit Down: The Industry's Strategies to Keep Women Playing 131

Chapter 7 The Party's Over: When It's Time to Stop 152

Chapter 8 A Long and Winding Road: Withdrawal 168

Chapter 9 What it Takes: The Reality of Recovering 191

Chapter 10 The Slip: Why She Goes Back Out 213

Chapter 11 It's a Family Affair 229

Chapter 12 Down the Road 242

Resources 269