For some people, quitting gambling is a very simple manner. However, for others, it can be quite a problem.
How to Quit Gambling
If you are a new player that wants to make sure to know that gambling isn’t that hard to quit, you can always rest assured that most people are capable of simply leaving it be. They don’t have to do anything more than decide never to open their favorite gambling website or visit the good old pokie machine that just won’t pay out ever again.
In essence, for those people, it just amounts to that. Unfortunately, not everyone finds it to be quite that trouble-free.
What If It Isn’t That Easy?
If your gambling goes from a fun and harmless diversion to an unhealthy obsession that affects your life, it can bring you serious consequences so rapidly that you wouldn’t even notice. Whether you bet on sports, roulette, or slots, gambling becomes an issue if it starts causing you problems. So if you no longer have control over your life, you might need to consider getting help. Or at least, acknowledge your addiction as a first step towards your recovery. There are a few things you could do to regain control.
What Is Gambling Addiction?
Gambling addiction is also known as a pathological or an impulse-control disorder. By definition, it involves repeated problematic gambling behaviour that results in potential problems, including finances, work, and even relationships. In severe cases, the addiction consumes a person so much that they start having compulsive thoughts about gambling, reliving past gambling experiences, and planning the next ones. Such cases may need professional help and strong support from their environment. Of course, players can also have gambling behaviour that is not spiralling out of control. In those situations, good advice and some discipline could be the right medicine.
Admit You Have a Problem
In order to get on the road to recovery, you first need to admit that you have a problem. We completely understand that it takes tremendous self-consciousness and mental strength to get past the first and the toughest stage — denial. However, bear in mind that a lot of people have the same problem as you. However, many have been able to face their addiction and crush it. So you can do it too. But first, face your inner demons and beat the biggest one — denial. And once you face your addiction and admit that you have a problem, you will be able to find the necessary strength to overcome it.
Make Healthier Choices
When you think about it, do you gamble when you’re bored, lonely, or have nothing more interesting to do? If the answer is yes, you should consider finding a hobby. People always have tendencies to engage themselves in some activities they wouldn’t usually do, just out of sheer boredom. After all, boredom has always been people’s worst enemy. In that sense, gambling may seem like a good way to relax and entertain yourself. However, in case you do have a problem, you should find a hobby that gives you the same level of satisfaction as gambling does in order to distract yourself from gambling. Practicing meditation or some sort of relaxation techniques have shown results with recovering addicts. And even if you are not a fan of meditation or sports, you could develop new interests that would make the transition less “painful.” In the end, no matter if your cravings are caused by pleasant or unpleasant feelings or by stress, you should learn how to relieve them in a much healthier way.
Seek Professional Help
If you don’t manage to handle this matter on your own, it is no shame to seek professional help. There are many versions of standard treatments, as well as trained professionals who will be more than glad to help you fight the gambling urge and develop yourself. The most popular one for treating gambling addiction is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) that has shown incredible results. A trained therapist will work with you one-on-one and help you change that sort of “destructive” behaviour and develop your new coping skills. The primary goal of behavioural therapy is to teach a patient how to face their issues with their personal or financial struggles, instead of finding a way to escape reality through gambling.
Find a Support Group
Some compulsive gamblers who wish to fully recover tend to combine individual therapy with the self-help support system that has regular meetings with a well-developed treatment program. The most famous support group is Gamblers Anonymous that is famous for its 12-step program, using similar techniques as Alcoholics Anonymous. They incorporated the same scheme and organized Gam-Anon meetings for spouses and family and friends of recovering addicts in order to teach them how to support their loved ones and minimize their triggers throughout their recovery. In addition, joining Gamblers Anonymous could be an excellent addition to your individual therapy, or even a good substitute in case you are not a fan of the one-on-one approach. Moreover, there are over 1,700 Gamblers Anonymous groups in the United States, which means that they have a good and stable support network that could give you a hand during your journey towards recovery.
Establish Your Regulatory Mechanisms
If your addiction hasn’t progressed that far, you may want to think about some precautionary measures. That means that it would be good to keep a record of how much you’re spending on gambling and setting boundaries. This includes bringing a limited amount of money with you when visiting a live casino or setting limits manually while playing online.
However, for problem gamblers who have been diagnosed and are at risk from relapse, our strong advice is to find a trusted friend, advisor, or a sponsor from a support group. The best option would be combining the support system with one trusted advisor who would be in control of your finances. That way, you’d literally cut your fundings until you were back on the right path.
Avoid Other Potential Addictions
Breaking a long-lasting habit is never an easy thing to do, and people often tend to switch from one obsession to another, no matter if it is food, alcohol, or gambling in question. Old habits do die hard, and it takes a strong will to overcome any long-term addiction. However, if you are trying to overcome it on your own, it would be good to keep in mind that switching from one destructive behaviour to another isn’t the solution. If you need to find a distraction, it would be good to turn to sports or a hobby to fill the void. After a while, you will see that spending your free time improving yourself is much more fulfilling.
Summary
Overcoming any addiction or a destructive habit is not an easy thing to do, and you shouldn’t do it by yourself. If you are not keen on joining groups or therapy sessions, admitting that you do have a problem and sharing that with your loved ones is a great start. Also, always keep in mind that your cravings and a constant urge to gamble can severely affect you, and what is worse, they can affect people around you.
Ultimately, as Gandhi said: “A man will sacrifice his health for wealth, then spend his wealth trying to get back his health.” So beat the odds, and don’t end up like that.
On the off chance that you accept that betting or gambling is negatively affecting your life, we prompt that you look for expert assistance, for example from the accompanying associations: