Dear Amy: I just learned that my wife’s spending is out of control.

Several years ago, she got into financial trouble with a credit card debt of around $6,000. She told me about it and I bailed her out.

Last week, she said it had happened again. I took a look at her credit card statement and saw she was owing on charges left over from Christmas and some vacation travel we had taken. I agreed to help her out again.

Then she admitted to me that she had another card and that she owes almost $10,000 on it, due to gambling.

This is very shocking. I didn’t even know she gambled. She feels terrible. I could probably cover this, too, but I don’t know if that’s the right thing to do.

– Concerned

Dear Concerned: Your wife should get professional help for a gambling addiction right away. You and she should meet with a therapist who specializes in this. As with other addictions, you should approach this as a very serious illness which requires treatment.

Additionally, you should also get legal and financial advice about how to protect your property and assets from her debts.

The ease and ubiquity of online gambling makes it very easy for people to hide their addiction, until the financial consequences force them to face it.

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(You can email Amy Dickinson at [email protected] or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.)

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