For those who are addicted to gambling, winning or losing does not matter. Because even if they win, they will continue to bet to find another win. And if the bookie always wins, why don’t you just risk it all because it’s too wet?
Gambling addiction can eventually completely destroy your life, be it financially, physically, emotionally, or socially. Gambling addiction does not only pose a danger to the agen sbobet resmi addict himself. The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) in the United States estimates that bankruptcy, theft, domestic violence and neglect of children, foreclosure of homes and other investments, and even the suicide of loved ones are also linked to gambling addiction.
The tips below can help you or someone close to you who is addicted to gambling begin to eradicate the problem.
How to get away from gambling addiction
1. Honestly admit that you are addicted to gambling
The first step to freedom is to be introspective and openly accept the fact that you are really addicted to gambling. At first, ordinary addicts are stuck in the denial stage. Emotional turmoil is very common in these times — one side of your personality can act rationally and admit that gambling is destroying your life, while the dark side of you desires to gamble with even greater intensity.
“You have to face the fact that your gambling habit has spiraled out of control and, by knowing with your heart that you need to get back on the right path, you will be better equipped to work towards it,” says Liz Karter, an addiction therapist, gambling addiction expert and author of Gambling. Problem, quoted from the Telegraph .
When it comes to a point where the problem has clearly hijacked gamblers’ lives, they can usually stop trying to resist it.
2. Introspection how your life changed completely after gambling
Avoid reminiscing about past victories. Those days are gone, if they really existed. Now you just need to concentrate on how your gambling habits have a negative impact on your life. The only way to start climbing back from the problems caused by gambling addiction is to reflect on your current situation.
Start by listing all your debts. Include details of payments that are in arrears, money borrowed from family and friends, credit card and cash balances, blank checks you wrote, and debts you owe to the bookie. If you have lost your home or are in the process of foreclosure, prioritize this high on your list. The same is true if your luxury items, such as a car, jewelry, or land, have been repossessed as a fine in arrears.
Also think about how your physical health suffers as a result of your gambling? Have you lost a lot of weight or are you gaining weight because of a careless diet and lack of exercise ? Are you addicted to smoking ?, drugs, and/or liquor, as a gambling companion? Are you often depressed, anxious or afraid? Do you engage in self-righteousness or lying to cover up your actions? Are you filled with guilt and shame over the downturn in your family life? Have you lost a friend, a spouse, your job, failed to get a promotion or was demoted at work because you were caught gambling? Have you ever been nabbed and arrested by the police for gambling, or taken to court for domestic violence or other legal problems as a result of your addiction?
Continue to complete your “sins list.” The goal is not to make you more miserable. This is a great way to start forcing you to realize that gambling has negatively affected your life.
3. Find out what is the real reason you gamble
Some of the common reasons people gamble include finding joy and forgetting about problems, seeking self-justification (that you are a superior person), earning extra money from winning, gambling helps you socialize, overcoming depression or boredom, to long-standing habits without knowing it. the causes. Which is your reason?
In order to recover from a gambling addiction, it is important that you understand the reasons why you gamble. You can’t build a foundation for a healthy lifestyle until you know the exact reasons that underlie your need to gamble.
4. Be honest with people you trust
You should tell about your problem to a trusted friend or family member. By garnering the right support from those around you, this will help strengthen and emphasize the existence of your rational side and turn off your gambling cravings. However, opening up to a friend or family member about addiction is often the most difficult and worrying part of the entire recovery process.
Unlike other addictions, such as with drugs or alcohol, there are no physical signs or symptoms that immediately suggest that a person may be suffering from a gambling addiction. This addiction is easy to hide and your close relatives may not have smelled your troubled nature before.
The signs of a gambling addiction are very subtle and can be misunderstood for other trivial issues, such as starting to withdraw from social interactions, showing mood swings, or being no longer used to doing hobbies and activities that you previously found enjoyable. Other people may think you are sick, depressed, just tired and lazy, and accuse you of having an affair .
But by sharing your problem with someone else, both you and your confidant will feel better once the problem is clear. “They’re likely to suspect something is wrong because of your change in behavior, and in this way they’ll feel a little relieved that what they thought was wrong — even though they’re still worried about you,” adds Karter. This way, you know that you will disappoint someone if you fail to resist the temptation and relapse to gambling.
5. Block your access to gambling
Block your access to the types of gambling that make you addicted, such as online gambling or soccer gambling, so that you need to come to the casino. Then, completely shut down all access to any and all forms of gambling. This will put an end to your habit and — with the help of your trusted confidants — you will be less likely to stay away from gambling sites and apps than if you had tried to quit on your own.
This step will allow you to realize that gambling is not the right solution. Many people gamble as a form of escape — an activity to distract them from the stresses and strains of everyday life. Eventually, however, you will realize that this is not a solution, and that there will be inevitable downsides welcoming you at the end of the day.
6. Take control of your finances
Ask your trusted person for help temporarily managing all your finances, for example within a four-week period. By giving someone else control over your money, be it a bank account or credit card, your burden will be lifted a bit and it will make it easier for you to get on with your life without the shadow of gambling.
It is also during this time that you are advised to seek debt management assistance. Unmanaged debt only encourages the cycle of addiction to re-ignite within (gambling to find money to pay debts). The habit of gambling to cover debt is one of the hardest habits to break.
7. Find other, healthier activities
Closing your access to gambling resources will not immediately eliminate your gambling desire. So, as with trying to beat any other addiction, it’s important to find other, healthier activities to keep your body and mind busy. For example, by doing sports or taking skill classes. This method is also recommended to reduce the risk of gambling addiction, which tends to worsen in the first weeks after gambling.
8. Get professional help
If your gambling addiction becomes unbearable and you start to feel stressed, depressed or anxious, consult a doctor.
The standard treatment for gambling addiction is cognitive behavioral therapy ( CBT ), in which a therapist and addict work together face-to-face to change destructive behaviors and thoughts. CBT helps addicts build self-will to cope and develop cognitive skills to help them resist the urge to gamble, such as “fasting” gambling for a set period of time before finally giving in to the gambling urge. CBT also teaches gamblers how to deal with problems in their personal or financial lives, rather than finding a way out through gambling.
9. Get treatment
Like drug addicts who have become desensitized to the drugs they are taking, people who are prone to gambling addictions often have a hard time experiencing the same “drunk” sensation that you get when you first gamble to win money. Ultimately, the chronic gambler will need to repeat more of these behaviors until he gets the thrill he’s been chasing.
Addiction is more or less affected by an imbalance of dopamine, which causes the above. To correct this dopamine imbalance, psychiatrists often prescribe SSRIs, antidepressants that affect the serotonin system. Other drugs that are also prescribed are lithium, which is often used in cases where the person also has bipolar disorder, and opium antagonists such as nalmefene and naltrexone , which reduce the positive feeling of happiness associated with winning from gambling.